8:10 | MORE WOLFPACK MOMENTUM
After setting conference marks in the 50 freestyle earlier in the day during the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, NC State’s Riki Bonnema took part in another record-breaking performance Thursday evening.
Bonnema anchored the Wolfpack 200 freestyle relay team that posted an ACC Championship record time of 1:28.18 in taking the gold medal. She was joined on by teammates Lauren Poli, Krista Duffield and Ashlyn Koletic. North Carolina took second place with a time of 1:29.40, and Virginia was third at 1:29.52.
“Any time you break some records it feels good,” NC State Braden Holloway said. “The 50s were a little off today, so to come back and put it together for the relay, really says a lot about the pride they have for that relay and all relays.”
Thursday night’s two gold medals left the Wolfpack in third place in the team scoring heading into the third day of competition on Friday at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
“We’ve gotten going pretty good tonight,” Holloway said. “We’re going to try and keep it up tomorrow morning.”
Seven-time defending champion Virginia leads the field with a team score of 486 through eight events. North Carolina is second at 458, followed by NC State at 383.
Louisville holds fourth place at 369, followed by Virginia Tech at 342, Miami at 267, Notre Dame at 251 and Florida State at 232.
Pitt holds ninth place at 232, and Duke rounds out the top 10 at 207.
Georgia Tech (99), Boston College (60) and Clemson (4) round out the scoring.
7:45 | YOUNG BREAKS THROUGH
Virginia Tech’s Kaylea Arnett held a stronghold on the ACC Women’s Swimming and Championship 1-meter dive, but Florida State senior Katrina Young met the challenge on Thursday night.
Young’s cumulative score of 337.60 led the field and gave the Seminoles their first gold medal in the event since Tiffany Manning’s first-place showing in 2004. Miami’s Thea Vock took the silver medal at 333.85, while Arnett – who claimed her second straight 3-meter gold medal during Wednesday night’s competition, settled for the bronze at 333.45.
“It feels wonderful,” said Young, a native of Shoreline, Washington, who took the bronze medal in the 1-meter dive at the 2014 ACC Championships. “Any meet that you do well in feels good but the ACC’s is a really big deal because you represent your school, your team and everyone is watching. So it’s great.”
7:10 | BONNEMA KEEPS ROLLING
NC State junior Riki Bonnema had already set the ACC overall and Championship record in the women’s 50 freestyle during Thursday’s prelims. She fell short of equaling her new mark of 21.87 in Thursday night’s final – but not by much.
Bonnema swam to a gold medal time of 21.97. Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell was next at 22.01, while Florida State’s Kaitlyn Dressel took the bronze at 22.39. Bonnema became NC State’s first ACC women’s freestyle champion since Beth Emery in 1983.
“I try to not think about it and just go – see what happens out there and most importantly just have fun,” Bonnema said of her seemingly effortless sprints.
7:00 | KYLLIAINEN, CARDS STRIKE GOLD
Conference newcomer Louisville grabbed its first gold medal of the ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship, as senior Tanja Kylliainen led the field with a time of 1:55.72.
Kylliainen used a strong closing kick to overtake defending champion and ACC record-holder Emma Reaney of Notre Dame, who was originally credited with a time of 1:55.79 but was later disqualified. Virginia sophomore Kaitlyn Jones took the silver medal with a time of 1:56.38, and the Cavaliers’ Courtney Bartholomew the bronze at 156.53.
Kylliainen’s ACC championship is the first for Louisville (team or individual) in any sport since the Cardinals joined the conference last July 1.
“Four years,” she said when asked to elaborate on the training and preparation that went into her stellar showing. “I’m a senior at this point, so just a lot of IM training and sacrifice.”
6:30 | TWO IN A ROW
TWO IN A ROW
Virginia sophomore Leah Smith is the Atlantic Coast Conference 500 freestyle champion for the second straight year. Smith raced to a gold medal finish of 4:35.67 in the opening event of Thursday evening’s finals session at the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship.
