Virginia Holds Narrow Lead at ACC Swimming and Diving Championships After First Day of Competition

Feb. 15, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Virginia holds the lead after the first day of competition at the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, which kicked off Wednesday at the Campus Recreation Center Natatorium in College Park, Md. The Cavaliers amassed 74 team points with one first- and one second-place finish.

Florida State is a close second in the meet standings with 72 points on the strength of a pair of top-three finishes, while Clemson and defending league champion and championship host Maryland are tied for third with 60. North Carolina (58 points) is fifth, and is followed by Virginia Tech (56), Duke (40), Georgia Tech (40), NC State (38), Miami (36) and Boston College (14).

Virginia picked up a win the 800 free to kick off the 2006 Championships, with the squad of Megan Evo, Katy Bland, Katie Gordon and Rachael Burke combining to turn in a time of 7:16.72, good for an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. The title was the Cavaliers' first in the event since the 2003 championships.

Clemson's Kim Routh, Michelle Parkhurst, Cassy LaRussa and Rachel Regone touched second in 7:18.70, also turning in an NCAA B standard. Florida State, North Carolina and Maryland finished third through fifth, respectively, with each team achieving NCAA B standards.

In the second event of the day, Florida State set a new conference and meet record in the 200 medley relay, with Christie Raleigh, Lauren Brick, Lauren Sparg and Carrie Ellis teaming up to turn in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:38.59. The win gave the Seminoles league titles in the 200 medley relay in two of the last three years, and took more than one full second off the previous conference (1:40.27) and meet (1:40.69) records, both of which had been set by Virginia in 1999.

Virginia finished second in the 200 medley relay, with Brielle White, Anna Steenrod, Stephanie Glover and Jess Lewis turning in a time of 1:41.56. Maryland was third, followed by Virginia Tech in fourth and North Carolina in fifth. The Cavaliers, Terrapins, Hokies and Tar Heels each earned NCAA provisional marks.

Competition at the ACC Championships resumes Thursday with preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. and finals starting at 7 p.m.