Ranked #16 in the nation, the North Carolina women's swimming and diving team served notice Friday night that it wants the Atlantic Coast Conference championship trophy back in Chapel Hill.

Carolina outscored eight-ranked Virginia by 87.5 points on Friday to expand a 14.5-point lead after day one of the 2000 ACC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships to 102 points through 13 of the meet's 20 events. UNC, which has not won the ACC title since 1996 but has won more than any other school in the league--12--turned on the heat Friday night by placing 15 swimmers into championship finals while the two-time defending ACC champion Cavaliers had eight championship finalists.

Carolina now leads the event with 569.5 points with the Wahoos in second place with 467.5 points. Clemson is third with 309.5 points, Maryland fourth with 274 points, Florida State fifth with 242.5 points, N.C., State sixth with 236 points and Duke seventh with 104 points.

Virginia won more events--4 to 2---than Carolina did Friday night but UNC's depth, which has been coming in tidal waves, was the telling statistic. The Wahoos won both relays with the 200-yard medley relay unit of Megan Iffland, Kate Slonaker, Kori Forster and Rebecca Cronk triumphing in a time of 1:41.33. UNC was second at 1:42.36. The 800-yard freestyle relay saw both Virginia and Carolina go under the previous ACC meet record in the event. Virginia won the event with a time of 7:16.63 as the quartet of Cara Lane, Emily Trakas, Emily Carrig and Mirjana Bosevska regained the title the Wahoos lost to UNC last year. Carolina went 7:17.81 as Katie Hathaway, Stefanie Rulis, Lauren Silva and Jennifer Strasburger broke the Tar Heels' school, which had been the ACC meet record set last year at 7:18.12.

In individual events, UNC freshman Christy Watkins electrified the crowd for a second straight night. After winning the title Friday night in the 50-yard freestyle and setting an ACC record in the 100-yard backstroke leading off the 400-yard medley relay, the Winter Springs, Fla. native was at it again on Friday night. She went 53.92 in winning the 100 back, breaking the ACC record she had set on Thursday by .35 of a second. UNC legend Sue Walsh's mark of 54.74 had stood for 17 years before being decimated twice by the precocious Tar Heel. UNC's Summer Mack of Satellite Beach, Fla. took second in a time of 54.55, also under Walsh's old record and Virginia junior Megan Iffland was the third-place finisher.

Virginia freshman Mirjana Bosevska continued to thrill the crowd as well on Friday as she won her second championship of the meet in the 400-yard individual medley, going 4:13.77 for a new ACC meet record. Bosevska also won the 200-yard IM on Thursday night. Both the Skopje, Macedonia Wahoo and UNC junior Lauren Silva (Aurora, Ill.) went under the ACC automatic qualifying time in the event as Silva, a transfer from SMU, clocked a 4:15.66 in finishing second. Clemson's Ginny Kirouac was the bronze medal finisher.

Florida State senior Tanya Gurr (Harare, Zimbabwe) won the first ACC championship of her career as a Seminole, winning the 200-yard freestyle in a school record time of 1:48.14. Carolina's duo of Stefanie Rulis, a sophomore from Lexington, Ky., was second and senior co-captain Jennifer Strasburger of Mercer Island, Wash., was third.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, UNC sophomore Katie Hathaway from Matthews, N.C. won the first ACC individual championship of her career as she outpaced the field in a time of 1:02.12. Second place went to senior Anne Blachford of Florida State and Mandy Commons of Clemson was third in the tightly-bunched field.

The night's other champion was Virginia senior Kori Forster, who took home top honors in the 100-yard butterfly. She touched in an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 54.09 seconds to beat a very fast field of competitors. Maryland freshman Bridget Mallon took the silver medla by going 54.51 and UNC's Mack, swimming two individual events on Friday, led a 3-4-5-6 North Carolina finish as she swam a time of 54.55 seconds.

Action will continue Saturday with the final seven events of the Championships. 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. They are $5 for adults, $2 for students and admission is free for children six-and-under.

TEAM SCORES THROUGH 13 OF 20 EVENTS

1. NORTH CAROLINA, 569.5, 2. VIRGINIA, 467.5, 3. CLEMSON, 309.5, 4. MARYLAND, 274, 5. FLORIDA STATE, 242.5, 6. N.C. STATE, 236, 7. DUKE, 104.

Event #7: 200-Yard Medley Relay
Timed Finals: 1. Virginia (Megan Iffland, Kate Slonaker, Kori Forster, Rebecca Cronk), 1:41.33 @, 2. North Carolina (Summer Mack, Janna Turner, Ilana Kavadlo, Christy Watkins), 1:42.36 @, 3. Florida State (Amber Goodwin, Keryn Krynauw, Summer Bell, Christy Cech), 1:43.89, 4. Maryland (Katy Novotny, Jill Martin, Bridget Mallon, Sarah Solomon), 1:43.98, 5. Clemson (Krystal Ball, Mandy Commons, Katie Mizell, Jenna Burtch), 1:44.42, 6. N.C. State (Anna Maria Gazda, Natalie Jones, Dawn DeLuca, Brandi Stergion), 1:46.95, 7. Duke (Betsy Stewart, Laura Downey, Paige Dommerich, Jamie Fleming), 1:50.91.

Event #8: 400-Yard Individual Medley
Championship Final: 1. Mirjana Bosevska (UVA), 4:13.77 #+, 2. Lauren Silva (UNC), 4:15.66 +, 3. Ginny Kirouac (CLEM), 4:18.66 @, 4. Leigh Sanders (UNC), 4:20.65 @, 5. Kelly McLaughlin (UNC), 4:21.90 @, 6. Kristin Lozeau (UNC), 4:22.66 @, 7. Jill Thomas (UMD), 4:22.97 @, 8. Val Oswald (UVA), 4:28.95. Consolation Final: 9. Courtney Ellis (CLEM), 4:25.71, 10. Emily Hustead (CLEM), 4:26.40, 11. Laura Collier (UNC), 4:27.36, 12. Katey Danforth (UVA), 4:27.92, 13. Danley Stone (UNC), 4:28.71, 14. Sharon Reidlinger (UVA), 4:28.91, 15. Susan Keller (DUKE), 4:31.99, 16. Emily Fess (NCSU), 4:36.21. Bonus Consolation Heat: 17. Erica Vrana (UNC), 4:25.99, 18. Monica Nista (UVA), 4:30.33, 19. Sarah Givan (UNC), 4:32.81, 20. Courtney Smith (UMD), 4:41.14, 21. Megan Lock (FSU), 4:42.35.

Event #9: 100-Yard Butterfly
Championship Final: 1. Kori Forster (UVA), 54.09 +, 2. Bridget Mallon (UMD), 54.51 @, 3. Summer Mack (UNC), 54.55 @, 4. Christy Watkins (UNC), 55.23 @, 5. Ilana Kavadlo (UNC), 55.30 @, 6. Melissa Fiss (UNC), 55.86 @, 7. Sarah Solomon (UMD), 56.60, 8. Katie Mizell (CLEM), 57.66. Consolation Final: 9. Summer Bell (FSU), 56.45, 10. Rebecca Cronk (UVA), 56.48, 11. Sarah Kos ((NCSU), 56.52, 12. Kathleen McCubbins (FSU), 56.80, 13. Mary Mittendorf (NCSU), 57.04, 14. Shana Bullock (NCSU), 57.09, 15. Marie Tomarelli (UMD), 57.41, 16. Dawn DeLuca (NCSU), 57.61. Bonus Consolation Heat: 17. Elise Thieler (CLEM), 57.22, 18. Erin Cumbie (CLEM), 57.56, 19. Beth Bohnsack (NCSU), 57.68, 20. Kendra Kelly (CLEM), 57.88, 21. Paige Dommerich (DUKE), 58.62, 22. Jill Deviese (FSU), 58.68, 23. Caroline Peterson (CLEM), 58.69, 24. Lindsey O'Connell (DUKE), 1:00.29.

Event #10: 200-Yard Freestyle
Championship Final: 1. Tanya Gurr (FSU), 1:48.14 @, 2. Stefanie Rulis (UNC), 1:49.26 @, 3. Jennifer Strasburger (UNC), 1:49.37 @, 4. Kelly Bowman (UMD), 1:49.59 @, 5. Emily Carrig (UVA), 1:49.90 @, 6. Emily Trakas (UVA), 1:50.40 @, 7. Laura Sullivan (UVA), 1:50.43 @, 8. Catherine Blaney (CLEM), 1:51.76. Consolation Final: 9. Mandy Horn (NCSU), 1:50.53, 10. Kristen Adams (FSU), 1:50.61, 11. Christy Cech (FSU), 1:51.05, 12. Liz Dwors (CLEM), 1:51.52, 13. Charli Reasons (CLEM), 1:51.69, 14. Jeanine Lloyd (UMD), 1:51.90, 15. Lisa Favreau (UVA), 1:52.11, 16. Megan Roesch (UVA), 1:52.43. Bonus Consolation Heat: 17. Jennie Gardner (UNC), 1:51.36, 18. Katie Scoggins (UNC), 1:52.42, 19. Molly Sullivan (UNC), 1:52.97, 20. Karen Cone (NCSU), 1:54.75, 21. Jamie Fleming (DUKE), 1:55.40, 22. Christine Williams (FSU), 1:56.03, 23. Liz Boswell (DUKE), 1:57.06, 24. Jennifer Lee (DUKE), 1:57.66.

Event #11: 100-Yard Breaststroke
Championship Final: 1. Katie Hathaway (UNC), 1:02.12 +, 2. Anne Blachford (FSU), 1:02.87 @, 3. Mandy Commons (CLEM), 1:03.15 @ , 4T. Janna Turner (UNC), 1:03.48 @, 4T. Keryn Krynauw (FSU), 1:03.48 @, 6. Kate Slonaker (UVA), 1:03.60 @, 7. Jill Martin (UMD), 1:03.69 @, 8. Leslie Anderson (CLEM), 1:05.29. Consolation Final: 9. Kori Forster (UVA), 1:04.67, 10. Courtney Ellis (CLEM), 1:05.28, 11. Rachel Handshu (UMD), 1:06.17, 12. Caitlyn Anderson (UVA), 1:06.45, 13. Natalie Jones (NCSU), 1:06.46, 14. Alison Shea (UMD), 1:07.02, 15. Laura Downey (DUKE), 1:07.61, 16. Bridgett Bowers (NCSU), 1:06.70. Bonus Consolation Heat: 17. Beth Colacurcio (UNC), 1:05.82, 18. JoAnn Overton (UNC), 1:06.65, 19. Jennifer Gauger (DUKE), 1:08.94, 20. Annie Gill (UVA), 1:09.83, 21. Karen Lawsky (FSU), 1:10.87, 22. Hilary Goldman (UMD), 1:11.01.

Event #12: 100-Yard Backstroke
Championship Final: 1. Christy Watkins (UNC), 53.92 *#+, 2. Summer Mack (UNC), 54.55 +: 3. Megan Iffland (UVA), 55.84 @, 4. Heather Stiles (UNC), 56.02 @, 5. Carina Tennessen (UMD), 56.92, 6. Katy Novotny (UMD), 57.44, 7. Nine Douglas (CLEM), 57.85, 8. Anna Maria Gazda (NCSU), 58.01. Consolation Final: 9. Laura Collier (UNC), 57.48, 10. Krystal Ball (CLEM), 57.62, 11. Amber Goodwin (FSU), 57.78, 12. Lindsey Crane (UVA), 58.00, 13. Brianna Gerrity (UMD), 58.04, 14. Lauren Smith (UMD), 58.32, 15. Betsy Nagy (FSU), 58.49, 16. Kathleen Tonini (NCSU), 58.75. Bonus Consolation Heat: 17. Betsy Stewart (DUKE), 59.27, 18. Andrea Hastings (NCSU), 59.49, 19. Lesley Muldoon (UMD), 59.73, 20. Kendra Kelly (CLEM), 1:00.17, 21. Sarah Scobey (FSU), 1:01.09, 22. Stephanie Scott (UMD), 1:01.48, 23. Ann Marie Smith (DUKE), 1:02.68, 24. Carrie Annand (DUKE), 1:05.57.

Event #13: 800-Yard Medley Relay
Timed Finals: 1. Virginia (Cara Lane, Emily Trakas, Emily Carrig, Mirjana Bosevska), 7:16.63 #@, 2. North Carolina (Katie Hathaway, Stefanie Rulis, Lauren Silva, Jennifer Strasburger), 7:17.81 @. 3. Florida State (Kristen Adams, Christy Cech, Tanya Gurr, Anne Blachford), 7:23.64 @, 4. N.C. State (Mary Mittendorf, Katie Sheridan, Mandy Horn, Andrea Hastings), 7:26.48 @, 5. Maryland (Jeanine Lloyd, Kelly Bowman, Jenna Hough, Bridget Mallon), 7:30.34, 6. Clemson (Courtney Ellis, Catherine Blaney, Charli Reasons, Nina Douglas), 7:34.03, 7. Duke (Susan Keeler, Jamie Fleming, Jennifer Lee, Liz Boswell), 7:47.96.

*ACC Record
#ACC Meet Record
@NCAA Consideration Qualifying Standard
+NCAA Automatic Qualifying Standard