Smith’s time was slower than her ACC record time of 4:32.61 set earlier this season and her ACC Championship mark of 4:34.65 set last year. But it was still more than enough for the Pittsburgh native to finish comfortably ahead. North Carolina senior Danielle Siverling took the silver medal with a time of 4:40.28, and Virginia freshman Cece Williams the bronze at 4:43.09.
“I knew I was pretty good this morning,” said Smith, referring to the preliminaries in which she swam a field-leading time of 4:37.28. “I know when I’m under 4:40 I'll have a good night swim. My coach just wanted me to swim my own race, which is to just step on the gas pedal and don’t let go.”
Smith’s gold medal was Virginia’s third of the still-young meet, and the seven-time defending champion Cavaliers vaulted into first place during the early going on Thursday night. How can they keep up this pace?
“By rolling one good swim off the other,” Smith said. “We had two really great relays, and we just have to keep winning events and our heats.”
3:30 | 1-METER DIVING CLOSES OUT PRELIMS
The final preliminaries of day two of the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships concluded early Thursday afternoon at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
North Carolina’s Michole Timm led the way with 335.35 points, followed by Florida State’s Katrina Young at 318.50. Virginia Tech’s Kaylea Arnett – bidding for her fourth straight women’s 1-meter title and her sixth ACC Championship diving title overall – was third at 317.35.
Miami’s Thea Vock (315.95), Pitt’s Meme Sharp (290.25), Notre Dame’s Lindsey Streepey (288.25) NC State’s Rachel Mumma (288.05) and Miami’s Cheyenne Couisineau rounded out the top eight qualifiers.
The 1-meter finals are set for 7:15 this evening. Women’s swimming final action begins at 6 p.m. and will feature the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay.
12:30 | DAY TWO PRELIMINARIES
The second day of the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Women Swimming Championships began with preliminaries in three swimming events. If the early returns were an indication, fans attending Thursday night’s finals at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center are in for a real treat.
NC State’s Riki Bonnema set a new meet and conference record with a time of 21.87 in the 50-yard freestyle, while two defending champions and meet/conference record-holders took control of their respective events.
Thursday morning opened with prelims in 500 freestyle, where Virginia sophomore Leah Smith found herself in a familiar position. The ACC overall and Championship record holder led a group of eight qualifiers with a prelim time off 4:37.28. Smith will be joined in this evening’s final by North Carolina’s Danielle Siverling (4:40.45), Virginia’s Hanne Bogerson (4:41.93), North Carolina’s Emma Nunn (4:43.58), Pitt’s Kaleigh Ritter (4:44.32), Louisville’s Andre Kneppers (4:44.54), and Virginia’s Alison Haulse (4:44.77) and Cece Williams (4:45.29).
The 200 IM prelims saw defending ACC champion and conference/meet record-holder Emma Reaney of Notre Dame lead the way 1:56.84. She was followed by Lousiville’s Tanja Kyllianien (1:56.62), Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew (1:57.37) and Ellen Williamson (1:57.52), NC State’s Alexia Zevnik (1:58.04), Louisville’s Eric Belcher (1:58.30), Kaitlyn Jones (1:58.30) and NC State’s Addisynn Bursch (1:58.33).
NC State’s Bonnema topped the previous ACC and meet time of 21.96 set by Virginia Tech’s Sara Smith in 2009. The Wolfpack junior was followed in the 50 free preliminaries by Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell (22.01), North Carolina’s Hannah Lincoln (22.44), Virginia’s Ellen Thomas (22.44), NC State’s Lauren Poli (22.46), Florida State’s Kaitlyn Dressel (22.50), and North Carolina’s Sarah Hitchens (22.52) and Caroline Baldwin (22.55).
Tonight’s final round, which will include all of the above events in addition to 200 freestyle relay and women’s 1-meter dive, is set to begin at 6 p.m.
Duke
The Duke women turned in a number of solid individual performances and earned a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay Thursday on the second day of competition at the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship.
