EIGHT IN ROW FOR THE CAVS
Virginia held second place heading into the final day of the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, but it became evident early on during Saturday night’s finals session that the Cavaliers would cruise to their eighth straight conference totals.
Nine gold medals, combined with well-placed finishes throughout the swimming events, assured second-year coach Augie Busch and his team of continuing a run that began in 2008. This year’s championship is the Cavaliers’ 13 overall.
Virginia closed out the meet at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center with 1308 team points. North Carolina, which entered Saturday’s competition narrowly ahead of the Cavaliers, placed second with 1255.
“It shows that we’re fighters,” Busch said. “We talked about, ‘If we go down to a better team, that’s fine, but it’s not fine if we go down and don’t fight.’ We were fighting through some tiredness … I was really, really impressed by this group. Tonight made a huge statement about the heart and pride of this team. I just couldn’t be prouder of this group of women.”
Virginia Tech held third place at 1018, while Louisville was fourth at 918.
NC State took fifth place at 874, followed by Notre Dame at 644, Florida State at 577, Pitt at 501, Miami at 490.5, Duke at 478, Georgia Tech at 203, Boston College at 125 and Clemson at 36.
The meet’s Most Valuable Women’s Swimmer Award went to Louisville’s Tanja Kylliainen, who shattered ACC overall and Championship records in the 400 IM and 200 butterfly, and claimed a third gold medal in the 200 IM. The Towson, Maryland, senior clearly made the most of the chance to compete in her first and only ACC Championship, and she helped the Cardinals make a strong first impression in their debut season.
“It feels awesome because we came in here with a goal to have a presence and have a good team,” she said. “I think we’ve done just that.”
Virginia Tech senior Kaylea Arnett, who claimed gold medals in the 3-meter and platform competition, was named the Most Valuable Women’s Diver of the ACC Championship for the fourth consecutive year. She closes her career with six ACC Championship diving gold medals – three in the 1-meter, two in the 3-meters and one in platform.
Miami freshman Briadam Herrera was named the Most Valuable Men’s Diver after taking the gold medals in both the 1- and 3-meters.
400 FREESTYLE RELAY
NC State closed the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship much the way it started – by sprinting to a relay gold medal.
The Wolfpack unit of Alexia Zevnik, Riki Bonnema, Lotta Nevalainen and Natalie Labonge swam to a time of 3:14.57 to capture the 400 freestyle relay. Virginia wrapped up its eighth straight ACC team championship with a silver medal finish of 3:15.23, and Louisville was third at 3:15.90.
Bonnema was also part of NC State’s 200 freestyle relay team, which earlier in the week posted an ACC Championship record time of 1:28.18 in winning that event for the third time.
MEN’S PLATFORM DIVING
Pitt sophomore Dominic Giordan delivered a jaw-dropping 97.35 dive on his sixth and final attempt off the platform to claim the gold medal in ACC Men’s Diving Championship competition.
Giordan’s attempt vaulted him up the leaderboard and past Virginia senior JB Kolod, who settled for the silver medal at 405.25. Virginia Tech’s Thomas Shinholser placed third at 370.00. Kolod earned a bronze medal in each of the earlier two diving events in this year’s ACC Championship.
WOMEN’S PLATFORM DIVING
Make that a half-dozen gold medals for Virginia Tech senior Kaylea Arnett.
Arnett came up big on her fifth and final attempt Saturday night to narrowly claim the platform dive over two-time winner Katrina Young of Florida State. Arnett finished with a cumulative score of 295.30, just ahead of Young’s final total of 295.10. Virginia Tech freshman Emma Villarreal was third at 279.95.
Arnett will conclude her career with three gold medals in the 1-meter dive and two in 3-meters, including one this year. This year marked her first ACC gold in platform diving. Young took the gold medal in the platform dive last season and in 2012.
Only two events remain on Saturday’s program schedule – the men’s platform diving and the women’s 400 freestyle. The latter event will close out the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
200 BUTTERFLY
The final individual swimming event of the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship gave Louisville senior Tanja Kylliainen one more chance to flash her record-setting, All-America form.
Kylliainen used a strong push to overtake Florida State sophomore Chelsea Britt and wiped out the previous ACC overall and Championship record in the 200 butterfly with a winning time of 1:53.19. Britt, who earlier this season set the previous ACC overall record of 1:53.68, took the silver medal on Saturday night with a time of 1:54.08. Virginia Tech’s Klaudia Nazieblo claimed the bronze at 1:55.16.
The winning effort not only assured Kylliainen of her third gold medal in her lone ACC Championship appearance, it stands as the third-fastest time in the nation this season.
200 BREASTSTROKE
The 200 breaststroke featured perhaps the most notable upset of the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, as Virginia sophomore Laura Simon outlasted American record-holder Emma Reaney of Notre Dame. The result proved a bonus for the seven-time defending champion Cavaliers, who already held a sizeable lead in teams scoring entering the event.
Simon raced to a Georgia Tech Aquatic Center time of 2:07.40, edging Reaney’s time of 2:07.69 – which was also faster than the previous pool mark. Louisville’s Andre Cottrell took third place with a time of 2:08.48.
