For the ninth straight year, Virginia is the ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Champion.
The Cavaliers won 10 of the 21 events event championships – eight individuals and two relays – and a total of 18 medals en route to the victory, the 14th overall in program history. The title is third straight under current head coach Augie Busch.
Virginia finished the meet with 1332.5 points in first place. NC State came in second with 1178 points, the highest finish for the Wolfpack since 1982.
North Carolina placed third with 1080 points, followed by Louisville (1059.5), Virginia Tech (705), Duke (642.5), Notre Dame (537.5), Miami (502.5), Florida State (444.5), Pitt (425), Georgia Tech (356), Boston College (152), and Clemson (86).
Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell was voted her as the 2016 ACC Championship Most Valuable Women’s Swimmer by the ACC coaches after winning five medals – including four gold – and setting four record sin the process.
“It’s so special,” said Worrell on winning the award. “It doesn’t just represent that I’ve done but that of our whole team. I’m just so proud of where we have come from. To have won it two years in a row for Louisville with Tanya [Kylliainen] winning last year – to keep that in our name is so special.”
Miami’s Wally Layland was voted as the 2016 ACC Championship Most Valuable Women’s diver by the league’s head coaches. The sophomore finished second in the 1-meter, seventh in the 3-meter, and second on the platform to earn 79 points for the Hurricanes.
On the men’s side, Georgia Tech’s Brad Homza was fourth in the 1-meter, sixth on the 3-meter, and closed out the meet with a gold medal on the platform.
Fourteen new marks were set on the week: two NCAA, six ACC, and six meet records. Louisville and Virginia each set six and NC State added two.
Among those record-breaking performances was Cavalier Leah Smith’s swim in the 1650 freestyle.
The junior from set two NCAA records in the process of winning the 1650 freestyle at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. She passed 1,000 yards in 9:20.15, a new collegiate best, and won the race in 15:25.30, more than two seconds faster the previous record that had stood since 2014.
Smith’s teammate Courtney Bartholomew closed out her ACC career at the 2016 Championship and cemented her place in the record books.
The senior became the second women’s swimmer in league history to sweep the 100 and 200 backstroke four times. In addition to her victory in this week’s 200 individual medley, Bartholomew finishes her career with nine individual championships, a Virginia record and tied for the third most in ACC history.
Virginia
The No. 5 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team captured its ninth-consecutive ACC Championship Saturday (Feb. 20) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
UVA finished with 1,332.5 points, ahead of NC State (1,178), North Carolina (1,080) and Louisville (1,059.5). Virginia Tech was fifth with 705, followed by Duke (642.5), Notre Dame (537.5), Miami (502.5), Florida State (444.5), Pitt (425), Georgia Tech (356), Boston College (152) and Clemson (86).
“What an amazing group of women we have on this team,” UVA head coach Augie Busch said. “They epitomize 'team' on a daily basis with their attitude, effort and unwavering support for their teammates and their incredible enthusiasm for their teammates' achievements. To say they are a special group to coach is an understatement.
“What they did this weekend was nothing short of remarkable and the highlights are too numerous to count. I am so happy for our fourth-years and so grateful for what they have invested in this program. Their legacies will be forever etched in the illustrious tradition of UVA swimming and diving. We will enjoy this championship yet know that what lies ahead (NCAA Championships) is the focus of our team. We are excited to regroup, go back to work and take aim at accomplishing more amazing things in Atlanta.”
To lead off the night, junior Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) broke the NCAA record in the 1,650-yard free in a time of 15:25.30, which also moves Smith into third all-time in the event, behind only Olympic medalists Katie Ledecky and Katie Hoff. During the race, Smith recorded a 1,000 free split of 9:20.15, which is also a new NCAA record.
It is Smith’s seventh ACC individual event win, tying her for the third-most in school history. Smith has won the 1,650 free and the 500 free three times each and had a win in the 200 free in 2015.
Also in the 1,650 free, senior Hanne Borgersen (Frederick, Md.) placed fourth with a time of 16:07.60, which is seventh on UVA’s all-time list. Fellow senior Haley Durmer (Decatur, Ga.) was ninth in 16:20.98.
Following that, senior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.) became a four-time champion in the 200 back, clocking a time of 1:49.90. It is Bartholomew’s ninth ACC individual title, which is the most in program history and is tied for second in conference history. Bartholomew also became the fifth ACC swimmer, male or female, to win two individual events four times. She won the 100 back for the fourth time Friday.
Freshman Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) placed fourth in the 200 back in a time of 1:52.65, which ranks third on UVA’s all-time list.
In the 200 breast, junior Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) successfully defended her ACC title with a time of 2:06.86. Natalie Martin was eighth in 2:14.28.
The final individual swimming event, the 200 fly, was won by junior Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) in a time of 1:54.65. Her prelim time of 1:54.64 ranks second on UVA’s all-time list, while sophomore Jennifer Marrkand (Westport, Mass.) placed third in 1:55.87, which ranks fourth on UVA’s all-time list.
In the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay, the team of Moroney, juniors Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) and Shannon Rauth (Glenmoore, Pa.) and Bartholomew placed second in a school-record time of 3:13.45, which ranks second nationally.
