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COLLEGE STATION, Texas The Virginia women’s swimming team began competition Thursday at the 2009 NCAA Championships with preliminaries in the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle and 400 medley relay. The event, which is being held at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on Texas A&M’s campus, runs through Saturday.
Live coverage of the 2009 Women’s NCAA Championships can be found by clicking here.
Virginia was able to swim its way into the finals of the 400 medley relay. The team of Mei Christensen, Katherine McDonnell, Megan Evo and Kristen Wallace broke its own conference and school record, finishing seventh in a time of 3:32.74. Virginia (Christensen, McDonnell, Liz Shaw and Evo) previously set the mark with a time of 3:33.49 at the ACC Championships last month. Additionally, Christensen’s 100 backstroke split of 51.58 also broke an ACC record, her own time of 51.79 set at the conference meet.
The 200 freestyle relay kicked off the championships as the team of Christensen, Wallace, Evo and Hannah Davis placed 11th overall with a time of 1:29.12 to set another conference and school record. The same four swimmers previously set the ACC and Virginia record with a time of 1:29.33 at the conference meet. They will swim in the consolation finals this evening.
“Everyone is very happy with our performances in the first session,” Bernardino said. “We really had a team emphasis going into the meet and to have both relays set records was a great way to start. We scored zero points on day one last year, and now we are in position to score a good bit more. This is a good step forward.”
Evo also earned a spot in the consolation finals tonight with a 13th-place showing in the 200 IM, clocking a time of 1:57.17. Teammates Katherine McDonnell (1:57.86) and Shaw (1:58.57) placed 20th and 26th, respectively.
In the 500 free, junior Jen Narum paced Virginia with a 20th-place finish (4:41.53) and Jenna Harris went on to finish 28th overall (4:42.90). Meanwhile, Wallace tallied a mark of 22.66 in the 50 free for a 42nd-place showing, and Hannah Davis was 63rd with a time of 23.23.
“ I can’t say enough about how together and how united this team is,” Bernardino continued. “The relay points are doubled at this meet so that is especially important in our chance to maximize scoring opportunities. We want to achieve at another high level this evening.”