A trio of Blue Devils got the individual swimming events underway Thursday morning by earning spots in the 500 freestyle ‘C’ final. The evening session saw freshman Verity Abel touch in 4:48.47 for a season-best and the third-fastest time in program history. Placing second in the heat and 18th overall, she was joined in the ‘C’ final by sophomore Brittany Friese, who finished 22nd in a personal-best 4:50.58, and junior Kiera Molloy, who took 24th (4:53.31). Molloy also earned a personal-best mark in the preliminaries with a 4:51.76 swim.
Freshman Leah Goldman broke into the 200 IM ‘B’ final, and dropped time from her morning performance to go 1:58.60 for 11th place. Her finals clocking matched 2014 graduate Christine Wixted’s school record in the event and represented an NCAA provisional cut.
Duke placed two swimmers in the 50 freestyle finals, with sophomore Maddie Rusch coming in 14th (22.76) and junior Kathryn Eckhart 22nd (22.97). Rusch’s preliminary mark of 22.62 was one one-hundredth of a second off of her personal best while Eckhart’s finals time was good for a personal best and third on the Blue Devils’ all-time top-10 list. In addition, both swimmers surpassed the NCAA provisional standard in the sprint race.
Thursday afternoon’s diving preliminaries saw three Duke divers score with their showings on the 1-meter board. Junior Kendall McClenney led the Blue Devils for the second consecutive day, placing 15th with an award of 261.45. Freshman MaryEllen Targonski also scored in 18th place (255.00), as did sophomore Kirby Quinn in 22nd (244.35).
In the final event of the evening, Goldman, Rusch, sophomore Jessie Sutherland and Eckhart tapped the wall sixth in the 200 freestyle relay at 1:30.72. That time was a season-best for the group and was also the third-fastest in program history.
The Duke women remained in 10th place in the team standings at the end of the second day with 207 total points.
Florida State
The Florida State women’s swimming and diving team won two medals on the second night of the 2015 ACC Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Redshirt senior diver Katrina Young highlighted the evening by capturing gold in a thrilling 1-meter final and senior Kaitlyn Dressel grabbed bronze in the 50 free.
Young overcame Kaylea Arnett (VT) – a three-time ACC champ on 1-meter for her first springboard title and third overall for her career with a FSU record score of 337.60.
“Some days you’re a bug and some days you’re a windshield and today Katrina was the windshield,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “She didn’t have a great 3-meter yesterday and she rebooted for today and just absolutely crushed it. I’m proud of her.”
The Shoreline, Wash. native took over second after her back 1.5 somersault where she scored a total of 50.60, trailing Arnett by a little over 11 points.
Young turned it up a notch and cut the Arnett’s lead to one point heading into the final round after scoring just over 61 points on both her fourth and fifth dives. She secured gold after performing her back 1.5 somersault with 1.5 twists for scores of 7.0, tallying 52.50 points.
“Today was a blast,” Young said. “John and I have been doing our best to refine my dives this season and tonight everything was clicking. This team is great to be a part of and it provides so much synergy. It was a fun day and I can’t wait for platform on Saturday.”
Young will look to defend her platform title and ACC record on Saturday.
The Seminoles scored the bulk of their individual points off of the 50 free with Dressel leading the way by grabbing the bronze medal with a time of 22.39 after overcoming a shaky start. After the swimmer next to her flinched on the blocks, Dressel was caught leaning too far over, causing the official to reset the heat before she eventually went into the water.
“I have tunnel vision when I’m on the blocks,” Dressel said. “But I was told that the girl next to me flinched and I couldn’t hold myself on the blocks and I went in, but you know it was the adrenaline rush I needed and I wasn’t going to let that ruin my swim. When I touched the wall I saw that I didn’t get my best time but I was so pumped to get the bronze.”
Dressel improved from her 22.50, sixth place showing in prelims.
Freshman Alexi Smith made her ACC debut and placed 11th with a career best time of 22.63 after posting a 22.96 in prelims, squeezing into consolation heat into 16th place.
Senior Haley Powell placed 23rd with a final time 23.16 after swimming her career best in prelims of 23.01. Junior Sami Pochowski also swam her career best in prelims at 23.08 and came back and placed 24th with a final time of 23.23.