In the 100 free, Rauth placed sixth in a time of 48.97, while Thomas was eighth in 49.29.
Two Virginia divers made the championship finals, as senior Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.) finished 7th in men's platform diving with a score of 339.15 while fellow senior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) placed eight in women’s platform diving with a total mark of 228.15.
“I am really happy with the divers’ performances today and this week overall,” UVA head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “Becca and Carl did especially well today. We are excited to get it going again at Zones.”
Next up, the UVa men’s swimmers will compete at the ACC Championships, to be held in Greensboro, Feb. 24-27.
Duke
Sophomore Mary Ellen Targonski captured All-ACC honors in platform diving to highlight the final day of competition at the 2016 Women’s ACC Championship. The Blue Devil women closed out the four-day conference meet in sixth place with a total of 642.5 points.
The sixth-place finish was the highest for the women’s program since Duke took sixth at the 2010 ACC Championship.
"We are really excited that we made a nice jump,” said head coach Dan Colella. “It's us really getting ready to make some moves here. This is a conference that in the past three years has become one of the most competitive conferences in the country. It's exciting to be a part of … Our goal has been to try to finish in the top five, and we were just shy of that. I'm sure when we look back , there are going to be places where we could have made up that difference, but all in all, we had some really great performances tonight.”
Targonski reached the platform championship final for the second consecutive year after totaling 251.50 points in the preliminaries. During Saturday evening’s final, the Gastonia, N.C., native earned an award of 72.00 on her second dive, a forward 3 ½ somersault for a 3.00 degree of difficulty, to move up to second place. She finished her list with a back 1 ½ somersault with 1 ½ twist that netted 51.25 points, solidifying her podium finish in third.
Targonski’s final score of 286.85 ranked her second on Duke’s all-time performance list. In addition, she became the first Blue Devil diver to garner All-ACC accolades since Jessica Lyden did so on the 3-meter in 2012. Freshman Mackenzie Willborn (230.50) also scored for Duke in 13th place.
“Mary Ellen finaled last year, and it's really nice to see someone final again,” said head diving coach Nunzio Esposto. “She really performed well, better than she did last year and this morning. It's always nice to begin the first two rounds with dives for 7.5s, 8s. She even got a 9 on her two-and-a-half pike, so when you start off the meet like that, it really gives you the confidence to perform really well.”
The Blue Devils also shined in the pool, placing four swimmers in the 200-yard butterfly finals. Sophomore Isabella Paez turned in a record-breaking performance in the championship final, surpassing her own mark with a 1:56.10 clocking to come in fourth. Sophomore Anna Quinn and junior Colleen Wixted advanced to the consolation final, taking 11th and 13th, respectively, while junior Brittany Friese tied for 19th overall.
Freshman Hunter Aitchison opened the evening session by finishing 20th in the 1,650 freestyle. Aitchison completed the mile in 16:55.67 to rank eighth in program history, while her 1,000 split of 10:12.30 was good for seventh on Duke’s all-time list.
Sophomore Maddie Hess headlined a trio of Blue Devils in the 200 backstroke, finishing 10th in 1:56.10. Classmate Mickayla Hinkle joined Hess in the consolation final, taking 12th (1:56.70) and junior Liza Bragg earned a spot in the bonus final, coming in 22nd (1:59.02).
In the 100 freestyle, junior Maddie Rusch posted the fourth-fastest mark in school history at 49.55. That placed her 18th in the field, while sophomore Leah Goldman followed in 23rd (50.27). Junior Ashleigh Shanley was the squad’s highest finisher in the 200 breaststroke, finishing 26th in preliminaries (2:17.22).
Hess, Rusch, senior Chelsea Ye and Goldman combined for a fifth-place showing in the 400 freestyle, stopping the clock at 3:17.77.
The men’s platform diving event was also held Saturday, with freshman Evan Moretti leading the Blue Devils in ninth place. Moretti garnered a season-best award of 319.90, and Josh Owsiany netted 295.15 points in a 14th-place finish. Lee Christensen also scored in 22nd (267.90).
The 642.5 points totaled by the Duke women over the four days in Greensboro were over 160 more than the team’s total in 2015. The Blue Devils moved up four spots from a year ago with the sixth-place finish and broke six program records.
Virginia claimed its ninth consecutive ACC title with 1332.5 total points while NC State was second (1178) and North Carolina third (1080).
The Blue Devil men take their turn at the ACC Championship next week, with the meet beginning Wednesday and running through Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Finals sessions Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Florida State
The 2016 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships came to a close at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday night as three members of the Florida State swimming and diving teams placed in the top eight of their individual events.
“I think our divers battled hard through the up’s and down’s of the meet and really did a nice job,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “We had some swimmers step up throughout the week and we had some great swims, but I think our divers did awesome.”
Florida State put two divers into the championship finals of the platform as freshman Cassidy Gebhart finished fifth in the women’s event with a score of 254.85 after qualifying for her first A final in fourth (263.10).
