2019 ACC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday-Saturday, February 20-23rd
- Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Virginia (1x) (results)
- Psych sheets
- SwimSwam Fan Guide
- Live Results
- Live Video: Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
NC State has surged to a 45-point lead in the ACC, but with two days of racing left, it’s still anybody’s game between the Wolfpack, Louisville and Virginia.
Friday is the meet’s busiest prelims session, with heats of five swimming events. Louisville returns the defending ACC champs in the 100 fly (Grace Oglesby) and 200 free (Mallory Comerford), and both are the top incoming seeds.
But NC State has the top seed in three other races. Elise Haan is the defending champ and top seed in the 100 back. Rookie Sophie Hansson has already been 58.44, faster than graduated 2018 ACC champ Natalie Pierce of FSU and top returning swimmer Caroline Hauder (59.81 last year at ACCs, 1:01.28 this season). Meanwhile fellow NC State freshman Emma Muzzy is the top incoming 400 IM seed at 4:05.60, though the defending champ is Reka Gyorgy of Virginia Tech, who went 4:04.42 last year.
Keep refreshing this page for live, event-by-event updates from Greensboro.
Women’s 100 Fly – Prelims
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Hill (UVA) – 51.35
- Alons (NCSU) – 51.69
- Oglesby (LOU) – 51.72
- Marsh (DUKE) – 51.87
- Jordan (DUKE) – 52.16
- Vereb (VT) – 52.17
- Pang (UVA) – 52.37
- Smith (ND) – 52.57
Last night’s 50 free winner Morgan Hill has put herself in the driver’s seat for a 100 fly win, going 51.35 this morning for the top qualifying spot. That’s a lifetime-best by seven tenths for Hill, who hadn’t been under 52 before this morning. She swam the 200 free last year, taking 10th, but will get a better finish with the 100 fly this year as she’s locked into the top 8.
NC State’s Kylee Alons, third to Hill in the 50 free last night, is the second qualifier at 51.69. The Wolfpack freshman cut almost a full second off her lifetime-best.
Last year’s ACC champ Grace Oglesby is third in 51.72. She went 51.11 last year and has already been 50.75 this season, so she’s still the title favorite at this point.
Duke put a pair of swimmers into the A final in their best event so far. Alyssa Marsh was 51.87 and Kylie Jordan 52.16. Marsh’s time was a drop of a few tenths from seed, while Jordan was 51.4 just a few weeks ago. Virginia Tech’s Joelle Vereb is sixth, followed by Virginia’s Anna Pang and Notre Dame’s Nicole Smith.
Virginia sits third as a team after last night, with some serious ground to make up if they are to defend their 2018 team title. But the 100 fly was a good start, with 2 A finalists and 2 B finalists. Current point leaders NC State have 1 A and 1 C, while Louisville has 1 A and 2 Bs.
Women’s 400 IM – Prelims
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Sargent (NCSU) – 4:08.51
- Moore (NCSU) – 4:08.65
- Muzzy (NCSU) – 4:09.70
- Poole (NCSU) – 4:10.34
- Gyorgy (VT) – 4:11.75
- Cattermole (LOU) – 4:12.09
- Thomas (ND) – 4:12.60
- Giamber (PITT) – 4:13.45
NC State’s women held up their 1-2-3-4 seeds in the 400 IM, besting the field by somewhere between 1.5 and 3.2 seconds. Junior Makayla Sargent leads the way – the former Florida Gator in her first season with the Wolfpack went 4:08.51, cutting a half-second off her lifetime-best. She’s followed by sophomore Kathleen Moore (dropping .01 to a 4:08.65), freshman Emma Muzzy (4:09.70, though she’s been as fast as 4:05) and sophomore Julia Poole (4:10.34 and a drop of about a tenth from seed).
Poole was the 200 IM champ, and cut a good second between prelims and finals. The IMs have become standout events for the Wolfpack, as NC State also put four into the A final of the 200 IM yesterday.
Defending champ Reka Gyorgy of Virginia Tech is in the mix too. She went 4:11.75 this morning. Last year, Gyorgy dropped from 4:07 to 4:04 in the final.
Louisville got Sophie Cattermole into the A final in sixth, while Notre Dame freshman Luciana Thomas is seventh. Pitt gets their first A finalist of the meet so far in swimming, with junior Sarah Giamber taking 8th.
NC State adds to its 4 A finalists with 2 Bs and 3 Cs, meaning they should extend their lead dramatically in this event tonight. Louisville has 1 swimmer in each of the three finals, while Virginia has just 1 B and 1 C.
Women’s 200 free – Prelims
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Madden (UVA) – 1:43.96
- Dolan (ND) – 1:44.19
- Moroney (UVA) – 1:44.25
- Comerford (LOU) – 1:44.38
- Valls (UVA) – 1:45.66
- Openysheva (LOU) / Eddy (UVA) – 1:45.91
- —
- Wang (GT) – 1:46.13
After two big events for NC State, Virginia struck back with a huge 200 free, putting 4 Cavaliers into the A final. Sophomore Paige Madden led the way in 1:43.96, followed by Megan Moroney (3rd, 1:44.25), Kyla Valls (1:45.66, 5th) and Eryn Eddy (1:45.91, tied for 6th).
