Virginia Women's Swimming And Diving Team Takes Lead After First Day Of ACC Championship
Story Links
Feb. 15, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team leads the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship after the first of four days of competition Wednesday (Feb. 15). The ACC Championship is being held at Maryland’s Campus Recreation Center Natatorium. UVa won the 800 free relay and finished second in the 200 medley relay during the first day of competition.
Virginia leads the ACC Championship with 74 points. Florida State is second with 72 points, while Clemson and defending champion and championship host Maryland are tied for third with 60 points. North Carolina (58 points) is fifth, and is followed by Virginia Tech (56), Duke (40), Georgia Tech (40), NC State (38), Miami (36) and Boston College (14).
The Cavaliers got off to a great start in the championship by winning the 800 free relay with a time of 7:16.72 (NCAA B), the fifth fastest time in school history. First-year Megan Evo (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) swam the leadoff leg and was followed by third-year Katy Bland (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville), fourth-year Katie Gordon (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep), and fourth-year Rachael Burke (Bethesda, Md./Good Counsel). Clemson was runner-up in the 800 free relay with a time of 7:18.70, while Florida State was third in 7:19.57. Virginia trailed both Clemson and Florida State after two legs, but pulled ahead of Clemson by two tenths of a second after the third leg. Burke entered the water just under a second behind FSU in the final leg and posted the fastest anchor split (1:49.05) to help lead UVa to the victory.
Virginia finished second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:41.56 (NCAA B), the fourth fastest time in school history. Fourth-year Brielle White (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside School) gave UVa an early lead with her split of 25.20 in the backstroke. Second-year Anna Steenrod (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin), second-year Stephanie Glover (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive), and second-year Jess Lewis (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) also swam legs on the relay. Florida State won the relay with an ACC record and NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:38.59. Maryland was third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:42.04.
The Women’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championship resumes Thursday (Feb. 16) with preliminaries beginning at 11:00 a.m. and finals commencing at 7:00 p.m.