2019 Women’s ACC Championships: Day 1 Live Recap

2019 ACC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday-Sauturday, February 20-23rd
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Virginia (1x)
• Psych sheets
• Entry List
• SwimSwam Fan Guide
• Live Results
• Live Video: Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
• Championship Central

The women’s ACC Championships kick off tonight with the 200 medley relay, 800 free relay, and women’s 3 meter diving. Men’s diving also takes place at the women’s ACC meet, so men’s 1 meter is underway today as well. Virginia will look to match it’s epic run to the ACC title last February, while Louisville and NC State will be looking for that title as well. Tonight’s relays should be thrilling races, and will likely set the tone for what we can expect this week: a fierce team battle made up of many individual showdowns.

Live stream will not be available tonight, but ESPN-U will be airing the finals sessions for the rest of the meet.

200 Medley Relay

• ACC Record – 1:34.89

1. NC State – 1:34.52
2. Virginia – 1:35.21
3. Florida State – 1:36.28

This year’s championships started out with a bang! NC State’s 200 medley relay of Elise Haan, Sophie Hansson, Sirena Rowe, and Ky-lee Perry combined to post a blistering 1:34.52, breaking the previous ACC conference and meet records of 1:34.89, and win the event for the 3rd year in a row. Haan led the squad off in 24.02, and was followed by splits of 26.26, 23.22, and 21.02 respectively. Perry’s anchor and Hansson’s breast split are among the fastest splits in those strokes we have seen in the NCAA this season. It should also be noted, that Perry was battling injury last year leading up to the ACC champs and NCAA champs.

UVA was 2nd in at 1:35.21, out-splitting the Wolfpack on the fly leg with Anna Pang (22.86), and back leg with Caroline Gmelich (23.83). Florida State rocketed to a 3rd place finish thanks in large part to a stunning 26.19 split from breaststroker Ida Hulkko. 5th place finisher Duke touched the wall just .01 seconds ahead of Notre Dame, 1:36.77, and was fueled by a monster 22.37 fly leg by Alyssa Marsh.

800 Free Relay

• ACC Record – 6:53.75
• ACC Meet Record – 6:55.77

1. Virginia – 6:55.22
2. Louisville – 6:58.69
3. Notre Dame – 7:02.36

UVA put on a fairly dominant performance in the 800 free relay, even managing to beat Louisville by 3.4 seconds with Mallory Comerford anchoring in 1:41.01. UVA set a new ACC meet record as Morgan Hill led off in 1:43.27, followed by Paige Madden (1:42.87), Megan Moroney (1:43.76), and Eryn Eddy (1:45.32) combined for a 6:55.22. Madden boasts the 2nd fastest split in the field, behind only Comerford.

Notre Dame came in 3rd, hitting the NCAA A cut of 7:02.52 with their time of 7:02.36. Abigail Dolan got the Fighting Irish off on the right foot, throwing down a 1:43.63 lead-off split. Freshman Kylee Alons was 4th place (7:02.50)  NC State’s fastest swimmer, splitting a 1:43.39 on the 2nd leg.

3 Meter Diving

1. Alicia Blagg (Miami) – 366.50
2. Sydney Dusel (UVA) – 335.90
3. Molly Carlson (FSU) – 318.95

Alicia Blagg, a Miami Sophomore, proved again why Miami is known for a stellar diving program, handily taking the first diving event of these championships. Florida State had a total of 3 divers make the top 8, with Molly Carlson taking 3rd, Grace Cable in 6th, and Ayla Bonniwell in 7th.

Men’s 1 Meter Diving

1. Briadam Herrera (Miami) – 433.20
2. Joshua Davidson (FSU) – 367.00
3. Benjamin Schiesl (VT) – 357.40