The Seminoles concluded the session with a fourth place finish in the 200 free relay with the team of Dressel, Smith, Bianca Spinazzola and Chelsea Britt who touched with a time of 1:29.96.
“The session started off a slow for us but that 50 got us going,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “It was a much better day for us and tomorrow is one of our strongest days. I’m proud of what Kaitlyn and those sprinters did today and I hope they can carry that into tomorrow’s session.”
Louisville
The University of Louisville women’s swimming and diving team came away with its first ACC Championship and is sitting in fourth place after the second day of competition at the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Cardinal junior Tanja Kylliainen reached the top of the podium in the 200 Individual Medley.
“We had a solid day all around. The obvious highlight is our first ACC individual champion in Tanja Kylliainen in a school record time. She earned this one not just today over a fantastic field, but by the work she has put in over her career as a Louisville Cardinal.
Seven-time defending champion Virginia leads the field with a team score of 486 through eight events. North Carolina is second at 458, followed by NC State at 383. Louisville holds fourth place at 369, followed by Virginia Tech at 342, Miami at 267, Notre Dame at 251 and Florida State at 232. Pitt holds ninth place at 232, and Duke rounds out the top 10 at 207. Georgia Tech (99), Boston College (60) and Clemson (4) round out the scoring.
Andrea Kneppers finished 7th in the 500-freestyle in the A-final with a 4:45.70 in the opening event of Thursday evening’s finals session. In the B-final, Abigail Houck was 12th overall with a 4:48.27and Abigail Chin was 13th in 4:49.29 and Marah Pugh was 15th in 4:49.87. In the C-Final Devon Bibault was 19th overall in 4:50.03. Virginia sophomore Leah Smith was the champion for the second straight year. Smith raced to a gold medal finish of 4:35.67.
In the 200-IM, senior Tanja Kylliainen put up a school record time of 1:55.72. Kylliainen used a strong closing kick to overtake defending NCAA champion and ACC record-holder Emma Reaney of Notre Dame, who was originally credited with a time of 1:55.79 but was later disqualified. Virginia sophomore Kaitlyn Jones took the silver medal with a time of 1:56.38. Both of those times were NCAA invited times a year ago. Erica Belcher was sixth with a 1:58.59 for a B-cut. Kylliainen’s win marked Louisville's first ACC Championship in any sport.
“Four years,” she said when asked to elaborate on the training and preparation that went into her championship showing. “I’m a senior at this point, so just a lot of IM training and sacrifice.”
In a duel down the stretch, North Carolina State junior Riki Bonnema boarding a 21.97 just ahead of Cardinal sprinter Kelsi Worrell who touched second in 22.12. Both times were invitated times from the 2014 NCAAs.
In the final event of the day, the Cards foursome of Kelsi Worrell (22.28), Andrea Kneppers (22.51), Rachel Grooms (22.68) and Maggie Patterson (22.51) posted a 1:29.98 for fifth place. It took an ACC record to win the relay, with NC State boarding a meet record and A-cut time of 1:28.18. North Carolina took silver with a time of 1:29.40, and Virginia was third at 1:29.52.
“We have performed very well as a team, and we will have some great opportunities tomorrow,” said Albiero.
North Carolina
Senior Danielle Siverling took second place in the 500-yard freestyle and Carolina set its third school record in relay events in three attempts as the second day of the 2015 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships concluded Thursday at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
After two days of competition, the Tar Heels are solidly in second place, getting tremendous balance from its relays, its individual swims and its diving competitors. Defending champion Virginia leads with 486 points with the Tar Heels in second place with 458 points. The remainder of the top five teams included NC State with 383 points, Louisville with 369 points and Virginia Tech with 342 points.
“It was a tremendous night by our women,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “We talked before the session and I told them that I am reminded of some of the great championship teams we had in years past. “We are doing well and accomplishing it in a first class fashion. They are relaxed, happy and focused.”
