Virginia Wins Two Relays on First Night of ACC Championships
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Feb. 18, 2015
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ATLANTA–The No. 8 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team broke two ACC records on the first night of the ACC Championships Wednesday night (Feb. 18) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
After one night, Virginia is fourth with 144 points. Virginia Tech leads with 178 points, followed by North Carolina (158) and Miami (150). Notre Dame is fifth (141), followed by Louisville (139), NC State (111), Florida State (102), Pitt (101), Duke (94), Georgia Tech (48), Boston College (30) and Clemson (4).
The 200 medley relay team of junior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.), sophomore Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany), senior Ellen Williamson (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) and sophomore Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) came from behind to win in an ACC-record time of 1:35.88. Going into the final leg, UVa was 0.30 behind Louisville, but Thomas used a freestyle leg of 21.46 to clinch the win.
In the final event of the evening, the 800 free relay of sophomore Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.), junior Hanne Borgersen (Frederick, Md.), sophomore Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) and freshman Cece Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.) broke the ACC record in 7:00.93.
“It is a seven-session battle and battle number two is tomorrow morning,” Virginia head coach Augie Busch said. “The 500 free and the 200 IM are two of our best events, so we have to build on the momentum we created tonight.”
That last relay was awesome. Watching a freshman (Williams) anchor was a really special moment for both her and the team. She has come in and injected a bunch of positive energy in our program.”
Senior JB Kolod (Pittsburgh, Pa.) earned All-ACC honors in the men’s 1-meter diving event, placing third with a score of 372.90. Junior Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.), who made is his first ACC final, finished seventh with a mark of 321.65.
In women’s 3-meter diving, freshman Corey Johnson (Ambler, Pa.) placed 11th with a score of 286.20, while junior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) finished 27th with a mark of 238.10.
I thought our divers did a great job today,” UVa head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “Corey (Johnson) had her best meet of the year under the biggest spotlight. JB (Kolod) and Carl (Buergler) really did a great job staying consistent and tight. Everyone has one event under their belt, so I’m looking forward to great things these next few days.”
The action continues Thursday (Feb. 19) with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, women’s 1-meter diving and 400 medley relay. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. with finals starting at 6 p.m.