The 2016 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships got started with plenty of fireworks on Wednesday night as three records fell at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
The Louisville 200 medley relay and Virginia 800 freestyle relay squads set ACC records in the two swimming events of the night, and Cavalier junior Leah Smith posted a meet record in the 200 freestyle.
In the women’s 1-meter diving event, NC State’s Rachel Mumma claimed her first ACC title with a score of 331.85. In the men’s 3-meter event, Miami’s Briadam Herrara successfully defended his title with a score of 440.00 to close out Wednesday night’s competition.
After three events in the women’s meet, Miami leads with 155 points followed by North Carolina with 154, Louisville with 146.5, and NC State with 142. Virginia (140), Notre Dame (138), Duke (118), Virginia Tech (101), Pitt (99) Florida State (95), Georgia Tech (85.5), Boston College (60), and Clemson (28) round out the field.
Thursday’s action gets underway at 10 a.m. with the prelims for the 500 free, 200 individual medley, 50 free, and men’s 1-meter, with doors open to spectators at 9 a.m. The finals for those events, in addition to the 200 freestyle relay, will begin at 6 p.m.
Duke
The Blue Devil women kicked off the 2016 ACC Championships with a pair of program records Wednesday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Duke competed in one diving event and two relays to open the conference championship in seventh place.
Sophomore Verity Abel, freshman Maddie Hess, freshman Hunter Aitchison and junior Brittany Friese took down the school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay established at last year’s ACC meet. The group combined for a 7:13.26 clocking to shave over four seconds off the previous benchmark and finish ninth in the field. Abel’s leadoff time of 1:47.90 also reset the Blue Devils’ record in the 200 freestyle.
“The 800 free relay knocked off four, four and a half seconds off the school record, so we were very excited about that,” said head coach Dan Colella. “Verity Abel really got us going with a school record leading off with that 200 freestyle. There were a few swims tonight that we would have liked to see been a little bit better, but all in all, I think it was a really solid evening, something that we’re definitely going to build on.”
In the women’s 200 medley relay, the quartet of freshman Mickayla Hinkle, junior Ashleigh Shanley, sophomore Leah Goldman and junior Maddie Rusch improved upon their season-best time with a 1:38.10 performance. That mark placed them sixth in the field and second on Duke’s all-time performance list.
Duke’s divers opened the meet by competing in the women’s 1-meter springboard preliminaries. Freshman Mackenzie Willborn headlined the group with a 13th-place finish, totaling 279.70 points. Her highest-scoring dive of the day came in the second round, when she earned 54.60 points on a forward 2 ½ somersault for a 2.6 degree of difficulty.
Sophomore MaryEllen Targonski also earned a top-20 finish in 15th (275.55) while senior Kendall McClenney was 21st (260.45) and junior Kirby Quinn 30th (245.25).
On the men’s side, freshman Evan Moretti secured a spot in the 3-meter springboard finals after placing fifth in the event preliminaries. His score of 360.60 during the afternoon was just off his season-best.
In the championship final, Moretti got out to a strong start, scoring over 65 points on each of his first three dives. He opened the round with a forward 3 ½ somersault for a 3.1 degree of difficult that earned an award of 71.30 from the judges. The rookie from Scarsdale, N.Y., closed out his ACC Championship debut in fifth with a score of 354.15.
“I totally surprised myself,” Moretti said of his performances. “I just want to score points for the team as much as I can. The Duke team this year is so strong and such a great group of people that you want to score points for. It’s great to make an impact, knowing that the men’s team is going in with those points.”
Florida State
The 2016 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships got underway at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Wednesday as the Florida State swimming and diving teams competed in four events.
The meet began at 10 a.m. with the ladies first contesting on 1-meter, followed by the men on 3-meter. Between both FSU diving teams, five athletes combine for 60 total team points.
“Our kids did some great things today,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “They’re right there. They’re in it. I think we have a lot more left in the tank and hopefully we can have a better day tomorrow.”
Freshman Cassidy Gebhart scored the first points for the Seminoles by taking 14th in 1-meter diving with a final score of 277.95.
“Cassidy was solid today,” Proctor said. “She kept her head in it throughout the event and it’s great that she could score points for the team in her first event at this level.”
In men’s diving, junior Dylan Grisell placed seventh in prelims with a score of 352.05, advancing to finals. Grisell would move on and compete in five rounds of finals before withdrawing, finishing eighth with a score of 215.80.
Senior Kalonji Cole along with sophomores Tyler Roberge and Cameron Johnson all earned points in the event as Cole placed 14th with a score of 324.20. Roberge placed 18th (307.35) and Johnson was 20th (298.85).
“Kalonji and Cameron had great days today,” Proctor said. “They put forth some of the best dives I’ve ever seen them do. That’s all you can ask out of them and at the end of the day, they scored points for the team and I’m happy for them.”
The Seminoles started the swimming session off with a fifth place finish in the 200 medley relay with the team of senior Bianca Spinazzola, sophomore Natalie Pierce, freshman Lelia Johnson and sophomore Alexi Smith for a final time of 1:38.00.