“Cassidy had a solid day on tower,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “This was her event and she had a solid day and I’m happy she earned a spot in finals.”
For the men, junior Dylan Grisell battled back after sitting out of 1-meter on Thursday following his eighth place showing on 3-meter.
The Toronto, Ont. native tallied a score of 369.90 in prelims, but finished with a score of 323.50 for eighth.
“You know Dylan didn’t look good after 3-meter,” Proctor said. “But he wanted to compete today and I mean, he just didn’t want to go through the motions with a watered down list. He got up there, even though he wasn’t at full strength and did his regular list and really put together some awesome dives.”
The Seminoles had nine opportunities in the final session to score points, including freshman Summer Finke in the top heat of the 1650 free.
Finke paced herself under the 30-second barrier for the majority of the race, placing fourth in the heat with a career best time of 16:17.59. The rookie finished sixth overall, holding her place in fourth on the FSU all-time top 10 list.
“Summer’s mile was awesome,” Bradley said. “She paced herself well and she has a shot to qualify for NCAA’s in that event.”
In addition to Finke, junior Katy Stringfield competed in the first heat of the 1650 free, scoring 22nd points with a time of 16:59.11.
Following Finke’s effort, freshman Meg Brown split a 29.81 on the final 50 yards of her 200 back in order to win the C final of the race with a personal best time of 1:56.65. She also remains in fourth on the all-time list with that performance.
Senior Sami Pochowski placed 19th in the 100 free behind a time of 49.77 after posting a 49.68 in the morning prelims for 17th.
Junior Caroline Neil captured her third personal best time of the meet, by swimming a time of 2:14.40 in the B final of the 200 breast for 14th place.
“What a meet she had,” Bradley said. “This week was a game-changer for her and hopefully she looks at it and heads into her senior year on a mission.”
Also swimming in the C final was sophomore, Natalie Pierce who clocked a 2:18.80 for 24th place.
In her second final of the evening, Brown won the B final of the 200 fly in similar fashion to her 200 back, as she out split the leader by over a second in order to take ninth at 1:57.45. It was the third fastest swim in FSU history as well as a personal best.
“Meg Brown is a swimmer you want on your team,” Bradley said. “She pulled off a tough double today and in both races tonight, she had a great last 50 in order to win her heat. She had to overcome a lot this season and watching her race is so much fun. She fights for it until the end.”
In addition to Gebhart and Grisell, senior Kalonji Cole posted scores about 50 points on three of his six dives in prelims, including a 66.00 to start the round. Following his fifth dive from 5-meter where he scored 65.10, the Tallahassee native posted a score of 46.80 after scoring 6.5 and 7.0 on his final dive for a total of 314.20.
“Kalonji was so close to that final again,” Proctor said. “After his fifth dive, he knew that he didn’t have a shot to make the final with his last dive. So he just wanted to go for it and changed the dive to one that was a little tougher. He didn’t warm it up or even compete it in nearly two years, but he went for it and I’m so proud of him. He was awesome this week.”
Sophomore Tyler Roberge battled through a few tough dives, scoring a total of 313.40, following Cole in 12th. His classmate, Blaire Mulka produced a 16th place finish with a score of 224.85.
“This was one of the best meets Blaire had, ever,” Proctor said. “She improved, scored points in two events and had a blast. I was very proud of her today.”
The Seminoles finished the night behind a ninth place finish in the 400 free relay with the team of Pochowski, junior Lydia Ware, sophomore Brenna Ruth and senior Josie Cuda with a time of 3:20.44.
“Looking back on this meet I thought we performed well in spots,” Bradley said. “We have a young group and I think they’ll take a lot from this meet and build on it for the next seasons to come.”
Florida State held off Pittsburgh to finish in ninth place with a total of 444.5. The Seminoles will have 134 points from diving heading into the men’s swimming portion of the meet, which will run from Feb. 24-27. It was the third highest total behind Virginia Tech (247) and Georgia Tech (149).
The Seminoles will remain in Greensboro for a time trial session on Sunday, which will be in long course meters.
“The meet is over but we can still do so great things tomorrow,” Bradley said. “The goal is to get as many Olympic Trial cuts as possible. We need to rest up and get ready for tomorrow.”
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Tech women’s swimmers set school records for the fourth straight day at the ACC Championships, recording program bests in the 100 free, 200 breast and 400 free relay. Diver Brad Homza also won the gold medal in the platform dive.
At the end of the week, the Georgia Tech women finished in 11th place with 356 points, while men’s divers recorded 149 points.
“I’m very happy with the entire meet,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “I thought our women did an outstanding job. We broke 11 women’s swimming records along with a men’s diving record this week, which was awesome. I’m super excited for Brad Homza – not only to win the platform, but to also be named ACC Most Valuable Diver. I’m really proud of these girls for the way they fought the whole week. We rewrote the Georgia Tech record book, which is just great. We’re heading in the right direction, and we’re looking forward to training this summer. Also, we can’t wait to see what our men can accomplish next week.”
The evening was highlighted by the effort of Homza, who set a school record of 436.25 in the platform finals to take the top spot in the competition and the school record. Additionally, he was named Most Valuable Diver by the coaches.
