Virginia Women's Swimming And Diving Team Moves Up To Second Place After Third Day Of ACC Championship
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Feb. 17, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team stands in second place Friday (Feb. 17) after three days and 14 of 20 events of the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship. Florida State holds a 40.5 point lead over UVa at the four-day conference championship, which is being held at Maryland’s Campus Recreation Center Natatorium.
Florida State grabbed the lead after 14 events with 415.5 points. Virginia moved up to second place with 375 points, while North Carolina fell to third (352). Virginia Tech is fourth with 285 points, while Maryland is fifth with 284. Clemson (271), Miami (213), NC State (153.5), Georgia Tech (132), Duke (116), and Boston College (61) round out the field.
Virginia got off to a great start Friday evening as it had four swimmers in the championship final of the 400 individual medley. Fourth-year Katie Gordon (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) was runner-up in the 400 I.M. with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 4:14.85, just eight hundredths of a second behind Maryland’s Sasha Malanina. Second-year Anna Steenrod (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin) took fourth place with a NCAA B time of 4:19.60. Third-year Erin Corgan (Marietta, Ga./Marist) and fourth-year Elaine Bennett (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) were seventh and eighth with times of 4:24.46 and 4:25.76, respectively. First-year Anne Dawson (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) competed in the consolation final of the 400 I.M. and finished 14th with a time of 4:25.14.
First-year Megan Evo (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) was the Cavaliers’ lone championship finalist in the 100 fly and she was eighth with a time of 55.94. UVa had three consolation finalists in the 100 fly with Dawson placing 11th (56.27), second-year Stephanie Glover (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) taking 12th (56.28), and first-year Kristen Wallace (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) finishing 15th (57.65).
In the 200 freestyle, second-year Jess Lewis (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) finished fourth with a NCAA B time of 1:49.41. Third-year Katy Bland (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville) also competed in the finals of the 200 free and placed eighth with a time of 1:50.82. Fourth-year Rachael Burke (Bethesda, Md./Good Counsel) was a consolation finalist in the 200 free and took 14th place in a time of 1:50.98.
After finishing fourth in the 400 I.M., Steenrod was seventh in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.17. Third-year Jenny Steiner (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) swam in the consolation final and finished 12th (1:04.85).
Fourth-year Brielle White (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside School) won her fourth consecutive 100 backstroke title with a time of 53.35. White is only the second ACC swimmer to win four straight 100 back titles (UNC’s Sue Walsh – 1981 to 1984). She is also only the second UVa swimmer to win four consecutive ACC titles an event as Mirjana Bosevska took four straight 400 I.M. titles from 2000 to 2003. Fourth-year Corey Berg (Hyde Park, N.Y./F.D. Roosevelt) was a consolation finalist in the 100 back and placed 15th in a time of 57.84.
The evening concluded with the 400 medley relay and Virginia finished second with a time of 3:41.99 (NCAA B), the fifth fastest time in school history. White, Steenrod, Evo and Lewis swam legs on the medley relay.
In the men’s three-meter diving competition, fourth-year Andrew Barber (Vienna, Va./Marshall) captured seventh place with a score of 293.30 points, while fourth-year Eric Kelley (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Christian School) was 14th with 241.30 points.
The Women’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championship concludes Saturday (Feb. 18) with preliminaries beginning at 11:00 a.m. and finals commencing at 7:00 p.m.