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Day One of ACC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Ends in Thrilling Fashion
 

 
 
 

 
Clemson's Michelle Parkhurst set a conference and ACC meet record in the 200-yard freestyle on Wednesday night.
 
 

Feb. 20, 2008



ATLANTA - A handful of records began to fall in just the first day of the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, held at the Aquatic Center on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. The University of Virginia, which set a new conference and ACC meet record in the 800-yard freestyle relay, wrapped up opening day at the top of the team standings with 74 points.

Competition was stiff from the start Wednesday night, beginning with the 200-yard medley relay. Virginia held the lead throughout most of the race, but Virginia Tech's Sara Smith pulled ahead in the final stretch to clinch the victory for the Hokies. Smith, Jordan McHorney, Jessica Botzum and Megan Newell combined to register an NCAA "B" mark and a new Georgia Tech Aquatic Center pool record time of 1:40.17.

Virginia and Florida State also posted both pool and NCAA "B" marks in the event, as the Cavaliers trailed .02 seconds behind the Hokies in second place while the Seminoles finished third with 1:40.99.

In the final event, Virginia came from behind in the 800 free relay as the foursome of Stephanie Glover, Jess Lewis, Jenna Harris and Megan Evo finished in first place with an NCAA "A" cut 7:09.12. That time also shattered both the conference and ACC meet records, which was previously set in 2005 by Maryland.

Three other schools recorded NCAA "B" times in the race. Florida State, which started off strong, turned in a runner-up finish with a time of 7:13.85. North Carolina came in third (7:14.87), while Maryland placed fourth (7:19.97).

Individually, Michelle Parkhurst from Clemson had an impressive performance as the leadoff swimmer for the Tigers in the 800 free relay. The junior from Vienna, Va., registered an NCAA "A" time 1:44.74 in the first leg and set both a conference and ACC meet record in the 200-yard freestyle. That time is also the second fastest in the NCAA this year behind a 1:44.52 from Stanford's Julia Smit.

The ACC Women's Swimming/Men's and Women's Diving Championships will resume tomorrow with preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. Diving will begin at 1 p.m., while finals start at 7 p.m. In addition, the finals will be streamed online at www.ACCSelect.com.

Below are team standings and final results from day one of the ACC Championships.

Team Standings Points
1. Virginia 74
2. Florida State 66
3. North Carolina 62
4. Virginia Tech 58
T5. Miami 50
T5 Duke 50
7. Maryland 48
8. NC State 44
9. Georgia Tech 42
10. Clemson 28
11. Boston College 26

Wednesday's Final Results

200-yard Medley Relay
1st - Virginia Tech (*1:40.17 - Jordan McHorney, Jessica Botzum, Megan Newell, Sara Smith)
2nd - Virginia (1:40.19 - Mei Christensen, Katherine McDonnell, Stephanie Glover, Hannah Davis)
3rd - Florida State (1:40.99 - C.J. Hendry, Lowri Tynan, Lauren Sparg, Abbie King)

800-yard Freestyle Relay
1st - Virginia (#7:09.12 - Stephanie Glover, Jess Lewis, Jenna Harris, Megan Evo)
2nd - Florida State (7:13.85 - Jocelyn Phillips, Georgia Holderness, Holly Mills, Lowri Tynan)
3rd - North Carolina (7:14.87 - Kelsey Morrissy, Eliza Butts, Ashley Howard, Whitney Sprague)

*Denotes Georgia Tech Aquatic Center record
#Denotes conference and meet record


 

 

 
 
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