“Brad was great today,” diving coach John Ames said. “He put himself in position to win, and had to do the most difficult dive in his list at the end for 7's to win, and he came through with 8's. Earning MVP was icing on the cake, but even more important was that all the divers contributed to put the men's team solidly in second place going into the swimming portion next week. For the women, Maddy Young dove very well on platform, finishing in 12th. I was very proud of all the divers this week.”
In the pool, Iris Wang broke the 100 free record on three separate occasions. She recorded a time of 49.28 in the prelims, only to surpass it in the B final of the event with a time of 49.26. She would break it a third time during her leg of the 400 free relay, lowering the record to 48.98. Wang, Efrat Rotsztejn, Kira de Bruyn and Chiara Ruiu also broke the 400 free relay school record in that race with a time of 3:20.51.
Another record came in the 200 breast when Darelle Cowley set a school-best mark of 2:14.24 in the prelims. However, Ruiu would break it in the B final of the event, recording a time of 2:13.30.
The men’s swimmers will be in action at the ACC Championships Feb. 24-27 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
For the second time in program history, Georgia Tech and the McAuley Aquatic Center will serve as the host site for the 2016 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The Women’s Championships will be held March 16-19, followed by the Men’s Championships March 23-26. Georgia Tech previously hosted the 2006 NCAA Championships and the CRC was also the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics swimming and diving competitions.
Louisville
The University of Louisville women’s swimming and diving picked up two more gold medals and Cardinal star, Kelsi Worrell, was named the ACC Most Valuable Swimmer after the fourth and final night of competition at the ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
“It was another day of great performances with two more school records, an ACC record, and two ACC titles, including our first ACC diving title in Platform,” said UofL coach Arthur Albiero. “Even though the final team scores did not break out way, I am proud of how we performed all week. We learned a bit more about our team, and that will help us for NCAAs.”
But it was the Cavaliers who won the team crown, winning 10 of the 21 events event championships – eight individuals and two relays – and a total of 18 medals en route to the victory, the 14th overall in program history. The title is third straight under current head coach Augie Busch. Fourteen new marks were set on the week: two NCAA, six ACC, and six meet records. Louisville and Virginia each set six and NC State added two.
Virginia finished the meet with 1332.5 points in first place. NC State came in second with 1178 points, the highest finish for the Wolfpack since 1982. North Carolina placed third with 1080 points, followed by Louisville (1059.5), Virginia Tech (705), Duke (642.5), Notre Dame (537.5), Miami (502.5), Florida State (444.5), Pitt (425), Georgia Tech (356), Boston College (152), and Clemson (86).
Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell was voted her as the 2016 ACC Championship Most Valuable Women’s Swimmer by the ACC coaches after winning five medals – including four gold – and setting four records in the process.
“It’s so special,” said Worrell on winning the award. “It doesn’t just represent that I’ve done but that of our whole team. I’m just so proud of where we have come from. To have won it two years in a row for Louisville with Tanya [Kylliainen] winning last year – to keep that in our name is so special.”
In the first event, Virginia’s Leah Smith set the NCAA, ACC, and meet record in the 1650 freestyle tonight, clocking a 15:25.30 to break Brittany Maclean’s 15:27.84 set in 2014. She dropped more than nine seconds of her previous best time of 15:34.46 from last year’s NCAA championships. Uofl’s Marah Pugh took 10th place in 16:33.20. Freshman Emily Moser was14th in 16:40.59.
In the 200-back, freshman Alina Kendzior touched in eighth in the A Final, boarding a time of 1:56.25. Ashley LeClair dropped more than a second from her preliminary time to get the win in the B Final with a 1:55.18. Hannah Magnuson finished seventh in 1:57.46 in that heat.
Louisville star, Kelsi Worrell, set a new meet and conference record in the women’s 100 free. Her time of 47.30 shaved time off her record from this morning, and put her on back top of the podium tonight. Her freshman teammate Mallory Comerford made it a Louisville 1-2 sweep, swimming a personal best 48.31 to win the silver medal. Louisville’s Andrea Kneppers also cut time from her prelim to get the fifth place in the 100 for C final in 49.90.
Virginia’s Laura Simon brought home the ACC championship title in the 200 breast. Simon touched the wall in 2:06.86 to secure the gold. Louisville’s Andrea Cottrell was also under the 2:10 barrier to take home the silver as she took 2nd place with a 2:07.42. Louisville freshman Rachael Bradford Feldman touched fifth in 2:11.55 for a new personal best. Her teammate Lauren James tied for second in the B Final in 2:13.30, dropping 0.6 from her morning time for a personal best time. In the C- final, Lucy Kramer took the fifth place in 2:16.75, and Manuela Sampaio was seventh in 2:17.31.
In the 200-fly, UVAs Kaitlyn Jones posted a 1:54.65 to earn the gold. Abbie Houck touched in 6th position in the 200 Fly A Final in 1:57.08. UofL’s Devon Bibault finished 3rd in the C-Final in 2:00.15 dropping 2.5 seconds.