100 YARD FREESTYLE
Kelsi Worrell continues to top herself.
Just a few hours after setting an ACC overall and meet record in the 100 free qualifying with a time of 47.86, the Louisville junior eclipsed both of those marks with an eye-opening 47.71 in Saturday night’s finals. Florida State senior Kaitlyn Dressel was third at 48.30, and NC State junior Riki Bonnema took the bronze at 48.73.
Worrell’s performance also came 24 hours after she posted the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history with a gold medal showing of 50.17 in the 100 butterfly.
200 BACKSTROKE
Virginia junior Courtney Bartholomew entered the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships holding virtually every league record in the 200 backstroke.
She still does --- and in even more impressive fashion.
Bartholomew repeated as champion with a time of 1:49.87 that stands as an ACC overall, ACC Championship and Georgia Tech Aquatic Center record. NC State’s Alexia Zevnik placed second at 1:52.98, and North Carolina’s Hellen Moffitt took the bronze medal at 1:53.88.
Bartholomew swept the backstroke events in this year’s meet after earlier delivering a record-shattering performance in Friday night’s 100. She also swam a record-setting leadoff split in Virginia’s winning 400 medley relay effort on Friday evening.
1650 FREESTYLE
Seven-time defending champion Virginia entered Saturday’s final round of the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships trailing North Carolina by 22.5 points in the team scoring. Led by sophomore Leah Smith and junior Hanne Borgersen, the Cavaliers wasted little time making short order of that deficit.
Smith posted a Georgia Tech Aquatic Center record time of 15:52 in the 1650 freestyle, claiming her third gold medal after earlier first-place showings in the 500 and 200 freestyle races. Borgersen claimed the silver medal at 16:10.84, followed by Pitt junior Kaleigh Ritter in third at 16:14.38.
Virginia senior Alison Haulsee piled on with a fifth-place showing. The race ended with the Cavaliers holding 962.5 points and first place in the standings by 83.5 points over UNC (879).
PLATFORM PRELIMS
Florida State’s Tyler Roberge led the preliminary field for the platform dive at the 2015 ACC Men’s Diving Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Roberge finished with a total of 387.55. He will be joined in tonight’s final by fellow top-eight qualifiers Dominic Giordano of Pitt (357.35), JB Kolod of Virginia (356.75), Thomas Shinholser of Virginia Tech (349.95) and his Hokies teammate Logan Stevens (344.35), Florida State’s Dylan Grisell (330.00) and the Virginia Tech duo of Kyle Butts (327.50) and Mauro Silva (326.60).
Earlier on Saturday, Miami’s Cheyenne Cousineau led the women’s platform qualifiers with a cumulative scored of 293.05. She was followed by Virginia Tech’s Kayla Arnett (277.30), Miami teammate Wallace Layland (265.50), Duke’s Maryellen Targonski (255.90), Virginia Tech’s Kelli Stockton (250.45), NC State’s Rachel Mumma (248.20), Virginia Tech’s Emma Villarreal (243.75) and Florida State’s Katrina Young (239.45). Young is the defending champion in the event and will seek her third title in four years during this evening’s finals.
COUNTDOWN TO THE FINALS
North Carolina holds a narrow lead over Virginia as the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships head into their final day at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Following this morning’s prelims in swimming events, and men’s and women’s platform diving this afternoon, tonight’s 6 p.m. finals in seven women’s events will determine the 2015 ACC champion. Virginia is seeking its eight straight ACC championship and 13th overall. North Carolina seeks its first ACC championship since 2007 but owns a conference-leading 16 team titles.
A consistent effort throughout the first 14 events of the meet left the Tar Heels with 862 team points at the conclusion of the third day of competition on Friday. Virginia holds second place with 839.5 points, while Virginia Tech is third at 664.5. Louisville is in fourth at 641.
NC State is fifth at 589, followed by Notre Dame at 449, Florida State at 408, Miami at 365, Pitt at 330, Duke at 325, Georgia Tech at 137, Boston College at 92 and Clemson at 4.
Women’s final events scheduled for this evening include the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, platform diving, 1650, and 400 relay. The ACC men’s platform diving finals are also scheduled tonight.
North Carolina has yet to claim an individual gold medal in this year’s competition, but the Tar Heels’ depth has paid off big. UNC boasts nine swimmers among the meet’s top 30 scorers, led by Danielle Siverling’s 56-point showing.
Double-gold medal winners Tanja Kylliainen of Louisville and Leah Smith of Virginia lead the individual scoring with 64 points apiece, while Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell is third with 60 points, followed by Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew with 59.
Bartholomew, who has already pieced together a record-setting season and ACC Championship, served notice during Saturday morning’s 200 backstroke preliminaries that she may not be finished yet. The Cavalier junior’s time of 1:50.99 set a new mark for the ACC Championship and the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Not to be outdone, Louisville’s Worrell stepped up with an ACC overall and meet record in the 100 free qualifying with a blazing time of 47.86.
