Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, Day Three

CHRISTIANSBURG, Virginia, February 17. TWO new times were etched in the conference record books on Friday at the 2012 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.

Virginia Tech junior Heather Savage won the first swimming title of the week for the Hokies in the 100-yard butterfly, and in the process set new ACC and Virginia Tech records in the event. Her time of 52.14 broke the record that Maryland’s Megan Lafferty set last year. Lafferty finished in second behind Savage, followed by Ellen Williamson of Virginia.

Sofia Johansson, a Miami sophomore from Ramlosa, Sweden, set a new ACC mark in the 100-yard breaststroke at 59.81 seconds and became the first to swim the event in under one minute in conference history. She beat out Florida State’s Melissa Cooper and Duke’s Christine Wixted to earn the gold and pick up 20 points for the Hurricanes.

After three days of action, the Virginia women sit in first with 558 points, ahead of North Carolina (401), Florida State (302), Maryland (273), Virginia Tech (269) and Miami (244). NC State (170.5), Georgia Tech (154.5), Duke (149), Clemson (90), and Boston College (48) round out the field.

The North Carolina 400-yard medley relay team of Candace Cooper, Laura Moriarty, Katie Nolan, and Danielle Siverling grabbed the first victory of the night for the Tar Heels in a time of 3:35.71 as they successfully defended last year’s title. Virginia anchor Lauren Perdue almost stole the win, but just fell short as the Tar Heel squad touched the wall in 3:35.76. The Maryland Terrapins finished in third in 3:36.15.

Duke’s Jessica Lyden took home the fourth-straight three-meter diving title for a Blue Devil with a score of 365.95, finishing ahead of Virginia Tech’s Logan Kline who tallied 356.10 points. Florida State sophomore Kelsey Goodman earned All-ACC honors and a bronze medal with 354.25 points.

Freshman Megan Fox won the 14th 400-yard individual medley ACC title in Virginia history when she touched the wall in 4:08.01, beating out Virginia Tech senior Erika Hajnal (4:08.43) and North Carolina’s Cari Blalock (4:09.09).

Tar Heel Stephanie Peacock won her second title of the week, taking home the gold in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:45.11 to earn the Tar Heels 20 points. Siverling earned her second podium appearance of the day after the earlier relay gold medal by finishing in second place in 1:46.31, and was followed closely behind by Virginia’s Rachel Naurath in 1:46.34.

Virginia’s Charlotte Clarke closed out the night with a win in the 100-yard backstroke in 53.33 for her first career ACC title. Her teammate Meredith Cavalier touched the wall in 53.41 for the silver medal, and North Carolina senior Candace Cooper came in third in 53.48.

In the men’s diving action during the afternoon, Logan Shinholser took home his second ACC title of the year in the one-meter springboard. The junior scored 378.50 and overtook Georgia Tech’s Brandon Makinson in the final round, giving him three career titles to go along with his platform championship last year.

The last day of the championship starts on Saturday at 11 a.m. with the preliminaries of the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and 1650-yard freestyle. Men’s platform diving prelims and finals start at 1 p.m., with the women’s platform prelims starting at 3:45 and finishing with the finals at 8 p.m. The swimming finals start at 7 p.m.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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