Diver Andrea Acquista pulled the upset of the meet when she won the platform diving with a score of 318.15 and Miami’s Wally Layland (300.80) and Duke’s Maryellen Targnoski (286.85). Favorite Elisa Dawson of UNC, fell out of medal contention and finished fourth with 265.40. Senior Mady Ingmire was 11th with 238 points.
Miami’s Wally Layland was voted as the 2016 ACC Championship Most Valuable Women’s diver by the league’s head coaches. The sophomore finished second in the 1-meter, seventh in the 3-meter, and second on the platform to earn 79 points for the Hurricanes.
On the men’s side, Georgia Tech’s Brad Homza was fourth in the 1-meter, sixth on the 3-meter, and closed out the meet with a gold medal on the platform. UofL’s Sean Piner finished 19th on the platform (10m) diving competition with 286 points. Dan Fecteau is 24th with 267 points.
In the final event of the evening the 400-free relay, the fastest split of any relay belonged to Kelsi Worrell, who swam the leadoff leg, tying her meet and conference record of 47.30 set earlier in the session. The Louisville foursome of Kelsi Worrell (47.30), Abbie Houck (49.67), Andrea Kneppers (49.44) and Alex Sellers (49.18) touched fourth with a time of 3:15.59.
North Carolina
Led by a school record setting 400-yard freestyle relay team and a third medals podium appearance by Hellen Moffitt in two days, the University of North Carolina women’s swimming and diving team finished third Saturday in the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatics Center.
UNC’s 400-yard freestyle relay team finished off the day on a high note as it touched in 3:13.75, an automatic qualifying time for the 2016 NCAA Championships next month in Atlanta. The previous Tar Heel school record was 3:14.39 set in 2014. The Tar Heel relay included Caroline Baldwin (49.13), Ally Hardesty (48.27), Sarah Hitchens (48.01) and Lauren Earp (48.34).
The Tar Heels finished third in the team standings with 1,080 points behind Virginia (1,332.5) and NC State (1,178). After Carolina, the rest of the field included Louisville with 1,059.5 points, Virginia Tech with 705 points, Duke with 642.5 points, Notre Dame with 537.5 points, Miami with 502.5 points, Florida State with 444.5 points, Pittsburgh with 425 points, Georgia Tech with 356 points, Boston College with 152 points and Clemson with 86 points.
“Our goal is always to be in contention to win an ACC title,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “So while third place is not where we wish to be, I’m proud of the team for fighting back from a Thursday where we did not score as many points as we could have or should have. it was a great to see the fight in many of our team members the past two days and continuing through this evening, culminating in an outstanding relay.”
North Carolina’s third place finish continues a long streak of consistency in ACC Championships competition for the Tar Heels. They have finished first, second or third in every championship meet since the inaugural event in 1979.
“Of particular note this evening were swims by Hellen Moffitt and Annie Harrison in the 200 back, both in the “A” final, and turning in tremendous times,” said DeSelm. “Our four 100 yard freestylers - all of whom had a tremendous meet – Sarah Hitchens, Caroline Baldwin, Lauren Earp and Ally Hardesty – would go on to set a school record in the 400 free relay and earn an NCAA automatic qualifying time. I also want to commend Abby Fisher who did a lifetime best this morning in the 200 breast and is now third all-time in that event at UNC. I’m also proud of all of our flyers and especially senior Emma Nunn who had a tremendous meet, exhibited a lot of leadership and shows that hard work pays off.”
The Tar Heels started the evening with three swimmers in the timed final of the 1650-yard freestyle. Freshman Robyn Dryer placed 15th with a time of 16:40.63, while junior Macey Arnold was 17th in 16:48.93 and sophomore Madison Boswell was 23rd in 17:08.52.
Junior Hellen Moffitt finished up a tremendous 2016 ACC Championships effort by finishing third in the 200-yard backstroke. That marked her third appearance on the medals platform over the past two days after taking second in the 100-yard butterfly and third in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday.
Moffitt dropped almost three seconds off her preliminary time Saturday to take third in the event in 1:52.35, well under her previous career best time of 1:53.86. In the process she also broke the University record of 1:53.08 set by Carly Smith in 2011. Senior Annie Harrison was also a championship finalist in the event as she placed sixth with a time of 1:55.47 while sophomore Emily Slabe earned a spot in the “B” final where she was 14th with a time of 1:57.42 (1:56.74 in prelims).
The Tar Heels’ sprint freestyle unit turned in a tremendous effort in the 100-yard freestyle where four student-athletes placed between fifth and 11th in the event. Lauren Earp led the charge for the Tar Heels with a fifth-place finish in a time of 48.76, just nine-tenths of a second off her career best time. Senior Ally Hardesty was seventh in 49.01 after matching her career best time in the preliminaries at 48.77. In the “B” final, Caroline Baldwin captured the heat in a career best 48.76 and Sarah Hitchens was 11th in a career best 48.99. Earp, Baldwin and Hardesty now rank 1-2-3 all-time in the 100 freestyle in Carolina history and Hitchens is now sixth.