Duke
Duke swimmers and divers registered another program record and featured a pair of top-eight finishes Saturday to close out the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship. Freshman diver MaryEllen Targonski earned a spot in the platform championship final and fellow rookie Verity Abel earned a seventh-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle to pace the Blue Devils on the final day of competition at Georgia Tech’s Aquatic Center.
Abel kicked off the evening session with an impressive showing in the 1,650 freestyle. The Westport, Conn., native turned in a time of 16:29.73 in the third heat to place seventh in the conference. That clocking was over 14 seconds faster than her previous season best in the mile and ranked her second on Duke’s all-time top 10 in the event. In addition, Abel’s 1,000 split of 9:57.89 was a personal best and also second all-time in program history.
“Verity had a great meet,” said head coach Dan Colella. “It started with the 500 free on the first night and continued with the 400 IM on the second day, but really culminated with a fantastic swim tonight in the mile. It’s great to see a freshman to come in and finish in the top eight. Her performance was a nice accomplishment and a great way for her to close out the meet.”
Another rookie garnered a top-eight finish for the Blue Devils in the women’s platform diving competition. Targonski was fourth in the event preliminaries with a personal-best score of 255.90, ranking her fifth on Duke’s all-time chart. Her highest-scoring dive of the day came in the preliminary round, when she earned an award of 72.00 points on a forward 3 ½ somersault. In the championship final, Targonski opened strong with 58.80 points on an inward 2 ½. She concluded her list eighth with a score of 239.55 to wrap up a solid debut at her first ACC Championship.
“MaryEllen did great today,” said head diving coach Nunzio Esposto. “She started off this morning leading the field for the first three rounds. It was really phenomenal. I thought she had a chance to final, and she certainly did well. She was psyched and ready to go in tonight’s final, and she dove almost as good. I think she was a little nervous, but her entire list today was brand new – she hadn’t performed those dives before coming to Duke. For being a freshman and having a new tower list, it was very impressive.”
In addition to the 22 points earned by Targonski, Duke also received scoring from junior Jaimee Gundry, who placed 14th in the preliminaries with an award of 218.95.
The Blue Devils were well-represented in the 200 butterfly finals, with three swimmers advancing to the evening session. Freshman Isabella Paez headlined the trio in the ‘B’ final, displaying great speed in the final 50 yards to win the heat and place ninth overall. Her mark of 1:57.39 broke her own school record set in the fall and surpassed the NCAA provisional standard in the event. In the bonus final, sophomores Colleen Wixted (2:00.66) and Brittany Friese (2:00.94) both dropped time from their morning swims to finish 20th and 22nd, respectively.
“The 200 fly is one of our stronger events,” Colella said. “We were very excited about how they performed this morning to make it back tonight. Isa swam a very strategic race, swam her race. She is somebody that is really strong in the back half. To see her make the turn at the 150 and be in fifth, and then slowly start tracking everybody down and to win it in the last stroke was pretty incredible.”
The 100 freestyle saw freshman Leah Goldman post the second-fastest mark in school history (49.53) for 11th place and sophomore Maddie Rusch go 50.43 in a 24th-place finish. Duke also placed two swimmers in the bonus final of the 200 backstroke, with sophomore Liza Bragg taking 21st (2:00.37) and freshman Maria Sheridan 24th (2:02.48). Freshman Catie Miller advanced to the first final of her career in the 200 breaststroke, where she finished 24th in a personal-best 2:19.03 to rank 10th all-time at Duke.
In the final event of the evening, the 400 freestyle relay, Goldman, Rusch, junior Chelsea Ye and junior Kathryn Eckhart combined for a season-best time of 3:21.21 to take eighth. That clocking also represented the second-fastest in program history.
At the conclusion of the four-day conference championship, the Blue Devils were 10th out of 13 teams with a total score of 478 points. Virginia took home its eighth consecutive ACC title with 1308.5 points, while North Carolina (1255), Virginia Tech (1018), Louisville (918) and NC State (874) rounded out the top five.
“We’re not satisfied with our finish as a team, but we have a very young team and hopefully we learned a lot of lessons that will make us better for next year,” Colella said.
Over the course of the meet, the Blue Devils broke six school records and earned one podium finish as Goldman garnered the first All-ACC honors of her career with a third-place showing in the 100 butterfly Friday evening.
The Duke men will take their turn at the ACC Championship in Atlanta next week, with the meet beginning Wednesday, Feb. 25 and continuing through Saturday, Feb. 28 at the same facility.
Florida State
On the final night of the 2015 ACC Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, the Florida State women’s swimming and diving team was paced by three silver-medalists as seniors Kaitlyn Dressel and Katrina Young as well as sophomore Chelsea Britt took second in their specialties.
“Chelsea and Kaitlyn just put it all out there today,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “They set the tone for our team this weekend and I’m very proud of them. They stepped up and took care of business no matter how tough it was. Those two can really do some damage at the NCAA meet.”
Dressel posted her highest ACC finish in her final individual race with a career best time of 48.30 after swimming a 48.78 in prelims of the 100 free.
“That was an awesome swim to go out on,” Dressel said. “I was so glad that it was my best and I was so excited for my best time.”
