Virginia Topples Virginia Tech in ACC Battle

BLACKSBURG, Va. November 4. THE 14th-ranked Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams combined to win 19 of 26 events in registering Atlantic Coast Conference dual meet wins over Virginia Tech Wednesday evening at War Memorial Pool. The Cavalier men won 11 events in posting a 134-102 victory, while the UVA women won eight events in a 135-108 victory over the 22nd-ranked Hokies. Both Virginia squads improve to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC while recording their 18th consecutive wins over Virginia Tech dating back to the 1982-83 season.

In the men's 134-102 victory over Virginia Tech, Fran Crippen won the 1,000 and 500 freestyles, with times of 9:11.61 and 4:29.64, respectively. Crippen led a top-three UVA sweep in the 1,000 free with third-year John Millen coming in second (9:35.25). Millen was also runner-up to Crippen in the 500 free with a time of 4:34.34. Second-year Pat Mellors touched first in both the 200 individual medley and the 200 backstroke. He won the 200 I.M. with a time of 1:52.24 and posted a winning time of 1:51.43 in the 200 back. Third-year Andrew Barber was the third Cavalier to capture two individual events as he swept the one and three-meter diving competitions with scores of 288.30 and 275.92, respectively.

In addition to two runner-up finishes to Crippen, Millen captured the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:41.13. Third-year Stefan Hirniak was second in the 200 free (1:41.56) and he also won the 200 butterfly (1:49.67). Virginia opened the meet by winning the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:24.48. First-year Bjorn Falk, Vanja Rogulj, first-year Lee Robertson, and third-year Greg Imboden all swam legs on the relay.

The 14th-ranked UVa women began their 135-108 win over the 22nd-ranked Hokies by winning the first three events, including a pair of one-two finishes. Fourth-year Rachael Burke won a pair of events and led Virginia's first one-two finish when she clocked a time of 10:04.01 in winning the 1,000 freestyle. Third-year Rory Schmidt finished second in the 1,000 free (10:08.59). Burke and Schmidt also took the top two spots in the 500 free with Burke again leading the way with a time of 4:57.15, while Schmidt touched second (5:00.00). The foursome of fourth-year Brielle White, second-year Anna Steenrod, fourth-year Elaine Bennett and second-year Jess Lewis opened the meet by winning the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:46.63.

White led a top-three UVA sweep in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:02.24. Fourth-year Katie Gordon was second (2:04.32) and fourth-year Corey Berg was third (2:05.78). Bennett grabbed the top spot in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.16 and finished second to third-year Jenny Steiner in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:19.05. Steiner posted a time of 2:18.18 to win the 200 breast. Third-year Katy Bland touched in 1:51.93 to win the 200 free and Burke was second (1:54.96). First-year Jackie Apple won the one-meter diving competition with 255.07 points and was second on the three-meter board (254.02 points).

The Cavaliers return to action November 11-12 when they host Auburn, Penn State and Purdue in a two-day meet at the UVA Aquatic and Fitness Center. The swimming portion of meet begins Friday at 6:00 p.m. with diving commencing at 2:00 p.m.

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