The Tar Heels had three scorers in the 200-yard breaststroke with junior Abby Fisher taking sixth place in 2:11.71 after going a career best 2:10.78 in the preliminaries. Fisher’s time moves her into third place on the all-time list of performers at Carolina behind only Laura Moriarty and Layne Brodie. Katie Munch finished 18th overall in the event in 2:14.71 and Emily Pfeiffer was 20th in 2:15.42.
Carolina’s 200-yard butterfly corps turned in a solid performance in the event led by senior Emma Nunn’s final ACC Championships swim of a distinguished career. The veteran Tar Heel placed fifth with a time of 1:56.64. Two Tar Heels were in the “B” final with Sarah Koucheki taking 10th in 1:57.93 and Madison Boswell nabbing 12th place in 1:59.62. Caty Hulsey placed 22nd in a time of 2:02.18. Boswell had a career best time of 1:58.59 in the preliminaries, a clocking that moved her into the 10th spot all-time at Carolina.
UNC sophomore Elissa Dawson was a championship finalist for the third time in three days as the Durham, N.C. native captured fourth place in the 10-meter diving competition with a score of 265.40 points. Freshman Maria Lohman was 26th with a score of 190.80 points.
The men’s 10-meter platform diving competition was held in conjunction with the women’s meet. The points earned by UNC’s Ozzie Moyer and Jack Nyquist will be added into the total in the men’s ACC swimming championships which will be held in Greensboro next Wednesday through Saturday. Senior Ozzie Moyer finished 16th in the event with a score of 293.40 and junior Jack Nyquist was 17th with a total of 290.55 points.
“Our seniors competing in the ACC’s and those not selected for the conference team played a vital role in our successes over the last four years and I’d like to thank them for their hard work, leadership and contributions in the classroom, within the UNC community and obviously in the pool,” said DeSelm.
UNC’s senior class includes Maddy Burns, Rachel Canty, Lauren Earp, Annie Goessling, Ally Hardesty, Annie Harrison, Alli Haufler, Emma Nunn, Erin Purdy, Kacy Rhyne and Kendall Surhoff.
“We have some things that we can do better,” said DeSelm, “but we are looking forward to the NCAA Championships and improving on our 19th place finish of last year.”
N.C. State
The 10th-ranked NC State women’s swimming and diving team capped off a dominant showing at the 2016 ACC Championships Saturday night with a 400 freestyle relay event title and second-place finish in the team standings.
The team finish marks the highest placement for the program at the conference championship since 1982 under Bob Weincken.
Virginia captured the championship title with 1,332.5 points, while the Wolfpack racked up 1,178 points and UNC-Chapel Hill rounded out the top three with a total of 1,080.
Over four days of competition and 21 events contested, NC State’s women broke 17 school records, landed on the podium in 15 events and had nine competitors receive All-ACC honors for their efforts.
The 400 freestyle relay of Alexia Zevnik, Riki Bonnema, Courtney Caldwell and Natalie Labonge coasted its way to a school, conference and ACC meet record time of 3:11.90 to capture the program’s second-straight event title.
The time also stands as an NCAA qualifying mark, while Zevnik broke the 100 free school record with her leadoff split of 47.95. Additionally, Caldwell picked up the first All-ACC mention of her career.
The Wolfpack had all four of its 200 butterfly competitors advance to the evening session. Lydia Jones finished seventh in the event with a time of 1:59.34, but broke her school record in the morning after tabbing a mark of 1:57.64.
In the C final of the event Yuri Nakano and Morgan Carr notched career-best performances, as Nakano swam a time of 1:58.94 to post the No. 2 time in the record book and Carr touched the wall at 2:00.14 to earn the No. 6 time in program history.
Hannah Moore and Rachel Muller earned second and third-place finishes in the 1,650 free, in respective order. Moore posted a school record pace of 15:50.46 to tab an NCAA ‘A’ cut, beating the previously set time by nearly 26 seconds. Muller touched the wall at 16:02.15 to post a career-best mark and All-ACC honors.
In the 1,650 free prelims, Shelly Craddock highlighted the event as she finished 11th in the overall standings with a time of 16:20.96. Her performance stands as the third-fastest time in program history.
NC State had all five of its 100 free competitors return to the finals session of the event. Bonnema was the top finisher of the event as the stopped the clock at 48.50 to place third, while Labonge finished fourth .01 seconds behind her teammate to tab the No. 3 time in the record book.
Courtney Caldwell highlighted the 100 free ‘B’ final, as she notched a career-best performance with a time of 48.95. Her swim stands as the No. 4 time in program history.
Kayla Brumbaum earned a fourth-place finish in the overall standings of the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:10.29. In the morning session, she managed to break her school record as she touched the wall at 2:09.69.
Zevnik earned her third runner-up finish of the meet, as she posted a time of 1:51.26 in the 200 backstroke to beat her school record and tab an NCAA ‘A’ cut.
On platform, senior Rachel Mumma finished ninth with a score of 244.45, while junior Gabi McDermott posted a lifetime-best mark of 203.30 to finish 22nd in the standings. Both divers managed to contribute valuable points towards the team’s total.