Britt followed by grabbing her second silver of the meet, touching with a 1:54.09 in the 200 fly. She led the race for 150 yards before Louisville’s Tanja Kyllianinen made her move and used her underwater kick out to move past Britt on the final turn.
“I was happy for that swim for how I felt,” Britt said. “I went out for it and I raced hard. It was a good way to end the meet.”
On the platform, Young had to battle through a tough round of prelims where at one point she was in 21st place. She was in 10th place heading into the final round where she scored 52.80 points on her back 2.5 somersault with 1.5 twists. As the seventh of 44 divers in the order, Young had to wait it out until the end to see if she advanced. She would claim the final spot in eight at 239.95.
In finals, Young’s first three dives scored under 50 points each, however she quickly climbed to the top of the leader board after she nailed her 3.5 inward somersault tuck for 73.50 points and her final reverse twister tallying 78.40 points. She moved into first until Kaylea Arnett (VT) put up 6.5’s, edging Young by .20 for the title.
“She’s been working to compete some of her other dives and we had to make a few adjustments to her list this morning,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “She has a little work to do, but she did well and we have a great building base for the NCAA Zone meet.”
Junior Sami Pochowski put forth her career best time in prelims of the 100 free, swimming a 49.57 for 12th place. She was just off that time in finals, posting a 49.72 for fourth place in the heat holding her seed.
Rookie Natalie Pierce followed her ACC championship final debut from Friday by qualifying for the consolation heat of the 200 breast after she swam a time of 2:15.42 in 15th place.
In addition to Young’s platform, sophomore Alexia Gonzalez scored 20th place points with a final score of 200.50.
The Seminoles closed out the meet with a fifth place finish in the 400 free relay with the team of Dressel, Pochowski, junior Josie Cuda and Britt with a time of 3:17.86. As a team, FSU placed seventh with a total of 577.
“We had some great things this week,” Bradley said. “If anything, this meet opened up the eyes of our younger ladies. I thought we had some bright spots and some weaknesses but we’re moving on to the NCAA Championships in March.”
In the men’s platform event, Freshman Tyler Roberge led prelims from wire-to-wire, qualifying as the top seed by 30 points at 387.55.
Sophomore Dylan Grisell was 10th heading into the sixth round where he crushed his back 2.5 somersault with 1.5 twists for a total of 76.80, catapulting him into sixth.
In finals, Roberge paced the Canadian duo finishing with a final score of 334.50 for fifth place. Grisell placed seventh at 324.00.
“Those two guys are just going to keep getting better,” Proctor said. “They represented FSU very professionally and very well tonight. I am happy for them and can’t wait to see what they do at the next level.”
The ACC Championships continue with the men’s swimming portion in Atlanta next week start on Wednesday with the 200 medley and 800 free relays.
Louisville
The University of Louisville women’s swimming and diving won two more golds and finished fourth on the last night in the 2015 ACC Women’s Championship Saturday at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Virginia took the crown with 1308.5 points, just edging North Carolina’s 1255. Virginia Tech was third with 1018 and Louisville was fourth with 918 followed by North Carolina State (874), Notre Dame (644), Florida State (577), Pitt (501), Miami (490.5), Duke (478), Georgia Tech (203), Boston College (125) and Clemson (36).
“As a staff, we are proud of the way our women competed all weekend,” said UofL head coach Arthur Albiero. “They represented UofL with great class and poise. The overall balance for the weekend is impressive – nine school records, five ACC individual titles, and four ACC records along with Tanja Kylliainen being named ACC Most Valuable Swimmer. We are proud of our progress and we look forward to competing at NCAAs next.”
Tanja Kylliainen had three gold medals overall setting three ACC records and was named the ACC’s Most Valuable Swimmer. Teammate Kelsi Worrell earned her gold tonight with a record setting win in the 100-free. She also won the 100-fly and earned a silver in the 50-free.
In the grueling 1650- freestyle, Cardinal Marah Pugh put up a 16.42 for 13th and Abby Chin went 16:43.38 for 14th.
Erica Belcher won the B-final of the 200-back in style with a 1:55.82. Ashley LeClair was second in 1:57.01.In the C-final of the 200-back, Hannah Magnuson won in 1:56.38 and Kristina Steins was second in the heat in 1:56.78.
In the B-finals of the 100 freestyle, Andrea Kneppers pulled an upset with a win in 49.2 with a strong finish in a fast heat.
Kelsi Worrell reset the ACC record in the 100-free with an A-cut, school record time of 47.7. Worrell’s performance also came just 24 hours after she posted the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history with a gold medal showing of 50.17 in the 100 butterfly.
“But I said that I swam for my mom yesterday and she told me it brought tears to her eyes. I’m glad I can give her another present and I know she’s watching online or through my dad who’s here Facetiming her. She’s here in spirit for sure. Every time out, I just want to have fun. I have one year left and I’m just starting to realize how fast it goes by.”
The 200 breaststroke featured the most notable upset of the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, as Virginia sophomore Laura Simon outlasted American record-holder Emma Reaney of Notre Dame to post a time of 2:07.40 a pool record. Cardinal Andrea Cottrell was in the mix down the stretch to take the bronze in the event with a 2:08.48.
