Virginia Paces Third Day of ACC Championships
Feb. 16, 2018
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GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 7 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team concluded the third day of the 2018 Women’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championships and Men’s Diving Championships on Friday (Feb. 16) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C., in first place in the team standings.
The Cavalier women pace the field with 886.5 points, followed by Louisville in second place with 774.5 points and NC State in third with 677 points.
Virginia recorded seven of the top 10 finishes in the 200-yard freestyle, with five finishes in the top heat of the event. Redshirt sophomore Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and junior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) earned All-ACC, as Moroney finished second with a time of 1:43.60, third fastest in school history, and Eddy finished third with a time of 1:44.10. Senior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) placed fourth with a time of 1:44.36, while freshman Kyla Valls (Miami, Fla.) finished fifth with a time of 1:44.56 and senior Laine Reed (Austin, Texas) finished eighth with a time of 1:45.66.
“Great third day for the Wahoo women tonight,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “We extended our lead in the last few events. We started off the night with the 100 fly with Anna Pang in the top eight, going a lifetime-best swim in the morning, and following that up in the 400 IM with two in the top eighth, Rachel Politi and Erin Earley. We had a tremendous effort in the 200 freestyle by our ladies, putting five women in top eight and two more within the top ten. That was really exciting and that has really boosted the team to the lead that we have now, which is over a hundred points going into the last day. It was great to have Sydney (Dusel) in the top eight in diving. She moved up from eighth to sixth place in the finals. Corey Johnson also scoring the B-Final points for us.
“At this point, we are just looking forward to tomorrow and looking forward to a strong prelim session like we have had the last couple of days. We are looking to finish the meet off strong and are looking forward to another great day.”
Moroney paced the Cavaliers in the 100-yard backstroke, earning All-ACC and finishing third with a time of 52.17, while freshman Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.) finished sixth in the event with a time of 52.61.
“Megan Moroney had a phenomenal swim,” DeSorbo said. “She is truly an amazing story, being injured a year ago and not touching the water until August. Her first competition back was just in December, and now she’s going a lifetime best in the 200-yard freestyle and getting a second place at ACCs. We are really excited for her. Then she followed it up in the 100 backstroke with a bronze medal. We are really excited and happy for her to be able to back with her squad.”
Freshman Anna Pang (SINGAPORE) placed fifth in the 100-yard butterfly, capturing a time of 52.63. Her preliminary time of 52.46 is the fourth fastest in school history.
Sophomore Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) advanced to the finals of the 3-meter dive. She finished sixth in the event with a score of 307.10.
In the 400-yard individual medley, freshman Erin Earley (Orange, Conn.) and junior Rachel Politi (Bexley, Ohio) finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Early recorded a time of 4:12.08, while Politi finished with a time of 4:14.62.
The 400-yard medley relay team of Moroney, sophomore Mary Claire Tansill (Bristow, Va.), Pang and Eddy, respectively, finished fifth with a time of 3:34.45.
Freshman Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) and sophomore Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) recorded the top two times in the B-Final of the 200-yard freestyle, finishing ninth and 10th overall, respectively. Madden recorded a time of 1:44.00, while Hill recorded a time of 1:44.79.
Rounding out the day, freshmen Marcie Maguire (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) finished ninth and 11th, respectively, in the B-Finals of the 100-yard backstroke. Maguire recorded a time of 52.90, while Seiberlich finished with a time of 53.39. Junior Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) finished 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:01.54 as senior Corey Johnson(Ambler, Pa.) finished 15th in the 3-meter dive with a score of 269.10.
Virginia will compete in the last day of the conference championships tomorrow. Preliminary races will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the finals at 6 p.m.