Women’s ACC Championships: Mallory Comerford Blasts 1:41.70 200 Free

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Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

The third evening of competition at the women’s ACC championships in Atlanta featured Louisville’s Mallory Comerford moving into the all-time top ten in the women’s 200 free and impressive wins from Virginia Tech’s Reka Gyorgy and North Carolina’s Hellen Moffitt. In the team race, NC State still leads, but nine-time defending ACC champion Virginia is closing in.

The Wolfpack finished the night with 776.5 points (124 of them coming in the 100 back), while Virginia is solidly in second with 750. Louisville is third with 674.5, just ahead of North Carolina at 665. Duke rounds out the top five with 513.5.

Read below to find full results and interviews with race winners.

400 IM

Virginia Tech freshman Reka Gyorgy dropped seven seconds off her seed time to qualify second for the final, and she cut another five in finals, holding off Virginia senior Kaitlyn Jones to win the conference title. Gyorgy touched in 4:04.97, the seixth-fastest time in the country this season.

Jones finished second in 4:06.80, and NC State’s Hannah Moore took third in 4:09.10.

Swimming in lane one, Louisville’s Rachael Bradford-Feldman finished fourth in 4:10.11, just ahead of UNC’s Catherine Hulsey (4:10.16). Georgia Tech’s Kira Debruyn (4:12.69), Virginia’s Rachel Politi (4:13.07) and Virginia Tech’s Fiona Donnelly (4:14.66) also competed in the A-final.

100 fly

North Carolina’s Hellen Moffitt cruised to her first ACC Title, posting a time of 50.86 to dominate the field. Moffitt improved to second in the country behind Cal’s Noemie Thomas (51.62).

Moffitt spoke afterwards about what it meant to win her first ACC title and commented on her team’s impressive performance in Atlanta after a touch stretch of dual meets.

Duke’s Leah Goldman pulled away from the field on the last 25 to finish second in 51.62, and Notre Dame’s Erin Sheehan was third in 52.22, just ahead of Florida State’s Tayla Lovemore (52.28) and Louisville’s Grace Ogelsby (52.30).

UNC’s Sarah Koucheki finished sixth in 52.48, while Louisville’s Nastja Govejsek and Duke’s Alyssa Marsh tied for seventh in 52.54.

200 free

Louisville’s Mallory Comerford pulled away from Virginia’s Leah Smith over the last 50 and finished in a time of 1:41.70. That beat Simone Manuel’s 1:41.90 as the fastest time in the nation so far this season. Comerford also broke the ACC record held by Virginia’s Lauren Perdue at 1:42.51 and improved to eighth all-time in the event.

Comerford discussed afterwards what kind of statement she made with her swim and how this year’s championships feels different than her freshman season.

Smith finished second in 1:43.29, the eighth-best time in the nation, and Virginia Tech’s Jessica Hespeler took fourth in 1:44.37. Notre Dame’s Abbie Dolan, who was in second place at the halfway point, faded to fourth with her time of 1:44.87.

Virginia swimmers Jen Marrkand (1:45.18), Morgan Hill (1:45.42) and Eryn Eddy (1:45.63) finished fifth through seventh, respectively, and Georgia Tech’s Iris Wang was eighth in 1:46.30.

100 breast

Virginia’s Laura Simon held off a late charge from Louisville’s Andrea Cottrell to win the ACC title in the event. Simon, who finished second to Cottrell in the event at the 2016 championships, finished in a time of 58.46, while Cottrell settled for second in 58.81.

Simon, who’s Virginia Cavaliers are just behind NC State in the team race, explained what the win meant to her and how she’s feeling as far as the team race.

NC State’s Kayla Brumbaum finished just behind in third place wit ha time of 58.91, while UVA’s Vivian Tafuto (59.79) and Florida State’s Natalie Pierce (59.87) also got under the one-minute barrier.

Also swimming in the A-final were Pitt’s Lina Rathsack (1:00.21), Notre Dame’s Meaghan O’Donnell (1:00.24) and Louisville’s Silvia Guerra (1:00.58).

100 back

NC State’s Alexia Zevnik, the runner-up in this event at the ACC champuionships last season behind Courtney Bartholomew, picked up her second conference title of the weekend with a dominant effort in the 100 back. She posted a time of 50.80, the fastest time in the country this season, moving her to 12th on the all-time list in the event.

North Carolina swept the other two spots on the podium as Caroline Baldwin finished second in 51.38 and Moffitt, fresh off her win in the 100 fly, finished third in 51.42.

NC State scored an amazing 124 points in the event to vault back into the lead after surrendering that place earlier in the night. For the Wolfpack, Courtney Caldwell finished fourth in 51.75, Elise Haan took sixth in 52.18, and Lotta Nevalainen swam an eighth-place time of 53.46. Notably, Haan’s prelims time of 51.13 was the second-fastest time of the day.

Virginia Tech’s Klaudia Nazieblo finished fifth in 52.05, and Louisville’s Alina Kendzior finished seventh in 52.66.

Men’s 3-meter diving

Returning to the scene of his national championship in the 3-meter event last season, Pitt’s Dominic Giordano picked up another win in that same event Wednesday night. He scored 451.60 to easily top Miami’s Briadam Herrera, who finished second with 428.70. UNC’s Jack Nyquist finished third with a score of 407.10.

Notre Dame’s Joe Coumos (398.20), Florida State’s Tyler Roberge (391.60) and Dylan Grissell (352.30), Georgia Tech’s Matt Casillas (315.30) and Duke’s Nathaniel Hernandez also made the top eight.

400 medley relay

NC State dominated the final relay of the night from start to finish. Alexia Zevnik led off in 50.81, just off the 50.80 she swam to win the 100 back earlier in the night, and her teammates maintained the big advantage and finished in 3:28.26. Kayla Brumbaum (58.98), Krista Duffield (51.44) and Ky-Lee Perry (47.03) finished out the swim.

While recovering from their evening of competition in the ice bath, Zevnik and Brumbaum assessed their races and how the team is reacting to holding a lead heading into the final day of the championships. The two also offered their thoughts about how far the Wolfpack squad has come since their freshman year.

Propelled by a blazing 46.71 anchor leg from Mallory Comerford, Louisville finished second in the relay in3:30.45. Alina Kendzior, Andrea Cottrell and Grace Oglesby also swam on that team. Virginia’s Jen Marrkand, Laura Simon, Kaitlyn Jones and Ellen Thomas finished third in 3:31.42.

North Carolina, propelled by a 51.01 fly leg from Hellen Moffitt, finished fourth in 3:31.53. The rest of the top eight consisted of Notre Dame (3:34.07), Virginia Tech (3:34.20), Florida State (3:34.54) and Georgia Tech (3:37.26).

Results

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