In the B-final of the 200 fly, Devon Bibault is second in 1:57.40 in a hotly contested final 50 yards.
Tanja Kylliainen chases down FSU's Chelsea Britt in the final 25 and then leaves her in her rear view mirror for an ACC record of 1:53.19. The winning effort stands as the third-fastest time in the nation this season.
“I set really high standards for myself and sometimes I live up to them and sometimes it doesn’t work out like that. It feels awesome because we came in here to the ACCs with a goal to have a presence and have a good team. I think we’ve done just that,” said Kyllliainen.
In the final event of the four day meet, the Cardinals touched third in the 400 free relay. The foursome of Kneppers (49.23), Kelsi Worrell (47.39), Ashley LeClair (50.05) and Tanja Kylliainen’s anchor of 49.23 combined for a 3:15.90.
North Carolina
The University of North Carolina women’s swimming and diving team turned in a strong effort Saturday as it ended the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in second place.
All 16 Tar Heel swimming entries scored on Saturday but the Tar Heels were not able to stave off defending champion Virginia, which had its strongest day of the seven-session competition on Saturday evening.
Carolina finished second with 1,255 team points, falling just shy of Virginia which retained its championship with 1308.5 points. Virginia Tech was third with 1,018 points and Louisville took fourth with 918 points.
“Along with our coaching and support staff I know all of us are extremely proud of this ACC team. These women had an opportunity to win a title. They fought hard, competed well and did it with class and passion and did it for one another,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “I would like to thank our seniors – co-captains Danielle Siverling and Kelly Corish as well as Hannah Runyon-Hass for their leadership.”
The Saturday events started with sophomore Caty Hulsey as UNC’s sole entrant in the 1650-yard freestyle where she finished 10th with a time of 16:34.40.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Carolina placed four swimmers in the Top 12 of the event led by sophomore Hellen Moffitt who captured third place in a career best time of 1:53.88. That time moved her into second place all-time in UNC history behind only school record holder Carly Smith. Megan Bestor placed seventh in the event, while fellow freshman Emily Slabe was eighth. Bestor had a career best time of 1:55.64 in the prelims of the event, moving her into fifth place on the all-time UNC depth chart. Slabe’s prelim time of 1:55.87 makes her the seventh fastest Tar Heel in history.
In the consolation heats, Sarah Hitchens placed 12th and Annie Harrison took 19th. Hitchens’ preliminary time of 1:56.98 was her personal best and moved her into ninth place in Tar Heel history in the event.
Carolina had four championship finalists in the 100-yard freestyle with Ally Hardesty taking fourth, Caroline Baldwin sixth, Danielle Siverling seventh and Lauren Earp eighth. Hardesty, Baldwin and Siverling all had personal best times at 48.77, 49.01 and 49.07, respectively. Hardesty now ranks second in UNC history behind Tar Heel record holder Earp. Baldwin moved into fifth place and Siverling into sixth place on the all-time depth chart. Junior Hannah Lincoln also scored in the event, taking 16th place.
The 100 free epitomized the kind of depth that carried the Tar Heel team all weekend. “This was one of the finest championship meets in terms of performance from the first student-athlete on the team to the last student-athlete that we’ve had in a long time,” said DeSelm. “Congratulations to the University of Virginia for a great championship. We had a tremendous number of lifetime best times over the course of the week and I appreciate the contributions our entire staff had in helping these women be so very good. Now it is time to regroup and point our efforts towards the NCAA Championships.”
Both Tar Heel entries in the 200-yard breaststroke recorded career best times. Katie Munch placed seventh with a time of 2:12.07 and Maddy Burns was 11th in a clocking of 2:14.32. Those times place them fifth and ninth, respectively, in UNC history.
Emma Nunn was Carolina’s top finisher in the 200-yard butterfly as she took fourth place, her third top four individual finish in the meet. Nunn clocked a career best 1:55.68, moving her into fourth place all-time in UNC history. Sarah Koucheki placed 11th in 1:57.73 and Hannah Runyon-Hass was 18th in 1:59.70.
Carolina’s 400-yard freestyle relay finished in fourth place with a time of 3:16.15. The relay consisted of Ally Hardesty (49.60), Caroline Baldwin (48.89), Lauren Earp (49.05) and Danielle Siverling (48.61).
The 10-meter platform diving competition was held Saturday with UNC’s Michole Timm and Elissa Dawson scoring for the women in ninth and 10th place with 238.05 points and 237.20 points, respectively. Those are the fifth and sixth highest scores in UNC history.
The men’s 10-meter platform diving saw all four Tar Heels score points. The men’s divers scores will be added into the totals when the men’s ACC championships are held in Atlanta next Wednesday-Saturday.
Sophomore Jack Nyquist finished ninth with 302.70 points, senior Ryan Fox took 13th with 283.75 points, junior Ozzie Moyer notched 14th with 282.00 points and freshman Sean Burston was 22nd with 228.95 points. The scores by Nyquist and Moyer are the seventh and eighth best scores on platform in UNC history. The Tar Heel men’s divers were spot on throughout the meet with all four competitors scoring in each of the three events they were entered in.
