Virginia Sets Records on Opening Day of ACC Championships
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Virginia women’s swimming and men’s and women’s diving teams opened the first day of competition at the ACC Championships on Wednesday (Feb. 20) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, finishing as ACC champions in the 800-yard freestyle relay and setting both a school and meet record during the day’s events.
The Cavaliers finished the day in second place, recording 173 points. Florida State leads the field with 174 points as Louisville ranks third with 156 points.
“I could not have predicted a better start for the women today, a school record, a meet record and a podium finish for Sydney (Dusel) on the 3m (board),” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “It’s a short session with only three events, but the women are off to a fantastic start. We’ll need to continue the trend tomorrow to stay in the battle for the team title, but I love the way the women rose to the occasion today. It should be an exciting next few days.”
For the 12th consecutive year and 22nd time in program history the Cavaliers won the 800-yard freestyle relay. Junior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.), sophomore Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.), redshirt junior Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and senior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) finished with a time of 6:55.22, setting an ACC meet record and capturing the second-fastest time in program history.
Additionally, Hill recorded the third-fastest 200-yard freestyle time in school history as the leadoff swimmer for the 800-yard freestyle relay. She finished with a time of 1:43.27.
The Cavaliers set a school record and finished second overall in the 200-yard medley relay as sophomore Caroline Gmelich (Rumson, N.J.), freshman Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.), sophomore Anna Pang (London) and sophomore Kyla Valls (Miami, Fla.) recorded a time of 1:35.21. Virginia dropped over two seconds to finish second in the event and record All-ACC honors. The time ranks third nationally heading into this weekend’s events.
Junior Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) earned All-ACC honors on the 3m board, finishing as the conference runner-up. She scored 335.90 points in the finals for the second-place finish.
Also competing on the 3m board, senior Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) placed ninth, recording a score of 280.75.
Freshman Walker Creedon (Cary, N.C.) led the men’s diving team, battling for a 12th-place finish on the 1m board. He recorded a score of 271.30.
“Our male divers got us off to a great start as well, scoring more points on the one (meter) board than we did in all three events last year,” DeSorbo said. “We’re trending in a great direction.”
Virginia will return to action tomorrow as the second day of the ACC Championships begins at 10 a.m. The Cavaliers will compete in the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle and men’s 3m board during the morning preliminary races.