Virginia's 200 Freestyle Relay Win Caps Day Two
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Virginia’s 200 freestyle relay team of Mei Christensen, Kristen Wallace, Megan Evo and Hannah Davis took top honors Thursday as day two of the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships continued. The championships, which run through Saturday, are being held at Maryland’s Eppley Recreation Center Natatorium.
After day two, Virginia leads the team race with 292 points over North Carolina in second with 220 and Virginia Tech in third with 172.
The 200 free relay team set a conference, school and meet record, clocking a time of 1:29.33 for an NCAA B mark. The time broke Clemson’s conference record of 1:30.60 set at the 2008 ACC Championships. Davis anchored the Cavaliers, finishing the final 50 yards in 22.14.
“It was good to have a personal race like that, but it was even better to be able to finish strong for the team,” Davis said. “It was a great finish to the night.”
“The success of relays dictate the closeness, chemistry and unity of a team,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “We weren’t favored to win that relay. Historically speaking, we haven’t really been respected as a strong sprint program, but we have now won both of the short relays. Our sprinters have come such a long way over the course of the last three years.”
Senior Megan Evo also set a conference, school and meet record, taking first-place honors in the 200 individual medley. Evo clocked a time of 1:56.17 in the 200 IM to best her record-setting prelim time of 1:56.75 from earlier today. Katherine McDonnell placed third in the event (1:57.82) while Liz Shaw was fourth (1:57.98) and Claire Crippen fifth (1:58.53). All four were NCAA B times.
“It was exciting,” Evo said. “I swam a lot better than I thought I was going to. It was so great to have six of us in the race; that is what we wanted to do all along.”
With six Cavaliers swimming in eight of the lanes in the 200 IM, Amanda Faulkner went on to earn a sixth-place finish (2:00.32, B) and Erika Stewart was placed eighth (2:01.54).
“That was truly exciting,” Bernardino said of the 200 IM. “Megan has been spectacular. I am really proud of her and am hoping she can have a couple more great races these next few days. Kat McDonnell came to UVa with a 2:09 and three years now she is 1:57 and that is incredible.”
The 500 freestyle kicked off the finals as Jen Narum recorded a third-place finish in the event with an NCAA B time of 4:40.64. Teammates Jenna Harris (4:43.69, B) and Katya Bachrouche (4:44.12, B) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Anne Summer Myers won the bonus consolation final and finished 17th overall with a mark of 4:50.35.
In the 50 free, Mei Christensen was fourth with a time of 22.42 while Kristen Wallace finished in fifth with a mark of 22.57. Both were NCAA provisional standards. Hannah Davis won the consolation final to take ninth place with another NCAA B time of 22.79 and Kristen Moores took 20th with a mark of 23.01.
“It was a good night in general for a lot of kids on our team,” Bernardino said. “It was a solid team effort.”
Day three of the ACC Championships continues Friday with preliminaries scheduled for 11 a.m. ACC Select will provide live video streaming of the championships starting at 5:15 p.m. There is no charge to watch the webcasts. ACC Select coverage will continue Saturday at 7 p.m.
Live results from the championships are available by clicking here.