Virginia Opens NCAA Championships with All-America Honors

March 14, 2018

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Results

COLUMBUS, Ohio. âââ€Ã…¡¬ÃƒÆ’Æ’¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ãƒ¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡¬ÃƒÆ’…âہ“ Virginia opened the Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday (March 14) at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion with a seventh-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

The relay team of sophomore Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.), senior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.), redshirt sophomore Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and junior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.), respectively, recorded a time of 6:54.60, finishing seventh in the event. Hill, Marrkand, Moroney and Eddy earned All-America honors with the swim.

Stanford finished first in the event with a time of 6:46.93 claiming 40 points and the lead in the team standings. Michigan ranks second in the team standings with 34 points, while California ranks third with 32 points. Virginia is in seventh place, capturing 24 points in the opening event.

Virginia dropped over a second off its 800-yard freestyle relay time to record a new standard, topping the previous record of 6:55.25 set in 2016. The Cavaliers entered the meet with a seed time of 6:55.77.

Additionally, Hill captured a personal-best time of 1:44.11 as the leadoff swimmer for the team. Her 200-yard freestyle swim ranks seventh in school history.

“It was a great way to start off the national championship for the women tonight, with a school record,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “It is always good to go the fastest time in your program’s history on the biggest stage, at NCAAs. So, we are excited about the start. Morgan Hill led off the relay with a lifetime best as well. Then the other three women brought it home. We are excited about the start and most excited about putting points on the board and battling as a team. We are looking forward to the rest of the competition.”

Virginia will return to action tomorrow. The preliminary races will begin at 10 a.m., while the finals will start at 6 p.m.