recruiting class '08
.: Wrapping up Day Three of ACC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships
Atlanta, GA , February 22nd, 2008
The University of Virginia continued its dominance at the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Men's and Women's Diving Championships at the Aquatic Center on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Ga. In addition, a trio of records fell Friday night with the Cavaliers contributing to all three. Virginia broke the ACC meet and pool records en route to clinching the final event of the day in thrilling fashion - the 400 medley relay.
The Cavaliers, who stand atop of the leaderboard with 546 points, head into the final day of competition with their sights set on an all-time sixth ACC championship title and a 168-point lead over second place and defending champion North Carolina.
Each of the six swimming events conducted Friday night produced several NCAA "A" and "B" performers. Clemson's Michelle Parkhurst had a big performance, as she captured both the 200-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke events. The senior, who was also part of the winning 200 freestyle relay that shattered three records on Thursday, became the first swimmer from Clemson since 1997 to take home the 200 freestyle title and the first Tiger since 1999 to win the 100 backstroke.
The ninth record to fall this week came from Virginia's Liz Shaw in the 400-yard medley. The freshman from Richmond, Va., set a new ACC meet mark with an NCAA time of 4:11.50 to collect her first ACC title and All-ACC honors.
Florida State's Lauren Sparg notched her first individual title and all-conference honors this week, as she took first place in the 100-yard butterfly title with an NCAA "A" mark 53.50. The senior became only the third Seminole all-time to win the event.
Virginia Tech's Jessica Botzum also turned in an impressive performance, as she became the first Hokie to ever capture the ACC title in the 100-yard breaststroke. The senior from Raleigh, N.C., turned in a first-place finish with an automatic qualifying time of 1:00.98.
In the diving competition, Miami's Brittany Viola claimed the three-meter title with 340.55 points and was named ACC Most Valuable Diver. The sophomore from Orlando, Fla., also won the one-meter on Thursday making it the second year in a row that a Hurricane diver swept both springboard events.
The final day of the ACC Championships resumes Saturday, Feb. 23, with preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. and finals starting at 7 p.m. In addition, platform diving will be conducted for the first time in ACC history.
Raycom Sports, in a partnership with Turner Broadcasting, will produce the ACC Swimming & Diving Championships for broadband video streaming on www.ACCSelect.com, providing live coverage of the final events only on Saturday.
Below are team standings and final results after three days of competition.
Team Standings Points
1. Virginia 546
2. North Carolina 378
3. Florida State 359.5
4. Virginia Tech 247
5. Clemson 238
6. Duke 191
7. Georgia Tech 181
8. Maryland 156.5
9. NC State 149
10. Miami 148
11. Boston College 40
.: Hargis Adds to Staff at Penn State Aug 27th
.: Virginia Hires Robinson Jul 28th
.: Vogt Heads to Southern Cal Jul 23rd
.: Maryland Hires Assistants Jun 30th
.: Excerpt: Tough Swim Through Stereotypes Jun 2nd
.: Next Stop for Turner - Clemson May 29th
.: McCullough Named Georgia Tech Assistant Coach May 28th