North Carolina
ACC Women's Championships Prelims
Five UNC Swimmers Advance To Championships Finals Saturday Morning
February 23, 2008 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 23, 2008
ATLANTA, GA. - Sophomores Alison Clemens and Ashley Howard garnered top three seeds and five Tar Heels overall advanced to the championship finals on the fourth day of the 2008 ACC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
Howard qualified third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.11. She will be joined tonight by fellow sophomore Barbara Thomas who will swim in the consolation finals. Thomas clocked a 14th place finish at 2:03.48, just short of her personal best time. Senior Taylor McFarland was 18th in 2:04.22. The surprise swim of the event was by freshman Caroline Hartmann as an exhibition entry. She clocked a 2:02.02, cutting 2.72 seconds off her previous personal best. Her time placed eighth overall in the event including scoring and exhibition entries.
UNC's freestyle depth showed itself off in the 100-yard freestyle with a pair of career bests helping place three entries in the championship finals. Senior Kelsey Morrissy qualified fifth in 50.03, freshman Rebecca Kane seventh in 50.29 and Megan Steeves eighth in 50.33. Both Kane and Steeves had personal bests with their previous times being 50.41 for Kane at 2007 Nike Cup and 50.87 for Steeves at last fall's meet versus Minnesota. