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Women's Swimming Takes Lead After First Day Of ACC Championships
Feb. 17, 2000 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Seeking its first title since 1996, the 16th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels claimed the first day lead in the 22nd annual Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championship at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium on the University of North Carolina campus. North Carolina has 246 points after the first day, while the two-time defending ACC champion Cavaliers are second with 231.50. Clemson and N.C. State are locked in a spirited battle for third place with the Tigers one-half point ahead of the Wolfpack, 139.5-139. Maryland and Florida State are in fifth and sixth with 100 and 92 points, respectively, while Duke is seventh with 52 points. The Tar Heels started off the evening with a bang as Carolina broke a 16-year-old school record with a time of 1:31.84 in the event. The ACC championship relay consisted of junior Summer Mack, sophomore Katie Hathaway, sophomore Stefanie Rulis and freshman Christy Watkins). Virginia, which had won the championship in this relay the past two years, finished second in 1:32.22. Florida State originally had finished second in a school record time of 1:32.14, but after some confusion the Seminoles were disqualified. The freshmen of the Atlantic Coast Conference would rule the roost during the next three events, giving fans of ACC swimming a sneak peak at the future, as well as the present. Virginia freshman Cara Lane of Charlotte, N.C. won the 500-yard freestyle in an ACC meet record time of 4:43.21. That time broke the old Cavalier school record in the event of 4:44.47 set by Betsy O'Donnell in 1988 and was also an automatic qualifying time for the 2000 NCAA Championships. Lane led a 1-2-3 Wahoo sweep in the event as senior Emily Carrig, who won the ACC championship in the 500-yard freestyle in 1997 and 1999, was second, and senior Laura Sullivan was third.
The 200-yard individual medley proved to be an outstanding race as Virginia freshman Mirjana Bosevska edged North Carolina sophomore Katie Hathaway (Matthews, N.C.) by .04 of a second. Bosevska, of Skopje, Macedonia, won with a time of 2:00.59, while Hathaway touched in 2:00.63. Both went under the previous ACC meet record of Virginia's Karen Burgess, set at 2:00.81 in 1993. Bosevska's time was also a Virginia school record, while Hathaway's time was a personal best and the second fastest time in UNC history. Carolina freshman Janna Turner (Raleigh, N.C.) was the surprise third place finisher with a time of 2:03.46, taking three seconds off her career best time to take the bronze placing. In the 50-yard freestyle, UNC freshman Christy Watkins (Winter Springs, Fla.) upset the defending champion, senior Rebecca Cronk of Virginia in the event. Watkins, who came into the day with a career best time of 23.72, won the championship with a time of 22.66, an automatic NCAA qualifying time and the second fastest time in UNC history. Cronk was second with a time of 22.99, while Maryland senior Sarah Solomon took third place with a time of 23.26. In the one-meter diving competition, N.C. State senior Shelly Cavaliere (Odessa, Fla.) won the championship for the second time in her career. She also won the one-meter championship in 1997, while the Wolfpack's Marica McKeel won the title in the intervening two years. Virginia freshman Alison Sharp was the runnerup in the event, while third place went to Elizabeth Potter, a junior from Clemson. Cavaliere's win provided veteran N.C. State diving coach John Candler with a career milestone. It was the 50th time that one of Candler's divers has won either a men's or women's individual ACC diving title. North Carolina won the 400-yard medley relay in a school record time of 3:40.81, edging defending ACC champion Virginia in the event by .66 of a second. It is the eighth time in the last 10 years that the Tar Heels have won the ACC championship in the 400-yard medley relay. The Carolina relay consisted of freshman Christy Watkins, sophomore Katie Hathaway, junior Summer Mack and sophomore Stefanie Rulis. Virginia was second in 3:41.47 as the veteran relay of Megan Iffland, Kate Slonaker, Kori Forster and Rebecca Cronk turned in an outstanding time. Florida State finished third with a time of 3:47.58. Watkins also crushed the ACC record in the 100-yard backstroke as the leadoff swimmer on the relay. She clocked a time of 54.27 seconds as the leadoff swimmer, breaking the old ACC record of 54.74 held by legendary North Carolina swimmer Sue Walsh since 1983. Walsh's record was the longest-standing ACC swimming record, men's or women's, but it has now fallen by the wayside. Action will continue on Friday morning and Friday evening with seven more events. Preliminaries tomorrow begin at 11 a.m. with finals at 7 p.m. Tickets are available for general admission seating and can be purchased before each session at the UNC Athletic Ticket Office at the front of Koury Natatorium.
TEAM SCORES THROUGH 6 OF 20 EVENTS:
Event #1: 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
Event #2: 500-Yard Freestyle
Event #3: 200-Yard Individual Medley
Event #4: 50-Yard Freestyle
Event #5: One-Meter Diving
Event #6: 400-Yard Medley Relay
*ACC Record |
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