Madden won the B final last year, dropping more than a second from prelims to finals. Moroney was second overall, going 1:43.60 last season, while Eddy was third and Valls fifth.
The defending champ is Mallory Comerford of Louisville, who went 1:44.38 this morning and sits fourth. That’s not far off what she went in prelims last year (1:43.76) before blasting a 1:42.17 to win the event. But Comerford hasn’t been fully primed for ACCs since 2017, when she went 1:41.7 and set the meet record.
Notre Dame’s Abbie Dolan has had an outstanding year, and the sophomore sits second right now in 1:44.19. Dolan was 1:44.90 for seventh last season and looks ready to move up from there.
Louisville also put Arina Openysheva into the A final, and Georgia Tech gets their first championship finalist of the meet so far with Haibing Wang in 8th.
UVA dominates this event with 4 in the A heat. Louisville has 2 As and a B, while NC State has just a single scorer: Tamila Holub in the C final.
Women’s 100 breast – Prelims
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Hansson (NCSU) – 57.95
- Hulkko (FSU) – 59.35
- Wenger (UVA) – 59.70
- Wheeler (LOU) – 59.75
- Calegan (NCSU) – 59.84
- Astashkina (LOU) – 59.85
- Friesen (LOU) – 59.98
- Kucheran (FSU) – 1:00.10
It was a freshman-dominated affair in the 100 breast this morning, with rookies taking the top four spots and five of the top eight places in the A final. NC State’s Sophie Hansson blasted a 57.95 to the lead the field. That’s believed to be the second-fastest time in history for a freshman, behind only a 56.85 from American record-holder Lilly King.
Florida State’s freshman duo of Ida Hulkko and Nina Kucheran both made the A heat. Hulkko is second at 59.35 (three tenths off her season-best) and Kucheran was 1:00.10 for 8th. Virginia freshman Alexis Wenger went 59.70 for third, and Louisville freshman Kaylee Wheeler had a big swim, getting under a minute for the first time and going 59.75 for fourth. Her Cardinal teammates Mariia Astashkina (59.85, 6th) and Morgan Friesen (59.98, 7th) also made the A final.
NC State sophomore Olivia Calegan had a big drop of her own, breaking not only 1:01 but 1:00 for the first time in 59.84. She sits fifth.
The Wolfpack put 2 in the A and 2 in the B heat for tonight. Louisville leads the way with 3 As and 2 Cs. Virginia has solid scoring depth, though, with 1 A, 1 B and 3 Cs.
Women’s 100 back – Prelims
Top 8 qualifiers:
- Moroney (UVA) – 51.83
- Haan (NCSU) – 51.97
- Maguire (UVA) – 52.08
- Marsh (DUKE) – 52.23
- Gmelich (UVA) – 52.45
- Quast (ND) – 52.49
- Hess (DUKE) – 52.92
- Muzzy (NCSU) – 52.93
It was another strong event for UVA, with 3 A finalists in the 100 back. The Cavs are led by Megan Moroney, who went 51.83, faster than she was in taking third last season. Sophomore Marcella Maguire is third (52.08) and knocking on the door of her first sub-52 swim, and fellow sophomore Caroline Gmelich (52.45) is fifth.
NC State answered with two A finalists of their own, though. Defending champ Elise Haan was 51.97. She cut about seven tenths between prelims and finals last year, but was 51.4 in prelims. Meanwhile freshman Emma Muzzy completed a tough 400 IM/100 back double, doing exactly what she had to with an 8th-place finish. She’ll be locked into the top 8 tonight, so even as her rest between the 400 IM final and 100 back final shrinks in the finals setting, she’ll have nowhere to go but up in the latter race.
Duke’s Alyssa Marsh completed her own double, making the 100 back A final after hitting the 100 fly top 8 earlier on. Her teammate Maddie Hess is also into the championship heat in 7th. The other A finalist is Notre Dame’s Carly Quast, who went 52.49. She was 8th here last year.
This was a huge event for Virginia, with 7 scorers lined up for tonight: 3 in the A, 3 in the B and 1 in the C. NC State has just their two A finalists, while Louisville will really struggle with just one B finalist in this race.
We’ll have a more full look at the A, B and C finalists for each team (along with a scoring projection) coming later this morning.
Outside of the super fans that only care about one of three teams, I believe NC State and UVA are in for a great showdown tomorrow. Louisville has some phenomenal top end talent, but it’s interesting to wonder how resting for their mid-season may have affected some of their mid-tier talent. Notre Dame and UNC have some great individual talent (Dolan, Marsh, etc), but it’s easy to see how their depth is hurting them. Both programs well outside the top talent, but are also going in different directions (guess which). FSU and Miami have been fun, shoutout to BC im sure they’re having a great time.
Marsh? you mean Notre Dame and Duke not UNC? UNCs top talent is Countie and Hauder. Not sure what happened to Hauder after a good freshman year and Countie is basically the same swimmer as in high school. She’s 6”2. Would have been interesting to see what she would have done with one of the top sprint coaches.
