March 19, 2009

UVa's 400 Medley Relay Takes Sixth at NCAA Championships
Virginia's 400 medley relay team earned All-America honors with a sixth-place finish Thursday at the 2009 NCAA Championships. The event, which is being held at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on Texas A&M's campus, runs through Saturday. After day one, Virginia stands in 13th place with 36 points.

The 400 medley relay team of Mei Christensen, Katherine McDonnell, Megan Evo and Kristen Wallace, who broke their own conference and school record this morning in the preliminaries, finished with a time of 3:33.11. It was the first time Virginia competed in the finals of any relay since the 2002 championships (200 free relay) and was the first All-American 400 medley relay since 2000.

Evo collected honorable mention All-America accolades with a 13th-place performance in the 200 individual medley, clocking a time of 1:57.50 in the event. It was her second career All-America performance after earning honorable mention honors in the 200 butterfly a year ago. 

Four Tigers Earn All-America Honors at 2009 NCAA Championships
Tiger swimmers competed on the first day at the NCAA Championships at the Student Rec Center Pool in College Station, TX. The 200 free relay group of Rachel Regone, Lauren Sindall, Alexandra Allen, and Michelle Parkhurst earned honorable mention All-America honors by finishing 15th in the event.

Regone led the Tigers with a 22.24 lead-off leg in the morning session, a school record. The Tigers entered the finals with the 14th-best time and finished 15th, as they clocked in at 1:30.17. The group had touched in at 1:29.56 in prelims, a school record.

The top-16 finish earns the group honorable All-America status and four points in the NCAA championships.

Whitney Sprague Snares ACC Record In 500-Yard Freestyle
Senior Whitney Sprague claimed first-team All-America status for the third straight year and regained the Atlantic Coast Conference record with a seventh-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle at the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday night at Texas A&M University.

It was the first time the senior from Bronxville, N.Y. has been a Top 8 finisher in the 500 free. She was a consolation finalist two years ago. In the preliminaries, Sprague regained the school record in the event she had held until just last month as she attained the sixth seed in the championship field with a time of 4:38.72, beating her own career best of 4:41.09. At the same time, she claimed the ACC record which teammate Katura Harvey had set at the ACC Championships last month at 4:39.12.

Sprague went on to finish seventh in the championship final to earn the Tar Heels 12 team points. She was not quite able to equal her morning swim, going 4:40.06, but that was still more than a second faster than her previous best coming into the meet. 

Jenna Dreyer Finishes Eighth at NCAA Championships
University of Miami senior diver Jenna Dreyer finished in eighth place of the 1-meter springboard diving event Thursday evening, collecting her third career All-America honor in the NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving National Championships at College Station, Texas. This year's event is hosted by Texas A&M University inside the Student Recreation Natatorium.

Dreyer, a fifth-year senior from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, was sidelined for the entire 2007-08 season with injury. But she has bounced back with an amazing work ethic and determination in 2008-09, to continue the diving tradition instilled at the University of Miami under head coach Randy Ableman.

Dreyer finished the finals of the 1-meter springboard with a score of 296.25 to collect her third All-America award at UM. She also received the award in 2005 and again in 2007 for the 1-meter event. She would finish as an honorable mention All-American on the 3-meter springboard in 2007. 

Tech women complete first day at the NCAA Championships
The H2Okie women's swimming team took to the pool for the first day of competition at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas. Tech competed in the 200 free relay event, along with the 50 and 500 free. The H2Okies sit in 26th place with 5.5 points.

In preliminary action, senior Sara Smith posted a time of 22.12 in the 50 free for the H2Okies, for a ninth-place showing. Smith posted the 11th-best time in the finals with a time of 22.29. The senior scored 5.5 points for the H2Okies.

Freshman Erika Hajnal competed in her first NCAA Championship this afternoon. Hajnal swam in the 500 free for Tech and touched in with a preliminary time of 4:43.25. 

Johnston Opens Competition At NCAA Championships
Duke's Abby Johnston wasted no time in reaching the national stage in her collegiate career, as the freshman opened competition today at the 2009 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships with just one season under her belt.

Johnston participated in the one-meter in the first day of the meet, finishing 37th overall in this afternoon's preliminary competition with a six-dive score of 202.60.

Johnston is the first Duke diver to advance to the NCAA Championships