The evening started on a high note as senior Danielle Siverling took second place and junior Emma Nunn notched fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle with times of 4:40.28 and 4:43.14, respectively. Siverling’s time was a “B” cut but nevertheless was a time that was invited to the 2014 NCAA Championships, putting her in solid position for a return trip to the national meet. Nunn also had an NCAA “B” cut in the event. Sophomore Caty Hulsey placed 16th in the event and junior Lauren Earp had a tremendous swim in the “C” final, capturing the heat to finish 17th overall in 4:47.85. Earp dropped 3.18 seconds between her prelim and final swim.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Carolina swimmers captured both the “B” and “C” finals in the event. Senior Hannah Runyon-Hass won the “B” final in a career best time of 1:57.50, which took 2.37 seconds off her previous career best. Her time Thursday was good enough to have been invited to the 2014 NCAA meet. Junior Maddy Burns also swam in that final, taking 14th overall and swimming a career best 1:59.85. Junior Katie Munch won the “C” and took 17th overall with a career best time of 1:58.79, over five seconds faster than her personal best in the event heading into the meet. Sarah Koucheki took 22nd in the event.
The Tar Heel sprint unit did a tremendous job in the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Carolina swimmers set three career bests in placing fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth in the 50-yard freestyle. Freshman Caroline Baldwin was fourth in 22.43 (personal best), Sarah Hitchens was sixth in 22.50 (personal best), Hannah Lincoln was seventh in 22.56 and Ally Hardesty won the “B” final in 22.57, capturing the heat by .01 of a second. Hardesty’s 22.56 in the prelims was her career best.
That same foursome came back to swim the 200-yard freestyle relay for Carolina, setting a school record time of 1:29.40. Baldwin led off with a 22.77 and then Lincoln put the Tar Heels in business with a tremendous split of 22.04. Hitchens at 22.34 and Hardesty at 22.25 helped the Tar Heels finish off the silver medal finish. Carolina’s swim was an automatic NCAA qualifying time by .09 of a second. UNC has automatic relay qualifications in all three events swum so far at the meet. The previous Carolina record was 1:29.81 set by Lincoln, Hardesty, Earp and Hitchens in 2014.
“They ‘ve training well and they are executing what they were trained to do,” said DeSelm. “We weren’t perfect tonight but we had a lot of lifetime best swims and another school record, this time in the 200 free relay. The energy the women have is spot on where it needs to be. We are definitely looking forward to tomorrow and another great day of competition.”
UNC had three divers score points in the women’s one-meter diving competition led by Michole Timm in sixth place. It was Timm’s second straight finalist finish. She was fifth in the three-meter competition on Wednesday.
N.C. State
The NC State women’s swimming and diving team made a statement in the pool on day two of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship, as the team earned conference titles in two of the four events on the day.
Several conference, meet and program records were broken by the Wolfpack inside the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, as the team bumped up from seventh to third in the overall standings with 383 points.
Virginia still remains in the lead after day two of the championship with 486 points, followed by UNC-Chapel Hill with 458 points.
Holloway’s Statement
“The Wolfpack women got some steam rolling tonight in the finals session. It was a lot of fun and there was a lot more spirit on the deck from the ladies. We built momentum as the day went on, and overall had a very productive day.
Congrats to Rachel Muller, Alexia Zevnik and Riki Bonnema on earning school records and to Riki for winning the 50 freestyle tonight. They all had outstanding performances and we’re all very proud of them.
We’re also very proud and excited for our 200 free relay team. Tonight marked the third year in a row now we have won the event at the conference championship. That team takes a lot of pride in what they know they are capable of and so is our team.
“It was also great to see so many parents and alumni tonight in the stands. Looking ahead to the rest of the meet we’re just going to continue to build upon what we accomplished tonight and use that momentum to keep us going the next two days.”- Braden Holloway, head coach
Wolfpack Relays
The team of Lauren Poli, Krista Duffield, Ashlyn Koletic and Riki Bonnema earned the ACC Champion title in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:28.18. The squad’s mark not only earned the program another NCAA ‘A’ standard time, but also an ACC meet and Georgia Tech Aquatic Center pool record.
