2016 ACC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 17 – Saturday, February 20
- Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greenboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Virginia (8x) (results)
- Psych sheets
- Live results
- Live Video (if available)
- Championship Central
- Fan Guide
The ACC action continues tonight in Greensboro with the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free, as some of the nation’s best look to claim conference titles. Virginia’s NCAA Record holder Leah Smith will take the stage in the 500 free. NC State’s Alexia Zevnik will face off with UVA’s Kaitlyn Jones and Courtney Bartholomew in the 200 IM. Kelsi Worrell came through as the top seed headed into the women’s 50 free final, with NC State’s Riki Bonnema set to challenge tonight.
500 FREE:
- Leah Smith, UVA- 4:30.74
- Mallory Comerford, Louisville- 4:38.01
- Hannah Moore, NC State- 4:38.53
It was all Leah Smith in the women’s 500 free. Smith took a commanding lead right out of the gate, building a 7 second lead over the field en route to a new ACC Record. Smith’s 4:30.74 is just tenths shy of the NCAA record of 4:30.37 she set last March at the NCAA Championships, but she did manage to shatter her previous ACC Championship meet record of 4:34.35 from 2014.
Behind Smith, some young talent raced for the minor medals. The race between Louisville freshman Mallory Comerford and NC State sophomore Hannah Moore came down to the wire, with Comerford holding off Moore for second in 4:38.01 to Moore’s 4:38.53.
NC State’s Rachel Muller joined her teammate under the 4:40 barrier, capturing 4th place with a 4:39.53. Also breaking the 4:40 mark was UVA’s Hanne Borgerson (4:39.80), who was followed by UNC’s Emma Nunn (4:42.80) and Louisville’s Andrea Kneppers (4:43.24). UVA had a trio in the championship final, with sophomore Cece Williams rounding out the top 8 in 4:44.17.
200 IM:
- Courtney Bartholomew, UVA- 1:55.63
- Alexia Zevnik, NC State- 1:56.02
- Kaitlyn Jones, UVA- 1:56.46
Virginia continued to dominate the championship finals in the 200 IM, with Jen Marrkand, Courtney Bartholomew, and Kaitlyn Jones turning neck and neck through 100 yards. Bartholomew ended up taking the win with a 1:55.63. NC State’s Alexia Zevnik broke up the Virginia party with a stellar freestyle leg, making it into the top 3 with a 1:56.02 for 2nd. Jones held on for 3rd in 1:56.46.
Louisville freshman Rachel Bradford came up on the back half to overtake Marrkand for 4th, 1:57.48 to 1:57.89. Her teammate Andee Cottrell followed behind to take 6th in 1:57.90. UVA grabbed another top 8 finish with Haley Durmer‘s 1:58.88 for 7th. Duke’s Leah Goldman rounded out the final in 2:00.64.
50 FREE:
- Kelsi Worrell, Louisville- 21.85
- Riki Bonnema, NC State- 21.94
- Natalie Labonge, NC State- 22.23
Less than a tenth of a second separated 1st and 2nd place in the 50, with Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell clocking a 21.85 to take the win over NC State’s Riki Bonnema (21.94). Bonnema’s teammates Natalie Labonge (22.23) and Ashlyn Koletic (22.33) took 3rd and 5th respectively to help rack up the points for NC State.
Virginia grabbed 4th and 7th place points with Ellen Thomas (22.28) and Caitlin Cooper (22.46). Duke’s Maddie Hess, the lone freshman in the field was 6th in 22.42 ahead of Cooper. UNC’s Caroline Baldwin tied Cooper for 7th in 22.46.
200 FREE RELAY:
- NC State- 1:27.50
- Virginia- 1:28.45
- UNC- 1:28.63
After placing 3 swimmers in the top 8 of the 50 freestyle, it’s no big surprise that NC State came up with a win in the 200 free relay. The team of Riki Bonnema, Ashlyn Koletic, Natalie Labonge, and Krista Duffield posted a 1:27.50 to set a new ACC record, highlighted by Bonnema’s 21.92 leadoff.
Virginia (1:28.45) swam to 2nd place with a pair of 21 second splits from Ellen Thomas (21.95) and Caitlin Cooper (21.75). Behind UVA, Louisville and UNC battled it out for 3rd. Despite a blazing 21.40 split from Kelsi Worrell on the 2nd leg, Louisville (1:28.64) fell to 4th by just .01 behind the UNC women (1:28.63), who got a 21.77 on the second leg from Sarah Hitchens.
The ACC live meet results data appears as if split #3 is not available for NC State’s blazing relay, so let’s do some math. Since the first two splits are known as well as the final time, and the first two splits can be accepted as accurate given a video replay can visually compare NC State vs. UofL out front splits which are valid, then it can deduced that the last two legs for NC State totaled 43.52 secs. IF this is evenly split then the last two legs each went 21.76, BUT if one was .1 slower than the other then someone went 21.66! Sure wish the validated splits from some source could be found and posted. The whole… Read more »
SplitMan – coaches’ watches got 21.6, 21.8.
Lauren, please, mention the top 3 with their times for each event in all your recaps. Like Mr Anderson does it for SEC championships. I like what you write but it’s also very pratical for the readers to have the results at a glance before your comments.
Thanks.
Impressive swim by Leah Smith. Very close to her NCAA record. Either she’s fully rested for that meet and it’s weird and useless, or it’s not the case and she will go at least 4.28 at NCAAs. The first steps in Ledecky’s territory. 🙂
TELL ME WHY NOBODY ON THE FSU TEAM . HAS LOWERED THEIR TIMES IN ANY EVENTS. AT THE ACC.
COACH BRADLEY NEEDS TO GO. SURE HOPE THE BOYS TEAM DOES BETTER THAN THE GIRLS HAVE SHOWN SO FAR…… CONCERNED PARENT..
Agreed. They have been swimming poorly all year. Time to find someone else that can recruit and train swimmers across all strokes and distances.