Cavaliers Close in on ACC Championship on Third Day

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Feb. 22, 2013

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GREENSBORO, N.C.—The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team won two events and stretched its lead on day three of the ACC Championships Friday evening (Feb. 22) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.

The No. 11 Cavaliers lead with 560 points, while Virginia Tech is second with 348 and Florida State is third with 340. NC State is fourth (322), followed by Miami (288), North Carolina (287), Duke (174), Georgia Tech (122), Boston College (80) and Clemson (9 – diving only).

“There aren’t going to be many days like yesterday, but we had another very good day today,” UVa head coach Mark Bernardino said. “We had a lot of swimmers have lifetime-best times and a lot of athletes that stepped it up, either in the preliminaries this morning or the finals this evening.”

In the 200 free final, senior Lauren Perdue won her third ACC title in the event in a time of 1:43.88. She becomes the second Cavalier to win two individual events three times, joining Cara Lane, who won both the 500 free and 1,650 free in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Perdue is the three-time defending champion in the 100 free and will look to win it for a fourth time Saturday. She won the 200 free in 2010 and 2011, but did not compete in 2012 due to a back injury.

“I was really excited to come back this year and be ACC Champion in the 200 free again,” Perdue said. “I was doing it for the team, which is something Coach Bernardino emphasizes, and it turned out really well. To have my name next to Cara Lane as the second to do that (win two events three times) is very special to me.”

“To join an NCAA Champion and international-level athlete like Cara Lane in that way is a great honor,” Bernardino said.

Junior Caroline Kenney won the consolation final of the 200 free in a time of 1:47.12, while freshman Hanne Borgersen and junior Emily Lloyd placed third and fourth in 1:47.66 and 1:47.69. All three times were career-best marks.

Freshman Courtney Bartholomew won the 100 back in 52.25, the same time as her morning swim, which is the second-fastest time in school history. Junior Charlotte Clarke was sixth in 53.82, while sophomore Emily Dicus was eighth in 54.52.

“It’s huge and I was happy to win it for my family in attendance and my swim family,” Bartholomew said. “I would have liked to gone a 51, but like Coach Bernardino said, now I know what I have to work on for NCAAs and for the 200 back tomorrow.”

“I’m really excited at what Lauren and Courtney are doing at this meet,” Bernardino said. “They are rested somewhat, but are not shaved, and to have them compete hard and at a very high level, that’s what we want to see from our team leaders.”

Sophomore Shaun Casey earned silver in the 400 IM in a time of 4:10.71, while freshman Haley Durmer placed fourth in 4:15.10 and junior Hillary Petersen was seventh in 4:18.52.

To start the evening, the 400 medley relay team of Bartholomrew, freshman Natalie Martin, sophomore Ellen Williamson and Perdue touched second in 3:35.58.

Williamson took home bronze in the 100 fly in a time of 52.97, matching her career-best mark. Classmates Emily Dicus (53.59) and Sarah White (54.22) placed sixth and eighth, respectively. Freshman Rachel Moore won the consolation final of the 100 fly in 54.00.

Martin touched third in the consolation final of the 100 breast in 1:02.90, the eighth-best mark on UVa’s all-time list.

In total, the Cavaliers have had nine freshmen or sophomores earn individual medals at the conference meet.

“People didn’t look at this season’s first-year class as favorably as in years past, but we knew we had some very talented kids, had some special athletes and thought that we could develop them,” Bernardino said. “You don’t always know if they’re going to drop (their times) significantly their first year or second, but this group of first- and second-years has worked very hard and raised the entire team’s work ethic. They’re like one big unit and it’s very exciting to see the progress they’ve made.”

In the women’s 1-meter diving, freshman Katie Warburg finished 13th with a score of 269.95, while classmate Becca Corbett was 17th with 248.40.

“Today was another good day,” UVa diving coach Rich MacDonald said. “As usual, the women’s contest on the 1-meter was very close from top to bottom. For Katie to score some big points was huge and I was happy to see her put her first ACC points on the board.”

Sophomore JB Kolod placed third in the men’s 3-meter diving finals with a total of 424.85 points, a new program record. Freshman Carl Buergler placed ninth with a score of 341.35. The men’s diving portion of the ACC Championships being held this weekend, while the swimming portion takes place Feb. 27-March 2 in Greensboro.

“JB probably had the greatest men’s 3-meter diving performance in the history of UVa diving,” Bernardino said. “It was outstanding and spectacular and I think if he continues to work hard and push the envelope then we’re going to see something very special. To go head-to-head with an Olympic medalist (Nick McCrory) and an All-American (Logan Shinholser), it was a lot of fun to watch.”

“Carl finished the meet really strong, but came up just short of finals, so that was a little disappointing,” MacDonald said. “JB continues to get better and better each time he competes,” MacDonald said. “It was exciting to see a Virginia diver on the podium for the first time in a long time. He had the second and third-best dives of the meet and has so much talent that it’s exciting that he is only a second-year. There are some great things to come.”

The women’s ACC Championships conclude Saturday (Feb. 23) with the men’s and women’s platform diving, 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay events.