The relay team’s victory marked the third consecutive year that NC State has claimed the title at the ACC Championship.
Freestyle Watch
Distance freestyle specialist Rachel Muller won the ‘B’ final heat of the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:43.21, which gives her another school record. She also notched a school record last night as the leadoff split in the 800 free relay.
Sprint freestyle specialist Riki Bonnema was crowned ACC Champion in the 50 free, as she posted a time of 21.97. Her mark broke the ACC meet and conference records. In Thursday’s morning session, Bonnema swam a 21.87 to notch an NCAA ‘A’ cut.
Individual Medley
Alexia Zevnik and Addisynn Bursch finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 200 individual medley with times of 1:58.01 and 1:59.01.
Zevnik’s time was enough for a school record as well as an invitational to the NCAA Championship.
Springboard Action
Diver Rachel Mumma finished fourth in the one-meter dive competition with a score of 313.40. She moved up three spots in the finals portion of the event, as she sat in seventh place after the preliminary session.
Notre Dame
A seventh-place showing in the 1-meter dive for junior Lindsey Streepey and three NCAA B cuts in the finals highlighted day two at the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships for the University of Notre Dame Thursday.
Streepey, who claimed fourth on the 3-meter Wednesday, scored 282.45 points on the 1-meter to secure seventh and place in the top eight in both diving events so far. She concludes her second ACC meet Saturday with the platform dive.
“I think so far, we have been better in every session,” said interim head coach Tim Welsh. “I think tonight was clearly our fastest session and you can measure that by improvement from morning to night, or improvement over the season or NCAA B cuts or however you want to look at it but it was clearly our best session.
“I thought that our energy and excitement made it feel like Notre Dame swimming and diving tonight. So I’m really excited to carry that into tomorrow. We have some really good events for us tomorrow.”
In the pool, junior Catherine Galletti and sophomore Catherine Mulquin turned in strong showings in the “C” finals of the 50 free, as Galletti claimed second (18th overall) in 22.83 and Mulquin placed fifth (21st overall) in 22.89. Both times are NCAA B cuts.
“This morning I didn’t go a best time but I was just off, so I think the biggest thing that contributed to my success tonight was just to take it and learn from it and not get too upset about it,” said Mulquin. So tonight I went in with a good mindset and ready to go instead of kind of dwelling on that and being upset over it. I fixed a few underwater things off my walls and starts so it was really just being focused on the details and having fun, and it was fun.
“I think that’s definitely a confidence boost for sure because the 50 is a very hit or miss race for me so being able to actually hit it is a really big confidence booster. That really sets the tone for the rest of the meet so it makes it easier to have a good mindset and I’m really excited.”
After qualifying first in the 200 IM by over two seconds in the morning prelims, senior Emma Reaney, the 2014 ACC 200 IM champion, suffered a heartbreaking disqualification after her “shoulders went past vertical” as she made the transition from backstroke to breaststroke. If she hadn’t been disqualified, Reaney would have placed second to Louisville’s Tanja Kylliainen by just .07 seconds (1:55.79).
“Obviously that didn’t go as planned, but I’m happy with my time,” said Reaney. “This year has obviously been a little rocky and I’m just glad that I went fast even if it didn’t count right now. I was just worried that I wasn’t going to be able to go any faster than a 1:56 this year. So I’m just going to focus on breaststroke now since that felt really good and hopefully make some NCAA A cuts so I can swim that again and redeem myself. But speaking of breaststroke, my breaststroke leg felt really, really good on that so I’m really excited for the 100 and even more excited for the 200, considering I can do that in the middle of a 200 IM and hold it together. So I’m just going to shake it off in the words of my good friend Taylor Swift and move on.”
“Emma’s act of sportsmanship, that was so extraordinary,” said Welsh. “She was DQ’d, it was the right call and she knew it was the right call as soon as it happened. She didn’t allow any focus on it and insisted that we focus on the following race where we had two great 50’s so that act of sportsmanship, couldn’t be anymore Notre Dame than that.”
