Feb. 17, 2006

Results

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Florida State won four events and picked up six medals overall on Friday, moving into the lead at the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Maryland's Campus Recreation Center Natatorium.

The Seminoles, who trailed by two points after day one and 1.5 points after day two, ran their total to 415.5 points on Friday to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field. Virginia, which led after day one, is second with 375 points, while day two leader North Carolina now sits third with 352 points. Virginia Tech is fourth with 285 points, and is followed by Maryland (284), Clemson (271), Miami (213), NC State (153.5), Georgia Tech (132), Duke (116) and Boston College (61).

Maryland's Sasha Malanina started the evening with a win in the 400 IM, taking the event in 4:14.77 for the Terrapins' first title of the meet. Malanina, a junior from Volgograd, Russia, was the bronze medalist in the event in 2005. Her Friday time was good for an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.

Malanina was followed in the event by Virginia's Katie Gordon, who also earned an NCAA A cut with her time of 4:14.85. North Carolina's Amanda Smith won the bronze with her NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 4:18.62. Three other finalists in the event achieved NCAA B standards.

Florida State then took over, winning the next three events. Freshman Christie Raleigh won her fourth gold medal of the weekend with a victory in the 100 fly, as she touched in 54.01 to edge 2005 bronze medalist Lindsey Marck of North Carolina, who touched in 54.08 to take silver. Florida State's Lauren Sparg earned the bronze medal with her time of 54.40. Those three, along with fourth-place finisher Katie Ness of Duke (54.93) all turned in NCAA B cuts.

Raleigh became the first individual event double winner with her triumph in the 100 fly. The Boca Raton, Fla., native also took gold in the 50 free on Thursday and had relay wins in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay entering Friday's competition.

The Seminoles picked up their second win of the evening in the 200 free, with junior Romy Altmann earning an NCAA B cut with her time of 1:48.67. Clemson's Kim Routh followed her in second with a 1:48.74 effort, while NC State's Kerry Whitson was third with her time of 1:49.38. The top seven finishers in the event earned NCAA provisional qualifying marks.

Florida State capped off a trio of individual wins in the 100 breast, with junior Lauren Brick defending her 2005 title by turning in a time of 1:00.93, good for an NCAA A cut. Brick was followed in the event by Maryland's Krisztina Kovacs in second and Virginia Tech's Jessica Botzum in third. Six of the eight finalists posted at least a provisional qualifying time.

Senior Brielle White gave Virginia its first individual title of the meet with her victory in the 100 back. The Philadelphia, Pa., native won the event for the fourth straight season, becoming just the seventh four-time champion in the same event in ACC history.

Clemson's Michelle Parkhurst followed White in second place, as she touched in 54.49, good for an NCAA B cut. Altmann posted a 55.40 to claim the bronze medal. Altmann, North Carolina's Meagan Eickman and Virginia Tech's Talita Ribeiro all posted provisional qualifying marks in the event.

The three-meter dive proved to be a thrilling affair, as just 1.65 points separated the top three finishers. NC State's Molly Culberson claimed the gold medal with her score of 334.65. The senior from Charlotte, N.C., also claimed silver in the one-meter on Thursday.

Miami swept the next two spots in the three-meter dive, with senior Melanie Rinaldi taking second with 333.45 points and sophomore Jenna Dreyer taking third with 333.00. The medals were also the second of the weekend for both Hurricane divers, as Rinaldi was first and Dreyer third in the one-meter on Thursday.

Florida State capped the evening with its fourth win of the day, as Altmann, Brick, Raleigh and Carrie Ellis combined to touch in 3:40.60 to win the 400 medley relay. The relay win was the third of the weekend for Raleigh, pushing her gold-medal count at the 2006 ACC Championships to five.

Virginia was second in the 400 medley relay, with White, Anna Steenrod, Megan Evo and Jess Lewis touching in 3:41.99. The times by both the Seminoles and the Cavaliers were NCAA B cuts.

Clemson rounded out the medalists with its third-place finish in the event. Parkhurst, Ashley Shafer, Jen Grove and Rachel Regone touched in 3:45.02.

The 2006 ACC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships conclude Saturday, with preliminaries starting at 11 a.m. and finals beginning at 7 p.m.

Event Winners

Wednesday, Feb. 15
800 Free Relay - Virginia (Megan Evo, Katy Bland, Katie Gordon, Rachael Burke)
200 Medley Relay - Florida State (Christie Raleigh, Lauren Brick, Lauren Sparg, Carrie Ellis)

Thursday, Feb. 16
500 Free - Kim Routh, Clemson
200 IM - Sara Smith, Virginia Tech
50 Free - Christie Raleigh, Florida State
1M Dive - Melanie Rinaldi, Miami
200 Free Relay - Florida State (Carrie Ellis, Abbie King, Lauren Sparg, Christie Raleigh)

Friday, Feb. 17
400 IM - Sasha Malanina, Maryland
100 Fly - Christie Raleigh, Florida State
200 Free - Romy Altmann, Florida State
100 Breast - Lauren Brick, Florida State
3M Dive - Molly Culberson, NC State
400 Medley Relay - Florida State (Romy Altmann, Lauren Brick, Christie Raleigh, Carrie Ellis)

-ACC-