University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina's Depth Helps Tar Heels Maintain Lead In ACC Championships
February 16, 2007 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 16, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina's depth proved to be the key Friday as the Tar Heels maintained a 52-point lead in the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium. The Tar Heels posted four top four individual finishes and had nine championship finals finishes overall as Coach Frank Comfort's team saw its lead over No. 7 Florida State shrink by 10 points on Friday. UNC led by two points after day one and 62 points after day two.
The Tar Heels were led by a runner-up finish by Eliza Butts in the 200-yard freestyle and third-place finishes by Alison Clemens, Lindsey Marck and Kristin Oxford on the third day of the meet in Chapel Hill. Carolina also took third place in the 400-yard medley relay.
No. 18-ranked UNC has totaled 497 points and leads the defending champion Seminoles by 52 points in the team standings. No. 20 Virginia is third with 333.5 followed by Virginia Tech with 280, Miami with 256, Clemson with 251, Maryland with 228, Georgia Tech with 111, Duke with 110, NC State with 98.5 and Boston College with 60.
In the opening event of the night, Alison Clemens took third place in the 400-yard individual medley with a career best time of 4:20.45. The Tar Heels' Taylor McFarlane captured fifth place with a career best 4:23.14 while Lindsay McIlvain and Hannah Mein were 11th and 12th, respectively. Virginia's Erin Corgan won the event with a time of 4:17.31.
Florida State swept the top two spots in the 100-yard butterfly with Christie Raleigh winning the event in an ACC meet and pool record time of 53.00. UNC's Richelle Fox had held the meet record since 1998 and the pool record since 1997. Carolina's Lindsey Marck placed third in 54.09, just .01 off her career best mark while Sarah Scott placed 15th.
The Tar Heels built on their lead by taking five of the top 10 spots in the 200-yard freestyle. Butts finished second in 1:48.18 after going a career best 1:47.96 in the preliminaries and Kristin Oxford was third in a career best 1:48.98. Virginia's Jess Lewis took home the title in 1:48.06.
UNC's Aubrette Biegel was sixth, Ashley Howard was ninth and Whitney Sprague 10th. Biegel had a career best 1:49.29 in the prelims and Howard's 1:50.04 to win the consolation heat was a career best.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Florida State's Lauren Brick won the title in 1:00.57. She swam a 1:00.51 in the prelims to break the meet record of Danica Wizniuk set in 1999. She also broke the pool record originally set by the legendary Mary Ellen Blanchard in 1989.
UNC's Kelsey Morrissy went a career best 1:03.83 to place ninth and Marissa Nilon copped 11th place.
Three Tar Heels finished in the top nine placers in the 100-yard backstroke. Senior Meagan Eickman went a career best 55.64 to take fourth, Taylor McFarlane was sixth in a career best 56.29 and Megan Steeves went a personal best 56.10 to take ninth place.
Junior Laura Filip posted her second top four finish of the meet, taking fourth in three-meter diving with a career best score of 283.40. Lauren Karatanevski had a career best score of 269.05 to place ninth and Erika Matheis was 11th.
Miami's Jenna Dreyer won the three-meter with 364.15 points to complete a sweep of the meet's two diving events.
Florida State won the 400-yard medley relay in a meet record and pool record time of 3:39.15. The Tar Heels were third in 3:42.39. The relay included Meagan Eickman (55.88), Alison Clemens (1:03.65), Lindsey Marck (53.53) and Eliza Butts (49.33).
The Tar Heels placed two divers in the Top 10 of one-meter diving as junior Ryan Funderburk placed eighth and senior Jon Fox was 10th.
The preliminaries for Saturday's events begin at 11 a.m. with championship finals beginning at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