Elsewhere in the 200 IM, sophomore Katie Miller claimed third (19th overall) in the “C” finals of the event with an NCAA B cut time of 2:00.68, while junior Genevieve Bradford claimed fifth (21st overall) with a time of 2:02.58.
In the nightcap relay, the foursome of Galletti, Mulquin, Suzanne Bessire and Courtney Whyte placed 10th in 1:32.78.
Through two days, the Irish sit in seventh place out of 13 squads with 251 points.
Day three gets underway at 10 a.m. (ET) with prelims for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back. Finals get underway at 6 p.m. (ET). The night will end with the 400 medley relay.
Fans can follow along in a number of different ways. In addition to live tweeting from @NDwSwimming and @NDDiving, links to live results and ESPN3 (Finals Only) are at the top of this recap.
PRELIMS RECAP
Reaney’s impressive 200 IM swim highlighted the morning session, as she went 1:56.48 to best Louisville’s Kylliainen, an old BIG EAST rival, by over two seconds. The time was an NCAA B cut.
Sophomore Elizabeth House turned in a career-best swim in the 500 free (4:54.06), while Bridget Casey (4:56.72), Molly Barry (4:57.41) and Molly Treble (4:58.96) also turned in nice swims.
In addition to Reaney’s season-best 1:56.48 to qualify first, Miller (2:01.74), Bradford (2:01.90 and sophomore Danielle Margheret (2:06.59) all turned in season-best times, with Margheret’s being a career best. Miller and Bradford qualified for the night’s “C” finals.
Galletti (23.04) and Mulquin (23.05) closed out the day by qualifying for the “C” finals of the 50 free.
Pittsburgh
Six Pitt swimmers and divers qualified for Thursday night’s finals as the Panthers held onto their ninth place spot in the team standings following the second day of the Atlantic Coast Conference Swimming & Diving Championships at Georgia Tech’s Aquatic Center.
Two team records were broken on the day with junior Kaleigh Ritter (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) setting a new standard earlier in the 500-yd Free prelims and the 200 medley relay team taking down a nine-year old mark by nearly a second. The group consisted of junior Leticia Lelli (Scottsdale, Ariz./University of Arizona) swimming the leadoff leg, followed by freshman Emily Murphy (Lima, Ohio/Shawnee HS), senior Dani des Tombe (Burlington, Ontario/Nelson) and junior Danyel Johnson (Dansville, N.Y./St. Francis University), swimming anchor.
Ritter became Pitt’s second A Finalist at the ACC event since the Panthers joined the conference in 2013-14, and three more swimmers scored in the race, giving Pitt a strong showing in the 500-yd Free.
Earlier in the day, Ritter posted the fifth fastest time of the morning in a school record 4:44.32, topping her own mark by 0.04 that she set at last year’s ACC Championships. In the evening session, Ritter swam to sixth place in 4:44.37. It was the best individual finish by a Pitt swimmer at ACC meet since the Panthers joined the league.
Freshman Amanda Richey (Boulder, Colo./Boulder HS) competed in the B Final and des Tombe and junior Bethany DeWitt (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) both swam in the C Final.
Richey, who recorded the 12th fastest time of the morning, moved up a spot in the standings after finishing third in the B Final (11th overall) in a personal-best time 4:45.75.
Swimming in the C Final, both des Tombe and DeWitt were out towards the front halfway through the race, but couldn’t stay there as the competition continued. Nonetheless, DeWitt was able to take fifth (21st overall) in a career-best 4:50.56, while des Tombe had a season-best 4:51.47 and was seventh (23rd overall). Entering the morning prelims, des Tombe’s fastest performance this year was 5:04.96, a time she bettered by more than 13 seconds by the end of the night.
Freshman Meme Sharp (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville HS) joined Ritter as a finalist, competing as one of eight divers - and the only freshman - that returned to the pool for the 1-meter finals. After posting the fifth-highest score of 290.25 in the prelims, Sharp wound up eighth with a score of 275.50.
