Virginia Women Open NCAA Championships Wednesday

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March 15, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-The ACC Champion Virginia women’s swimming and diving team opens action at the 2016 NCAA Championships Wednesday (March 16) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta. The meet runs Wednesday-Saturday with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.

ESPN3 will broadcast the finals on Friday and Saturday. Live video links for all other sessions as well as live results will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

The Cavalier individual swimming qualifiers competing at the meet include seniors Courtney Bartholomew and Hanne Borgersen, juniors Kaitlyn Jones, Shannon Rauth, Laura Simon, Leah Smith and Ellen Thomas, sophomores Caitlin Cooper and Jennifer Marrkand and freshmen Eryn Eddy, Megan Moroney and Vivian Tafuto. Virginia will have a program-record three divers at the meet, including senior Becca Corbett, sophomore Corey Johnson and freshman Kylie Towbin. UVA will also travel one relay alternate in freshman Kasey Schmidt.

UVA has qualified at least 10 student-athletes for the ninth-consecutive year and it is also the eighth-straight season that all five Virginia relays have qualified. The Cavaliers’ highest finish at the NCAA meet was fifth in 2015.

Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.) and Borgersen (Frederick, Md.) will be making their fourth appearances at the NCAA Championships. Bartholomew is a 12-time All-American and was the 2015 national runner-up in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events, as well as part of the second-place 400 medley relay. Borgersen is a three-time All-American, including a 16th-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle in 2014.

Jones (Newark, Del.), Simon (Simmern, Germany), Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) qualified in individual events for the national meet for the third time in their careers. A seven-time All-American, Smith captured NCAA titles in the 500 and 1,650 free in 2015 and holds the NCAA record in both events. Simon, a six-time All-American, was the national runner-up in the 200 breaststroke in 2015. Thomas is a five-time All-American who, along with Simon, was a part of the second-place 400 medley relay at the 2015 national meet.

Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) and Marrkand (Westport, Mass.) have qualified for the second time in their careers. Cooper is a two-time All-American after swimming with the 200 free relay and 400 free relay in 2015, while Marrkand placed 16th in the 200 back.

Rauth (Glenmoore, Pa.), a four-time All-American with Cavalier relays, qualified in an individual event for the first time. Eddy (Loveland, Colo.), Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) will be making their NCAA Championship debuts.

Virginia captured its ninth-consecutive ACC Championship Feb. 20 in Greensboro, N.C. The Cavaliers won eight individual events and two relays.

The NCAA meet begins Wednesday evening with timed finals of the 800-yard freestyle relay at 6 p.m.

NCAA Championship schedule with Virginia’s probable entries

Wednesday, March 16
800 free relay – Virginia

Thursday, March 17
200 free relay – Virginia
500 free – Leah Smith, Hanne Borgersen, Megan Moroney, Eryn Eddy
200 IM – Kaitlyn Jones, Courtney Bartholomew, Jennifer Marrkand, Vivian Tafuto, Laura Simon
50 free – Caitlin Cooper, Ellen Thomas, Shannon Rauth
1-meter diving – Becca Corbett
400 medley relay – Virginia

Friday, March 18
400 IM – Jones, Marrkand
100 fly – Thomas, Rauth
200 free – Smith, Moroney, Borgersen, Eddy
100 breast – Simon, Tafuto
100 back – Bartholomew, Cooper
3-meter diving – Corbett, Corey Johnson, Kylie Towbin
200 medley relay – Virginia

Saturday, March 19
1,650 free – Smith, Borgersen
200 back – Bartholomew, Moroney, Marrkand
100 free – Thomas, Eddy, Rauth, Cooper
200 breast – Simon, Tafuto
200 fly – Jones
Platform diving – Corbett, Johnson, Towbin
400 free relay – Virginia