“I thought it was a good lead off,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “Our exchanges were a little safe but overall we had a good relay.”
An hour later, the Seminoles placed 11th in the 800 free relay with the team of seniors Josie Cuda and Sami Pochowski followed by freshman Meg Brown and senior Madison Jacobi, with a time of 7:22.08.
“The first day is behind us,” Bradley said. “The stage is set and now it’s time for our kids to go out there and perform individually. They’ve put in the work. They just need to trust it and take care of business tomorrow.”
Florida State will head into tomorrow in 10th place with a total of 95 points.
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Tech divers and women’s swimmers had a big opening day at the ACC Championships, recording a personal-best dive and multiple school records in the pool.
After Day 1 of the ACC Championships, the Georgia Tech women are in 11th place with 85.5 points, while men’s divers recorded 51 points.
“I’m fired up about the great night we just had. We broke three school records in two events,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “Maddie Paschal also led off with a school-best 50 backstroke in the 200 medley relay. Obviously, Andrea Demick scoring for us was great, and getting our men’s meet started off with Brad Homza, Omar Eteiba and Matt Casillas scoring for us was very important, as well. It was a great way to start the meet, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow morning.”
The 200 medley relay team of Maddie Paschal, Florina Ilie, Laura Branton and Iris Wang broke the school-best mark with a time of 1:39.92, finishing 10th in the event. The previous record was set earlier this season at the Georgia Tech Invitational when Paschal, Ilie, Wang and Morgan Lyons recorded a time of 1:41.25. Paschal’s 50 backstroke leg in Greensboro was the best in school history.
In the 800 free relay, the quartet of Wang, Chiara Ruiu, Efrat Rotsztjen and Kira de Bruyn set the school record with a time of 7:12.73, finishing seventh overall. Wang opened the event with a school record, recording a 200 free time of 1:46.94.
In the men’s 3-meter dive, Brad Homza advanced to the finals with a personal-best score of 393.80 in the preliminaries. Homza finished sixth in the finals with a score of 330.30.
“Brad did a really great job getting into the final with a personal-best score,” diving coach John Ames said. “He hit his dives the best I’ve seen him do it. Unfortunately, in the final he landed halfway off the board on one of his dives and just couldn’t recover the dive. But he came back with his next tow dives really strong, so I’m very proud of him.”
In the women’s 1-meter, Andrea Demick was the best finisher for Tech, placing 19th with a score of 262.10.
Louisville
The 2016 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships started with two medals and two records for the University of Louisville swimming and diving team Wednesday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
The Louisville 200 medley relay and Virginia 800 freestyle relay squads set ACC records in the two swimming events of the night, and Cavalier junior Leah Smith posted a meet record in the 200 freestyle.
“It was a great first session,” said UofL head coach Arthur Albiero. “Two relays and two school records. The 200-medley relay was better than what we did at NCAA’s last year and the 800-free relay was a four second improvement over our previous record. More importantly, the team displayed incredible energy and it showed in our performance.”
After three events in the women’s meet, Miami leads with 155 points followed by North Carolina with 154, Louisville with 146.5, and NC State with 142. Virginia (140), Notre Dame (138), Duke (118), Virginia Tech (101), Pitt (99) Florida State (95), Georgia Tech (85.5), Boston College (60), and Clemson (28) round out the field.
In the first event of the evening, the Cards set a conference record in the 200-medley relay when they boarded a gold medal time of 1:35.43 posted by the foursome of Alina Kendzior (24.78), Andrea Kneppers (26.35), Kelsi Worrell (22.42),and Mallory Comerford (21.88). The time is currently the fastest in the nation for this event this year.
In the women’s 1-meter diving event, NC State’s Rachel Mumma claimed her first ACC title with a score of 331.85. In the men’s 3-meter event, Miami’s Briadam Herrara successfully defended his title with a score of 440.00 to close out Wednesday night’s competition. Louisville’s Andrea Aquista held her qualifying position and finished 7th with a score of 288 points.
“We got a good start for our divers,” said Albiero. “It was our first ACC Top 8 finish by Andrea Acquista and all four divers scored valuable points.”
Virginia became the first squad in ACC history to break seven minutes in the 800 freestyle relay in 6:59.9. The Cardinals crushed their own school record by four seconds with a bronze medal time of 7:01.01 put up by Andrea Kneppers (1:46.08), Abigail Houck (1:44.97), Marah Pugh (1:46.32) and Mallory Comerford (1:43.64).
N.C. State
The NC State women’s swimming and diving team had a strong start to its 2016 ACC Championships Wednesday evening, as star diver Rachel Mumma earned a gold medal in the one meter dive and the team earned top-three finishes in both relays contested.
Additionally, the Wolfpack notched three school records and two NCAA ‘A’ cuts inside Greensboro Aquatic Center.
After one day of competition, NC State sits in fourth place in the overall standings with 142 points. Miami leads with 155 points, while UNC-CH sits in second with 154 and Louisville is in third wirh 146.5 points.
