CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It's a season of new beginnings for head coach Jeff Dugdale and his squads who competed in their first meet as a Division I institution. They headed out east to take on the Tar Heels with both teams falling 169-88. 
 
Queens, who is fresh off a pair of seventh-consecutive Division II titles, showed hints of the greatness they achieved last season and look to get back to this season, as they managed six first-place finishes to help contribute to the 88 total points. 

The Royals opened the day with both the men's and women's teams earning third-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. Three events later, Monica Gumina swam an impressive 1:51.34 in the 200-yard freestyle to earn Queens' first first-place finish on the day. Her time not only earned nine points but puts her at the ninth-fastest time in the nation in the event. 

On the men's side, Matej Dusa, who most recently represented his home country of Slovakia at the European Swimming Championships, showed why he deserves to compete at the international level. He hit the water in the 50-free with one goal in mind: nothing less than a first place; and he did that with an exclamation point. Dusa easily won the dash, finishing with a speedy 20.11 on the stopwatch, the nation's FIFTH-best finish. 

Dusa was not the only individual to post a top-20 individual time on the day. In the 200 IM, Jan Delkeskamp, Balazs Berecz, and Noah Beladi all posted top-20 times in the event, as Queens took first, second, and third in the event, totaling 16 points for the Royals. 

Not only did Queens produce impressive times in individual events, but both relay squads posted times that ranked among the nation's best. 

The women's 400 freestyle relay team of Danielle Melilli, Monica Gumina, Annika Huber, and Tova Andersson helped the women's side end of a high note with a first-place finish in the event, swimming a combined time of 3:29.47. Queens took first and second in the event, earning the full 15 points. The impressive time gave the group of four the seventh-fastest time in the nation in the event. 

The men's side looked to finish similar to that of the women's and accomplished precisely that. Matej Dusa, Daniel Meszaros, Alex Kunert, and anchor Jonathan Henschel concluded the day with a lightning-fast first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. The group posted a convincing time of 2:58.97 en route to 11 points. The impressive finishing times rank third in the nation, second only to Florida, as Chapel Hill was disqualified from the event. 

"I appreciate Mark Gangloff and his UNC staff and swimmers,  they were very welcoming and provided us with excellent competition today," said head coach Jeff Dugdale. "Considering that we are one month into the season we have much to work on however I am very pleased with our effort and enthusiasm to start the racing process. We used September to swim into shape and we will use October to race into shape."

The Royals return home on Saturday, October 1 as they will host cross-town rival Davidson for a dual meet at 11 a.m..