N.C. State
The 400 freestyle relay team of Alexia Zevnik, Riki Bonnema, Lotta Nevalainen and Natalie Labonge capped off the NC State women’s swimming and diving team’s showing at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship with another event title.
A total of 11 school records, 1 ACC meet record and one conference record were set over the four-day event inside the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
In the team standings, Virginia took the conference title with 1308.5 points, followed by UNC-Chapel Hill with 1255 points and Virginia Tech with 1018 points. Louisville finished fourth with 918 points while NC State finished fifth with 874 points to round out the top five.
Wolfpack Relays
The 400 free relay team swam a time of 3:14.57 to become the second Wolfpack relay team to be crowned ACC Champions at the 2015 championship. The win marked the third title of the meet, as well an NCAA ‘A’ standard time and a program record for NC State.
Freestyle Watch
Distance freestyle specialist Rachel Muller finished fourth in the 1650 free with a time of 16:16.44. Her mark set a new program record, crushing the previous school record set by Amy Lepping in 1982 by almost 11 seconds.
Freestyle sprint specialist Bonnema finished third in the 100 free, swimming a time of 48.73 to break her second Wolfpack program record of the conference championship.
The record was broken again in the final event of the conference championship, as Zevnik’s leadoff split of 48.29 in the 400 free relay marked the newest school record.
Back It Up
Zevnik claimed the runner-up spot in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall at 1:52.98. She set a school record in the morning session of the event with a 1:52.78. Her morning session time and finals heat finish mark her second school record and second runner-up finish over the four-day championship.
Breaststroke
Kayla Brumbaum tabbed another school record on the final day of the conference championship, as she swam a 2:12.13 in the preliminary session of the 200 breaststroke. Her time notched the sophomore an NCAA ‘B’cut, as she proceeded to finish eighth in the finals heat of the event with a time of 2:12.38.
Brumbaum’s time in the 200 breast marked her second program record of the meet.
Springboard Action
Diver Rachel Mumma represented the Pack in the platform dive, as she managed to advance to the finals session and finish sixth with a score of 262.85.
Up Next
The No. 3 Wolfpack men will compete in the ACC Men’s Swimming Championship on Feb. 25-28 inside the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
For the women, the squad will return to Raleigh, N.C. to prepare for the Women’s NCAA Championship, which will be held in Greensboro N.C. inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center on March 19-21.
Pittsburgh
On a night where the Pitt women’s swimming and diving team completed a phenomenal four-day stint at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, it was sophomore men’s diver Dominic Giordano (Wexford, Pa./Florida State) who stole the show with a near-perfect final dive to win the program’s first-ever ACC individual championship in platform diving.
Needing to score more than 88.75 points in his sixth and final dive to surpass former club teammate and 2015 two-time ACC medalist JB Kolod, Giordano left no doubt in the judges minds and scored a whopping 97.35 out of a possible 99.00 points on a Back 1 ½ Somersault with a 3 ½ Twist to claim both his and the program’s first ACC title with a new school record of 413.85 points. The result of his final dive was four 10’s and three 9.5’s.
Entering the day, the school record in platform diving stood at 316.15 and Giordano wasted no time beating that score in his first platform competition since joining the Panthers in January. His score of 357.35 initially broke the record set in the 2013 Pitt Invite by current teammate Anthony Galante. That performance by Giordano was the second highest score of the afternoon and helped in setting up the dramatics when he dove second-to-last for the finals.
The women, meanwhile, had their best day of the week, setting four of their nine school records on Saturday.
Junior Kaleigh Ritter (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) was responsible for two of those and became Pitt’s first-ever ACC medalist, and strong performances by the Panthers in the 1650 free and 200 breast helped Pitt close out the weekend on a high note for an eighth finish at the event, held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Pitt totaled 501 team points – an increase of 26.5 points despite from last year’s event which featured one less team. This year Louisville, a top-25 program joined the conference.
That didn’t matter, however. Pitt still placed eighth like last year and finished ahead of Duke, a team that scored nearly 120 more points than the Panthers last season. Pitt beat out Duke this time by 22 points.
Ritter started off the final night placing third in 1650 free in a school record 16:14.31. She lowered her own mark (16:15.02), which she set previously at the 2013 AT&T Winter Nationals. During her first 1000, Ritter also notched another school record, going out in 9:47.25 – 2.75 seconds faster than her previous best at the 2014 ACC Championships.
It wasn’t just Ritter making noise in the 1650 free, but the entire Pitt team. Freshman Amanda Richey (Boulder, Colo./Boulder HS), who entered the meet with the second fastest time in the ACC, placed ninth overall in 16:33.24, junior Bethany DeWitt (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) was 16th in 16:54.16 and seniors Tatyanna Sarjeant (Scarborough, Ontario) (17:02.54) and Emily Bolek (Rockville, Md./Wooton) (17:30.38) were 18th and 22nd, respectively.
All five Pitt swimmers in the event scored points for the Panthers.