“Overall it was a good day. Gabi walked away with a lifetime best on platform, marking two for her this week as she had one on three-meter as well. She did a big dive for the first time in competition and did very well, but more importantly she scored points today for the team,” said head diving coach Yahya Radman. “We couldn’t be happier for her, she has come a long way in the past year and has improved a tremendous amount.
“For Rachel, she did the best she could but ended up on the wrong side again finishing ninth. Today served as an opportunity to see where she is on the apparatus though to help us gear up for Zones and NCAAs.”
The Wolfpack women will return to Raleigh to prepare for the NCAA Championships in March, while the men will take its trip to Greensboro, N.C., Feb. 24-27 for the 2016 ACC Men’s Swimming Championship.
Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team finished seventh at the 2015 ACC Championship. The Irish scored 537.5 points over four days of competition, with numerous top times swam throughout the meet.
“I thought we worked really hard, and competed as best as we could this year,” head coach Mike Litzinger said. “This is an unbelievably fast meet, and it just gets better and better every year. For us to be here, and finish seventh, I’m pretty happy with that. We’re a work in progress, the girls know that, the staff knows that, and we’re going to keep working hard and improving.”
Saturday’s races included the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 1650 free, before culminating in the 400 free relay. The Irish advanced seven swimmers into various finals heats in the back, breast and fly events.
“As for the meet within the meet, I thought we handled that pretty well,” Litzinger commented on the team’s goals for the week, “We accomplished some of our goals, but we also left some stuff on the table. It’s up to us as a staff to find a way to take care of those items for next year. The good news is that Ella [Moynihan] is probably going on to race at NCAAs, and we have a diving regional in a few weeks, so our season isn’t over just yet.”
In the 200 back, freshman Alice Treuth swam a 1:55.44 in the prelims, and finished seventh in the A final heat (1:55.84). Kyra Sarazen touched the wall in 1:56.63, earning her a spot in the B final where she finished 13th (1:56.82). Katie Miller clocked in at 1:58.63 in her prelim, finishing 20th overall in the C final (1:58.72). All six swims were NCAA B-cut times.
In the 100 free, junior Catherine Mulquin had the top time of 50.29, good for 27th in the overall standings. Ella Moynihan (50.32) touched in at 29th, and Sofia Revilak (50.40) came in 31st.
In the 200 breast, senior Genevieve Bradford finished her career with the highest finish for the Irish. After swimming a 2:15.28 in the morning, she placed 16th in the B final (2:16.01). Junior Danielle Margheret qualified for the C final with her 2:16.04 prelim, and swam a 2:14.90 time in the evening to place 19th. Freshman Meaghan O’Donnell also advanced into the C final (2:16.95 prelims), finishing 22nd (2:16.93). Sherri McIntee (2:17.70) and Alyssa Storino (2:19.10) also swam in the morning prelims.
In the 200 fly, Nicole Smith was the only swimmer to advance, on the strength of her 1:59.71 time. She finished 15th (2:00.92). Paige Kaplan and Ellie Berdusco also swam in the prelims, with Kaplan touching in at 35th (2:03.16) and Berdusco, 32nd (2:07.74).
The only Irish entrant in the 1650 free, Molly Treble did not disappoint, swimming the mile in 16:54.12 and finishing 19th.
In platform diving, five of the six divers (men’s and women’s) competed, with Lindsey Streepey finishing 10th (242.40) and Emma Gaboury, 17th (222.85). Annie Crea scored 184.80 and Deidre Worth, 126.25. James Lichtenstein was the sole entrant for the men’s squad, finishing 13th in the standings with his score of 299.15.
In the last race of the night, the 400 free relay, the school-record lineup of Mulquin, Moynihan, Revilak and Catherine Galletti let the gas pedal down and finished in 3:21.08, earning 32 points towards the team standings. Mulquin swam a lead split-time of 50.07, while Moynihan clocked in at 50.00, Revilak, 49.92 and Galletti, 51.09.
For Lichtenstein’s and teammate Zane Parker’s efforts, the men’s team earned 24 points before the swimming portion of their championship begins Wednesday, February 24.
Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh women’s swimming and men’s and women’s diving teams concluded action in the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships Saturday from the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
In total, the Panthers took home a total of 425.00 points, finishing 79.00 points ahead of Georgia Tech and 19.50 points behind Florida State for 10th place.
For the weekend, the Panthers had a solid performance, as the team set a total of eight school records.
“We finished the last day of the meet with some nice swims, especially in the 1650 freestyle and the 200 relay,” said head coach Chuck Knoles.
The teams’ divers highlighted the conference meet, as sophomore Meme Sharp took home the 3M gold, and Dominic Giordano earned a pair of bronze medals in the 1M and the 3M.
Sharp, posted a school record 360.00 in the 3M competition, taking home the first place title.
In the 3M, Sharp trailed both Elissa Dawson of North Carolina and Rebecca Corbet of Virginia by over eight points with just two dives remaining. Sharp posted a 64.50 and a 58.50 on her final two dives to come from behind and overtake Corbet and Dawson. Sharp was the first ACC women’s gold medalist in school history.