Johnson, who was on the record-breaking 200 free relay team, barely missed an individual school record of her own as the only Pitt swimmer racing in the 50-yd freestyle on Thursday night. She touched the wall in 22.87 seconds – a mere 0.01 seconds away from the Pitt mark set four years ago – and placed fourth in the C Final (20th overall).
Through two days, Pitt is in ninth place with 218 points, one spot behind Florida State (232) and within striking distance of both sixth-place Miami (267) and seventh-place Notre Dame (251). No. 8 Virginia leads the team competition (486) and is trailed by No. 9 North Carolina (458), No. 13 NC State (383) and No. 20 Louisville (369) rounding out the top four.
Virginia
The No. 8 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team took over the lead on the second day of action at the ACC Championships Thursday (Feb. 19) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
After two days, the Cavaliers lead with 486 points, ahead of North Carolina (458), NC State (383), Louisville (369), Virginia Tech (342), Miami (267), Notre Dame (251), Florida State (232), Pitt (218), Duke (207), Georgia Tech (99), Boston College (60) and Clemson (4).
Sophomore Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) successfully defended her 500 free title in a time of 4:35.67. It is Smith’s third individual ACC title (1,650 free in 2014) and fifth overall (800 free relay in 2014 and 2015).
“It was awesome to swim in the final with three of my teammates and see the team continue to swim well,” Smith said. “Coach (Cory) Chitwood just wanted me to swim my own race and just step on the gas pedal and don’t let go. Plus, it was really cool defending my title.”
Freshman Cece Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.) also earned All-ACC honors in the 500 free, finishing third in a time of 4:43.09. Junior Hanne Borgersen (Frederick, Md.) and senior Alison Haulsee (Glen Allen, Va.) placed fifth (4:43.52) and eighth (4:50.40), respectively.
In the 200 IM, sophomore Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) and junior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.) earned All-ACC honors, placing second and third in 1:56.38 and 1:56.53, respectively. Senior Ellen Williamson (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) finished fourth in 1:57.42.
The 200 free relay team of freshman Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.), sophomores Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) and Shannon Rauth (Glenmoore, Pa.) and Williamson placed third in a time of 1:29.52.
Thomas touched seventh in the 50 free in a time of 22.56.
Junior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) placed 12th in women’s 1-meter diving with a score of 273.90.
Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech women’s swimming & diving team finished the second day of the ACC Championships in fifth place at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, led by Kaylea Arnett, who took the bronze medal in the 1-meter diving event.
The H2Okies have a team score of 342 in fifth, trailing Louisville by 27 points. They lead sixth-place Miami by 75 points. Virginia leads all teams with a score of 486.
“We had some real strong moments today,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “Even though we had a couple bad breaks in placing during prelims, our ladies came back tonight and performed well in the finals. Our divers were once again rock solid on the boards and we have a lot of great opportunities ahead of us.”
Arnett posted a score of 333.45 in the 1-meter diving finals, earning the bronze medal. In a tight final event, Arnett trailed first-place finisher Katrina Young from Florida State by only four points. This is Arnett’s second medal of this year’s championships after she won the 3-meter title on Wednesday.
Ashley Buchter barely missed qualification for the evening 1-meter finals event, taking ninth place with a score of 281.50. The ninth-place finish is the sophomore’s highest finish in her career, besting last year’s 16th-place finish. Kelli Stockton finished just behind her in 11th place with a score of 274.60. Throughout her storied career, the senior has finished 14th (2014) and 9th (2013).
In the individual swimming events, Jessica Hespeler earned tenth-place after touching the wall in 4:43.26 - a new school record and personal-best time.
In the 200 IM, Fiona Donnelly set another school record, taking ninth-place after finishing in 1:58.36. Only a few spots behind her, Holly Harper took 13th with a time of 1:59.03. Laura Schwartz finished in 20th with a time of 2:02.35, and Mackenzie Stewart took 24th after clocking in at 2:02.76.
In the final event of the night, Tech’s 200 free relay team finished seventh with a time of 1:31.38 behind Margaret Parcell, Caroline Buscaglia, Holly Harper and Jessica Hespeler to earn Tech 46 team points.