Pitt had a weekend-high three finalists in the 200 breast, just like the night before when it had three finalists in the shorter 100 breast. Except this time, Pitt was represented in each final, including sophomore Kinga Cichowska (Wroclaw, Poland/Zespol Szkol Sportowych), who posted the sixth fastest time of the morning in 2:11.93, in the A Final. Cichowska maintained her sixth place time, swimming 2:11.46. Her inclusion in the A Final marked the third ever A Final and second this weekend for a Pitt swimmer at the ACC Championships, joining Ritter, who swam in the 500 free on the second night.
Senior Cam Dixon (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Balmoral) and freshman Katie Fernander (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton HS) came up big with back-to-back wins in the C Final and the B Final as the Panthers nearly swept the event. Earlier in the morning, Fernander swam a lifetime-best 2:13.77 to qualify with the top time in the B Final and bettered that time eight hours later when she won the B Final in 2:12.37. Dixon improved her prelim time by more than two seconds to win the C Final in 2:14.62.
Junior Blair Wegescheide (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) set her second school record of the week, this time taking down a 12-year old mark, when she finished sixth in the 200 Back B Final (14th overall) in a time of 1:57.58. The record was last set in March 2003 by Carolyne Savini (1:57.65) in the NCAA Championships. Pitt also received a strong performance from senior Tatyanna Sarjeant, who placed sixth (22nd overall ) in the C Final with a time of 2:01.66.
Following the 200 back, Pitt slipped past Florida State for seventh in the team standings and was still in seventh after the 200 breast. But without any participants in the 200 fly finals or diving finals, Florida State was able to leapfrog back over Pitt for seventh and lock up that position heading into the 400 free relays.
Although she didn’t qualify for any individual finals on the last night of competition, junior Leticia Lelli (Scottsdale, Ariz./University of Arizona) completed a fantastic weekend that saw her set her third individual school records in the 400 free relay. She kicked off the opening leg in a school record 49.92, which was 0.06 seconds faster than the former mark last set nine years ago in 2006. Lelli also was a member of the school record-setting 200 free relay.
Eighth-ranked Virginia won its eighth straight ACC title with a team score of 1308.5 points. Ninth-ranked North Carolina was second (1255), followed by Virginia Tech in third (1018), No. 20 Louisville in fourth (918) and No. 13 NC State (874) rounding out the top five.
Next up is the men’s ACC championships, which runs from Wednesday, Feb. 25 through Saturday, Feb. 28. With men’s diving results in, Pitt currently ranks sixth out of 12 teams with 91 points. Virginia Tech is first with 247 points.
Virginia
The No. 8 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team won an unprecedented eighth-consecutive ACC Championship Saturday (Feb. 21) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. It is the program’s 13th conference championship.
The Cavaliers finished with 1,308.5 points, 53.5 ahead of North Carolina, who finished with 1,255 points. Virginia Tech was third with 1,018 points, followed by Louisville (918), NC State (874), Notre Dame (644), Florida State (577), Pitt (501), Miami (490.5), Duke (478), Georgia Tech (203), Boston College (125) and Clemson (36).
“I am extremely proud of the way our women performed tonight,” UVa head coach Augie Busch said. “We knew it was going to take a lot to defeat teams who were performing at a high level like North Carolina. To have performances like we did in such a tight battle will only make us better in four weeks at the NCAA Championships.”
In the first event of the evening, sophomore Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) captured her third individual ACC title this weekend, winning the 1,650 free in a time of 15:52.00.
“I love that I can dip down to the 200 free because it is a really fun event,” Smith said. “I would say the 500 free and the mile (1,650 free) are my better events. It is pretty hard to compete in all three and I have had trouble balancing that (in the past), but I think I am finally getting into a groove where I can be successful at all three.”
Junior Hanne Borgersen (Frederick, Md.) earned silver in the 1,650 free in 16:10.84, while senior Alison Haulsee (Glen Allen, Va.) and Kelly Offutt (Reisterstown, Md.) also placed in the top eight, finishing fifth (16:24.19) and eighth (16:31.00). Junior Haley Durmer (Decatur, Ga.) was 11th in 16:35.02.
“We knew we had to jump out of the gates and I wanted to do everything possible to put my team in a good place for the fight tonight,” Smith said.
Junior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.) broke the Virginia and conference record in winning the 200 back in 1:49.87, the seventh-fastest time in the history of the event. It is Bartholomew’s third-consecutive win in the event and her sixth individual ACC crown (100 back, 2013-15).
Senior Emily Dicus (Topeka, Kan.) touched fourth in the 200 back in 1:54.82, while freshman Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) was sixth in 1:55.59.
In the 200 breast, sophomore Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) outdueled defending national champion Emma Reaney of Notre Dame to win in a time of 2:07.48, a new Georgia Tech Aquatic Center record.
The 400 free relay team of sophomors Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) and Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom), freshman Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) and Bartholomew placed second in 3:15.25, the third-fastest time in school history.
Thomas touched fifth in the 100 free in 48.92, becoming just the fourth Cavalier to break 49 seconds in the event. In the consolation final, Cooper placed 10th overall in 49.34, which ranks sixth on UVa’s all-time top-10 list.
