Virginia Wins 2021 ACC Championships
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team won the 2021 ACC Championship with four event wins on the final night of competition at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
The Cavaliers won the title with a score of 1486. NC State was second (1317) and Louisville finished third (1006.5).
WOMEN’S SWIMMING
Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) started the night with a win the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:45.45 and Maddie Donohoe (Annandale, Va.) placed third in 16:10.32.
Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn.) podiumed with a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking in with a time of 1:51.12. Reilly Tiltmann (Brookfield, Wisc.) was fifth with a time of 1:52.53. Sophia Wilson (Guildford, Surrey, England) finished 18th with a time of 1:59.32.
Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) secured another ACC title with a 46.83 finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Lexi Cuomo (Clifton, Va.) finished fourth (48.52) and Kyla Valls (Miami, Fla.) was seventh in 49.37. Quinn Schaedler (Austin, Texas) was 20th in 49.99.
Ella Nelson (Nashville, Tenn.) placed third in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing in a time of 2:05.91 and Anna Keating (Vienna, Va.) was fourth in 2:07.52. Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.) rounded out the Cavaliers in the A Final, finishing seventh in 2:08.93.
UVA took the top-two spots in the 200-yard butterfly. Jessica Nava (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) won the ACC title with a time of 1:54.49 and Abby Harter (Broadlands, Va.) was second in 1:54.93. Julia Menkhaus (Charlotte, N.C.) finished 10th in 1:56.44, Caroline Kulp (Roanoke, Va.) was 13th in 1:58.28 and Ella Collins (Austin, Texas) rounded out the scorers in 21st in a time of 2:00.01.
Virginia closed out the night, cruising to the win in the 400-yard freestyle relay to sweep all of the relays. Douglass, Cuomo, Madden and Walsh, respectively, finished in a time of 3:10.14, four seconds ahead of second place.
AWARDS
Madden was voted the Most Valuable Swimmer for the second straight year after capturing five gold medals on the week. The senior placed first in the 200 free, 500 free and 1650 free, and was on the first place 400 free and 800 free relays.
DIVING
Tristan Gess (Lakewood, Colo.) finished 27th on the men’s platform with a score 209.55.
UP NEXT
Virginia will compete at the 2021 ACC Men’s Swimming Championship Feb. 24-27 in Greensboro, N.C., at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.