Thank you. There is a Marsh on carolina, but not the one performing well… that Marsh is on Duke like you said. Being 6-2 isnt a guarantee that you will swim fast, so not sure why you made that comment, but yes it would be interesting to see what she could have done if she hadn’t been “DeSelmed”.
All Over Red Rover!
9 Scores in the 400 IM? The pack can sprint, do distance, medley, butterfly, backstroke, and breastroke!
This Meet is Over. Looking forward to NCAA’s!
WOLF-
Your commenting history doesn’t indicate you care about the numbers…but you’re not going to like what the scores show when Maclin goes live in a few minutes.
If only they could do 200 Free….
Hoos!!
Imagine if NCSU had the notoriety and brand of UVA (known as one of the best public universities in the country). UVA *should* be good. Coaches have it easy there.
It’s a true testament to the coaches at NCSU.
On the flip side, UVA has higher academic standards that may be a barrier to some recruits, either in being able to get in or feeling comfortable academically. I’m not saying NC State is a bad school academically, but UVA is objectively more rigorous.
Um, UNC is a pretty good counter example here. Hard to be more comparable both academically and swim heritage than Carolina and UVA and one is ascending and the other is crashing. Coaching matters and while perhaps it should be easier, Carolina shows that it must not be. Another commenter was right on about ND and coaching.
Yes, that’s why Virginia, Michigan and Berkeley are always the best in football and baseball and basketball. (Yes, UVA is good in basketball and baseball and Michigan is considered good in football and basketball, but you get my point) Academic rankings always equate or should equate with sport rankings. It is why MIT and CIT are such powerhouses in every sport they do!! UCLA a school known for basketball, their coaches should have it soooo easy there right? They just recruit solely on their rep and nothing else… easiest job in the world!!!
Hey, while we are at it, let’s just say imagine how good Kentucky or Kansas basketball would be if they had the notoriety and brand of Duke… Read more »
FYI, it’s Abbie Dolan. 🙂 Go Irish!
UVA needed to get more in A final of the 100 breaststroke. Cmon Wahoos!!!!!
Lou: 5A, 4B, 3C
UVA: 10A, 7B, 5C
State: 9A, 4B, 5C
If UVA does well in Diving, it could be a great meet tomorrow
My rough calculations have UVA winning after tonight by the amount of points they score in diving. NCSU does have more swims left tomorrow (2 more) and those could be the difference if they are not wasted.
PS, 9 swimmers in the 400 IM?!?! can you really tell me that over half their scoring roster would say that the 400 IM is one of their 3 best events? I think this is a game play here and the coaching staff saw a weak event that they could stack to max out on points, and that makes me think they will try to do the same in the 200 Breast or Fly or Mile tomorrow.
Remember UVA is starting tonight 75 points down from NC STATE.
Yes, I am including that in my calculations…. did you really think I would forget that???
22 scoring swims is a big sessions for UVA. But they had a lot of near misses with 9th places and 17th places. The could have done even better — and needed a big session to make up ground. They did enough to make this a dogfight on the final day. Fun meet
Those NCS 4 IM results bring me to ring the bell again on Dino. Everywhere he goes it’s an immediate impact in the mid distance & distance events.
Hmm… It’s almost like he is a really accomplished coach that has a track record of producing Olympic caliber mid-distance/stroke/distance swimmers and winning ACC titles. No offense to the other coaches on that staff, but he is heads and tails above the rest as the best coach on that staff.
Dino’s great, but Bobby’s sprinters don’t exactly suck
And Bobby has been ACC coach of the year how many times? How many times has he been a national team coach? How many Olympians has he coached? I think you see where I’m going with my argument here.
2 Cents – So where are you going? To my knowledge, Bobby G hasn’t been named ACC COY (can an asst or assoc head coaches win it?) nor has he been a national team coach…YET. However, he has coached several Olympians (Soeren Dahl, Simi Bilis – 50 FR finalist in Rio, and some guy named Ryan Held – who also crushed it at SC Worlds in Dec), had multiple relays set US Open and NCAA records and his sprinters keep dropping time year after year. Pretty darn good for a guy who graduated college in 2011.
Keep doin’ what you’re doin’ Bobby G!!! Go Pack!
You just answered where I was going. He graduated college in 2011… he is young and does not have the experience yet. He does not even come close to measuring up to what Dino has done. Those relays he “coached” could have done that without him easily. He is a good and fine coach, I am not saying he is bad by any stretch of the imagination… but he does not measure up to Dino and does not have the accolades or experience that he does. Yes, “Bobby” is good, but Dino is better. Also, by no means am I bashing or putting anyone down… hell I am arguing that one NCSU coach is better than another NCSU coach…. What… Read more »
I’d say the quality of the entire staff at NCS is A+. It’s almost unfair.
Don’t forget … Bobby coached the fastest American 400 free relay in history
Bobby and NC State has a non-discrimination policy of producing bad-ass sprinters … for foreign and domestic
“NC State’s Kylee Alons, third to Hill in the 100 fly last night” Third to Hill in the 50 free last night.
LETS GOOO KYLEE