In the final individual swimming event, Jones placed fifth in the 200 fly in 1:56.83, while Marrkand was sixth in 1:57.22 and senior Ellen Williamson (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) placed eighth in 1:58.49.
In women’s platform diving, junior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) placed 13th with a score of 220.55, while freshman Corey Johnson (Ambler, Pa.) finished 22nd with a mark of 196.00.
Senior JB Kolod (Pittsburgh, Pa.) became the first UVa diver to earn All-ACC honors in all three diving events, placing second with a school-record score of 405.25.
Junior Jordan Sacks (Wilmette, Ill.) placed 12th with a score of 288.75, while fellow juniors Colby Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md.) and Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.) finished 17th and 18th with scores of 262.25 and 262.20, respectively.
“It was a great day for our divers,” UVa head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “I’m glad Becca and Corey could contribute points on tower. All four men scored on tower today, highlighted by a solid performance by Jordan and a great performance by JB. We are really looking good and ready for the NCAA Zone Championships.”
Next up, the UVa men’s swimmers will compete at the ACC Championships, to be held in Atlanta, Feb. 25-28.
The meet was part of the Commonwealth Clash between Virginia and Virginia Tech. Virginia earned a point in the competition with its win this weekend and holds a 6.5-2.5 lead overall.
Virginia Tech
After earning eight medals and posting 26 top-ten finishes, the Virginia Tech swimming and diving team finished in third place at the 2015 ACC Women’s Championships on Saturday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. In the final day of competition, Kaylea Arnett won her fifth career gold medal and was named Most Valuable Diver for the fourth-straight time, and Klaudia Nazieblo and Emma Villarreal won bronze medals.
Tech’s men’s divers also competed exceptionally, dominating the platform diving event with four top-eight finishers including bronze-medalist Thomas Shinholser and fourth-place finisher Logan Stevens.
“I’m very proud of this women’s team,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “After finishing fifth last year, these girls went home and established some goals and some standards and tonight we saw them come to fruition with the move up to third even with the addition of Louisville - a quality program. I just can’t say enough about the overall environment this swimming and diving team has put together. It’s really humbling to be a part of it.”
The day began with the H2Okies in third place, and a stellar morning made way for Tech to hold their position against the vying fourth-place Louisville squad. Tech qualified seven A-finalists and numerous B and C-finalists in the prelims, but the most astonishing, an incredible three female divers and four male divers qualified for the platform finals.
Record-setting senior diver Kaylea Arnett added to her gold and bronze medals earned earlier in the week by winning another gold medal in the platform final after posting a score of 295.3. It is Arnett’s fifth career gold medal - tied for the most by any diver in ACC history and tied with Sara Smith for the most by any Virginia Tech swimmer or diver.
With the gold, Arnett completed the career sweep, having won gold medals in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform events. Arnett was also named the ACC’s Most Valuable Diver for the fourth-straight year.
Freshman Emma Villarreal wasn’t far behind Arnett, winning the bronze medal in the platform with a score of 279.95. Kelli Stockton was just behind her in fifth after posting a score of 277.20.
Another newcomer, Klaudia Nazieblo, added a second bronze medal to her stash from the week after finishing third in the 200 fly with a new school-record time of 1:55.16. Nazieblo earned another top-five finish in the 200 back, after clocking in at 1:54.84 for another school record and a fifth-place finish.
Weronika Paluszek barely missed the podium for the second-straight day when she finished fourth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:08.57. Mackenzie Stewart was right behind her, taking fifth with a time of 2:10.69.
In the opening race of the evening finals, Jessica Hespeler garnered another top-10 finish after swimming the 1650 free in 16:30.50 for sixth place.
In total, the Tech women finished the meet with a score of 1018. Virginia won the ACC team championship with a score of 1308.5, and North Carolina was the runner-up with 1255 points. The H2Okies edged out fourth-place Louisville, who finished with a score of 918.
In the men’s platform prelims, Tech qualified all four of their divers for the evening final where they comprised half the field. Shinholser finished as the top performer, earning the bronze medal after posting a score of 370.00. Logan Stevens - who won the silver in the 3-meter on Friday - was just behind him in fourth with a score of 361.75.
Mauro Castro-Silva took sixth place with a score of 325.3 in his first-ever ACC platform event. Kyle Butts rounded out the finals competition, finishing in eighth with a score of 285.35.
In the men’s platform alone, Tech’s divers earned 99 team points. In all the diving competition, they earned 267 points. These team points are included in Virginia Tech’s swimming total as part of the men’s ACC Championships, which will conclude on Saturday, February 28. This score gives Tech a large boost in points going into the swimming portion of the championships.
“This scoring gives us tremendous energy,” Skinner said. “I know our men have been at home watching it and they are excited about it. They are good friends with these divers -they hang out and room together - so we all share in this success together. It really makes our men hungry to get down to Atlanta and see what they can do.”
The H2Okie men return to the pool for the 2015 Men’s ACC Championships on Wednesday, February 25 at 6 p.m. at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Live results will be available online, and there will be a live video stream on ESPN3.