"Today was a lot of fun. Congrats to our ladies for getting these championships off to a fantastic start. With getting on the podium in all three events tonight, I don't think we could've scripted it any better," said head coach Braden Holloway. "It was huge for our confidence walking away with three school records and an ACC Champion. Everyone was having a lot of fun and the energy was really high, and hats off to Rachel for getting her first ACC Championship title.
"We're really thrilled with the start, but it's a long meet and we have a lot of sessions left so we'll continue to take one session at a time. We'll show up tomorrow morning and get back to work."
'We couldn't be happier with Rachel. What a boost of confidence for our senior, program and recruiting efforts. People are taking notice of us and Rachel has played a big role in putting NC State diving on the map," said head diving coach Yahya Radman.
The Wolfpack’s 200 medley relay team of Ashlyn Koletic, Kayla Brumbaum, Natalie Labonge and Riki Bonnema earned a third-place finish with an NCAA ‘A’ standard time of 1:36.43. The performance marked the first ‘A’ cut the women’s team has tabbed this season as well as a school record. The team's performance marks the fifth-straight year the Wolfpack women have broken the school record in the event at the ACC Championships.
NC State managed to hold off Louisville in the 800 free relay for a second-place finish, as the squad of Rachel Muller, Alexia Zevnik, Michelle Craddock and Labonge swam a time of 7:00.53 to tab another NCAA ‘A’ cut and school record.
Muller’s 200 free leadoff split in the relay of 1:44.61 stands as a school record and NCAA 'B' cut.
Senior Rachel Mumma lead the Pack on the boards, as she entered the finals session of the one-meter dive as the top seed after tabbing a score of 307.55 in the morning session.
In the finals, the Harrisburg, Pa., native proceeded to place first in the overall standings with a score of 331.85 to notch the first championship title of her career. Her tile marks the first since 2010 for the Wolfpack's diving program.
Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team had a solid showing Wednesday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The team earned 138 points between the 1-meter diving competition and the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay races and currently is sixth in the standings.
"Tonight was a great start for us," head coach Mike Litzinger said. "Our 200 medley relay was very solid, with all four legs swimming well. Our divers were very good also, a tip of the hat to Emma Gaboury for making the finals, competing like a senior. Our 800 free was excellent too, especially the leadoff by Ella Moynihan. Her 1:45.4 lead off was the second fasted in Notre Dame history, an should get her into the NCAA Championship next month. Kyra Sarazen followed up with a 1:46 split, her best by three seconds, and both Molly Treble and Katie Miller were solid to wrap it up. As of now, we are winning our meet with effort and excitement, and we're ready to attack tomorrow."
In diving, Gaboury was the only diver to advance into the finals, finishing third in the morning prelims with a score of 305.60. Lindsey Streepey finished just outside of qualifying contention, settling for 10th place (281.80). Annie Crea took 17th (265.70), while freshman Deidre Worth scored 226.95 in her first ACC Championship outing.
In the 200 medley relay, the lineup of Catherine Mulquin, Danielle Margheret, Catherine Galletti and Sofia Revilak clocked in at 1:38.42. The team earned 46 points from their seventh place finish.
In the 800 free relay, Moynihan swam a leadoff split time of 1:45.46; Sarazen (1:46.63 split), Treble (1:50.02 split) and Miller (1:50.77 split) led the team into eighth place and earned 44 points towards the overall team standings. They touched the wall in 7:12.88.
James Lichtenstein and Zane Parker also competed in men’s 3-meter diving. Neither advanced to the finals, with Lichtenstein scoring 275.90 and Parker, 215.15.
Virginia
The No. 5 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team set two school records on the first day of the ACC Championships Wednesday (Feb. 17) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
After the first day of action, Virginia sits in fifth place with 140 points, behind Miami (155), North Carolina (154), Louisville (146.5) and NC State (142).
“I am very pleased with how the meet has started,” UVA head coach Augie Busch said. “We broke two school records tonight, yet left the pool knowing we have better swimming in us. Each team member is so excited to race and equally excited to invest their energy and emotion in each other, which is awesome to witness. The next three days present a huge challenge for us, but we are eager to take it head on.”
The Cavalier foursome of junior Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.), freshman Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), junior Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) and sophomore Jennifer Marrkand (Westport, Mass.) won the 800-yard free relay in an ACC and UVA-record time of 6:59.98. It is the ninth-consecutive year, the Cavaliers have won the event. UVA led from the start, with Smith’s lead-off 200 free clocking in at 1:43.15, a new ACC Championship record and second all-time at UVA. Smith’s time is also the top mark in the country this year.
The 200 medley relay team of senior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.), juniors Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) and Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) and sophomore Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) placed second in a school-record time of 1:35.57.
In women’s 1-meter diving, senior Katie Warburg (Wilton, Conn.) placed 11th with a score of 281.30, while fellow senior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) and sophomore Corey Johnson (Ambler, Pa.) placed 22nd and 24th, respectively.
In the men’s 3-meter diving competition, seniors Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.) and Jordan Sacks (Wilmette, Ill.) placed 10th (334.60) and 12th (325.25), respectively, while fellow senior Colby Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md.) finished 21st.
“We had some strong performances today, but we also have a lot of room for improvement,” UVA head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “We need to do better over the course of these next three days.”
