Virginia Takes Big Lead at ACC's

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Feb. 19, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia scored 275 points to takea commanding lead after the first day of the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conferencewomen’s swimming and diving championship.

Coach Mark Bernardino’s Cavaliers hold a 66 point advantage over second-place North Carolina, which totaled 209 points. Defending-champion Clemson stands in third place with 173 points.

Virginia won only one event on the day, that being the opening 200-yardfreestyle relay. The team of Rebecca Cronk, Julie Gehm, Meghan Iffland andMeghan McCubbins swam an ACC-record time of 1:32.04 to capture first placein the event. The team broke a record which had stood for 14 years, asNorth Carolina’s 1984 team held the previous mark with a time of 1:32.15.

The biggest event for the Cavaliers was the 50-yard freestyle, where theyhad five swimmers place in the top seven. Cronk claimed second (23.00),McCubbins was third (23.03), Iffland placed fourth (23.25), Emily Trakasfinished sixth (23.680) and Gehm was seventh (23.74). North Carolina’sRichelle Fox won the event for the second consecutive season, finishingwith a time 22.80.

In addition to Fox taking first in the 50 free, the Tar Heels won threeother events on the day. Chrissy Miller claimed the title in the 500-yardfreestyle with a time of 4:46.39, and Erika Acuff defended her title in the200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:01.55. North Carolina also wonthe 400-yard medley relay, as the team of Summer Mack, Acuff, Fox andJennifer Strasburger swam an ACC-record time of 3:42.85.

The only other event winner on the day was North Carolina State’s MaricaMcKeel, who won the one-meter springboard diving with a score of 410.85.

The ACC Championship continues Friday with preliminaries at 11:00 a.m.,followed by finals at 7:00 p.m.

200-Yard Freestyle Relay

1, Virginia (Rebecca Cronk, Julie Gehm, Megan Iffland, Meghan McCubbins), 1:32.04*!#.2, Clemson (Wendy Henson, Jennifer Mihalik, Charli Reasons, Kathy Lowry), 1:32.70#.3, (Summer Mack, Jen Latimer, Tracey Rankin, Richelle Fox), 1:32.77#.4, Maryland (Katy Novotny, Sarah Solomon, Dawn Josephson, Kim Piotro), 1:34.13#.5, North Carolina State (Brandie Stergion, Dawn DeLuca, Mary Mittendorf, Beth Bohnsack), 1:37.13.6, Duke (Betsy Stewart, Jamie Fleming, Leslie King, Susan Keeler), 1:39.86.

500-Yard Freestyle

1, Chrissy Miller, North Carolina, 4:46.39&.2, Laura Sullivan, Virginia, 4:50.71#.3, Emily Carrig, Virginia, 4:50.73#.4, Sharon Riedlinger, Virginia, 4:51.68#.5, Erin Schatz, Clemson, 4:53.19#.6, Christina Greig, Clemson, 4:55.37#.7, Jenny Strasburger, North Carolina, 4:55.41#.8, Wendy Henson, Clemson, 4:56.18.9, Kristen Adams, Florida State, 4:53.82#.10, Tracey Barrett, North Carolina, 4:54.90#.11, Catherine Frock, North Carolina, 4:56.55.12, Bridget Vogelsang, Virginia, 4:56.68.13, Janney Hoof, North Carolina, 4:59.76.14, Stacey Finner, Clemson, 5:00.50.15, Heather Maynard, North Carolina State, 5:01.05.16, Heather Pottgen, Virginia, 5:01.87.

200-Yard Individual Medley

1, Erika Acuff, North Carolina, 2:01.55#.2, Kristen Lozeau, North Carolina, 2:03.56#.3, Lisa Bartlett, Clemson, 2:03.91#.4, Kelly McLaughlin, North Carolina, 2:03.94#.5, Anne Blachford, Florida State, 2:04.40#.6, Joann Overton, North Carolna, 2:05.50.7, Lindsay Schubert, Virginia, 2:06.13.8, Amy Armond, Duke, 2:07.31.9, Kori Forster, Virginia, 2:05.92.10, Lauren Rafferty, Clemson, 2:06.45.11, Shella Humberstone, Clemson, 2:06.96.12, Sherri Fowler, Florida State, 2:07.02.13, Leslie Anderson, Clemson, 2:07.69.14, Kristen Erndl, Maryland, 2:07.78.15, Carmer Baker, North Carolina State, 2:08.03.16, Maureen Burnham, Virginia, 2:08.41.

50-Yard Freestyle

1, Richelle Fox, North Carolina, :22.80&.2, Rebecca Cronk, Virginia, :23.00#.3, Megan McCubbins, Virginia, :23.03#.4, Megan Iffland, Virginia, :23.25#.5, Jennifer Mihalik, Clemson, :23.40#.6, Emily Trakas, Virginia, :23.68.7, Julie Gehm, Virginia, :23.74.8, Kathy Lowry, Clemson, :23.78.9, Kathy Novotny, :23.55.10, Kim Piotro, Maryland, :23.72.11, Sarah Solomon, Maryland, :23.73.12, Karin Holmstedt, Florida State, :23.84.13, Brandi Stergion, North Carolina State, :23.90.14, Tracey Rankin, North Carolina, :23.96.15, Rachel Amman, Florida State, :24.00.16, Liska Dedekind, Florida State, :24.25.

One-Meter Diving

1, Marcia McKeel, North Carolina State, 410.85.2, Katie Caratelli Virginia, 395.95.3, Shelly Cavaliere, North Carolina State, 393.80.4, Sarah Henderson, Florida State, 386.75.5, Ashley Smith, Virginia, 382.10.6, Kelley Melton, North Carolina State, 381.90.7, Courtney Colbert, Virginia, 374.25.8, Courtenay Miller,  Maryland, 361.95.9, Kourtney Schell, North Carolina State, 361.15.10, Marya Sabesky, Florida State, 357.55.11, Betsy Potter, Clemson, 352.65.12, Laramie Hill, Virginia, 352.55.13, Jen Stewart, Virginia, 344.15.14, Summer Ecker, Clemson, 337.20.15, Krista Irish, Maryland, 332.55.16, Aly Susterka, Clemson, 329.30.

400-Yard Medley Relay

1, North Carolina (Summer Mack, Erika Acuff, Richelle Fox, Jenso Strasburger), 3:42.85*!#.2, Virginia (Megan Iffland, Lindsey Schubert, Meghan McCubbins, Emily Trakas), 3:43.48#.3, Maryland (Katy Novotny, Allison Shea, Sarah Solomon, Kim Piotro), 3:49.47.4, Clemson (Erin Schatz, Leslie Anderson, Amy Suppinger, Kathy Lowry), 3:50.66.5, North Carolina State (Lauren Copan, Gina Galligan, Dawn DeLuca, Brandie Stergion), 3:51.38.6, Florida State (Sarah Havens, Samantha White, Anne Blachford, Kristen Adams), 3:52.31.7, Duke (Betsy Stewart, Kristin Gardner, Amy Armond, Susan Keller), 3:58.31.

Team Scores
1, Virginia, 275.
2, North Carolina, 209.
3, Clemson, 173.
4, North Carolina State, 122.
5, Maryland, 100.
6, Florida State, 84.
7, Duke, 61.

* Atlantic Coast Conference Record! Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Meet Record# NCAA Division I Consideration Qualification Standard& NCAA Division I Automatic Qualification Standard