In the pool, Pitt also enjoyed success, as Kinga Chichowska competed in the A finals in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke. Chichowska reached the finals of the 100 breaststroke, by breaking her own school record. In the A final, Chichowska again broke her own personal and school record, posting a time of 1:00.90.
Sophomore Katie Fernander, a Pittsburgh native, won the B final of the 200 breaststroke in Saturday’s finals.
Other highlights of the week included Pitt senior captain Blair Wegescheide finishing first (54.12) in the 100 backstroke C final, and junior Amanda Richey winning the 400 IM C final.
Wegescheide edged out Louisville’s Kenzie Buss by one, one-hundredth of a second, while Amanda Richey earned the Panthers a crucial nine points when she took the 400 IM C title.
“It was a back-and-forth battle between us, Georgia Tech and Florida State the last two days. It’s exciting to know that we will have some athletes this year at the NCAA Championships in March,” added Knoles. “The season is all about participating and scoring well in the “Big Dance”. We look forward to the long course season, Olympic Trials and then the 2016-17 season.”
The Pitt men’s swimming team will head back the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Wednesday morning to compete in the Men’s ACC Swimming Championships.
The Pitt women’s team will have a few swimmers competing in the Olympic Trial Cuts tomorrow morning in Greensboro.
Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech women’s team completed the 2016 ACC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships with a strong final day to finish fifth in the competition.
The Hokies were led by medal performances for the second straight day from both Klaudia Nazieblo and Weronika Paluszek who earned a silver and bronze medal, respectively. Nazieblo got a silver medal in the 200 fly while Paluszek earned her bronze in the 200 breast. The pair each earned an individual silver and bronze during the weekend finals.
“The women were awesome and really rallied around the cause today. There were so many that contributed and of course we had the podium finishes and we have great stories like Maggie Gruber, Jessica Hespeler and our freshman. Ashlynn Peters and Sydney Pesetti found a way to contribute. It’s a great feeling knowing where we are and where we’re heading. This is also going to be a strong NCAA team so we’re looking forward to building for the next month,” head coach Ned Skinner said.
The Hokies, who were in eighth place at one point, surged the last two days to finish in fifth place. Tech finished with 705 points overall and 62.5 points clear of sixth place Duke.
Jessica Hespeler got the night started by finishing fifth in the 1650 free and swam a time of 16:11.47 to earn the team 25 points. Jessica Arnold earned 11 points in the event with a time of 16:41.86.
Nazieblo finished fifth in the A final of the 200 back with a time of 1:53.81 to earn 25 points. Fiona Donnelly swam a 1:56.16 to come in third in the B final of the 200 back and earn 16 points while Holly Harper earned 11.5 points after swimming a 1:57.46.
Adriana Grabski finished at the top of the C final for the 100 free and earned nine points and Alice Boutant earned three points in the event.
Paluszek earned a bronze medal with her time of 2:09.95 while Mackenzie Stewart also swam 2:13.71 in the 200 breast as part of the B final to earn 15 points.
In the A final, Nazieblo swam a 1:55.30 to earn a silver medal in the 200 fly. Gruber earned 22 points while Laura Schwartz and Sydney Pesetti combined to earn six. All told, the Hokies pulled a total of 56 points from the 200 fly.
In the last event of the ACC Championships, the Tech 400 free relay swam a time of 3:18.02 to finish in sixth place overall and earn 48 points.
In men’s diving portion, the Hokies had three divers make it to the platform finals. Mauro Castro-Silva, who finished with his third finals appearance of the ACC Championships, led Tech with a bronze medal in the men’s platform to cap off a week where he finished in the top six in all three diving events. Eduardo Castro-Silva also made his second finals appearance in his first ACC Championships and finished sixth in the platform finals. Logan Stevens took home fifth place in the platform with a score of 362.05.
As a group, the men’s divers put up 247 points overall and are 98 points ahead of second place Georgia Tech as the men’s team will begin the swimming portion on Wednesday.
Ashlynn Peters made the finals of the women’s platform and finished seventh with a score of 244.15 and her scored earned the team 23 points.
“I’m very pleased with the diver’s accomplishments at this year’s ACC Championships and all divers scored. Ashlynn Peters closed out the meet with a seventh place finish in the platform event and Leah Piemonte scored as well. The men dominated again this year with three guys in the final. The men scored a huge 247 points this week, close to 100 more than the next team, which will be added to the men’s meet next week” head diving coach Ron Piemonte said.
The ACC Championships also served as a point in the Commonwealth Clash, presented by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of Virginia Tech Athletics. With a higher finish today from Virginia Women’s Swimming & Diving they have added a point for their school to the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash. The score for the Clash is now, University of Virginia 5 and Virginia Tech 4.5. Learn more about Virginia529 and this new competition at www.thecommonwealthclash.com.
The men will take part in the swimming portion of 2016 ACC Men’s Championships beginning on Wednesday. The NCAA Women’s Championships are March 17-19 with the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships taking place Mar. 7-9 in Atlanta, Ga.
