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Feb. 19, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia women’s swimming and diving team will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. for the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, beginning on Thursday, February 20. Hosted by the University of North Carolina, the meet will run through Saturday, February 22 at Koury Natatorium. Admission is free, and preliminaries begin at 11:00 a.m. each day with finals commencing at 7:00 p.m. Preliminaries and semifinals for one-meter diving will be begin upon the conclusion of Thursday’s morning session, and finals will be held that evening. Three-meter preliminaries and semifinals will be held following Friday’s morning session, and the finals will be contested Saturday night.

Four of the eight teams that will be participating in the meet are currently ranked in Speedo America’s College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top 25 Poll. Defending champion North Carolina leads the way, ranked 11th, followed by Virginia (13th), Maryland (20th), and Florida State (24th). The Cavaliers finished second at the 2002 ACC Championships by a margin of 54.5 points. Virginia has finished runners-up the past three years, and has placed second 12 times overall in the past 24 years. The Cavaliers have won three titles, in 1990, 1998, and 1999.

Virginia concluded the 2002-2003 dual meet season with a 4-1 record in the conference, and a 7-1 record overall. Led by Mark Bernardino, in his 25th year as head coach at Virginia, the Cavaliers look to defend and improve upon their five individual victories and one relay title from the 2002 ACC Meet.

Fourth-years Mirjana Bosevska (Skopje, Macedonia/Trinity Prep) and Cara Lane (Charlotte, N.C./Providence), individual event winners from 2002 meet, return this year to defend their titles. Bosevska, the 2002 ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year and 2002 ACC Meet Most Valuable Swimmer, won the 400 individual medley for the third consecutive year in 2002 and set the conference record (4:11.76). Bosevska was also the champion in the 200 individual medley and the 200 butterfly. She set the conference record in the 200 I.M. (1:59.31) as well. Lane was also victorious at last year’s meet, taking her third consecutive titles in both the 500 and 1650 free. Both Lane and Bosevska, joined by third-year Carlie Dykehouse (Gainesville, Fla./Trinity Prep) and second-year Laura Lipskis (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East), were members of the winning 800 free relay.

Other returning champions include North Carolina’s Christy Watkins in the 50 free and 100 back, Maryland’s Bridget Mallon in the 100 fly, North Carolina’s Jessi Perruquet in the 200 free, Florida State’s Courtney McClow in one-meter diving, and her teammate Chelsie Lerew in three-meter diving.

Results for the 2003 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship will be available on the world wide web at virginiasports.com, theacc.com, and tarheelblue.com.

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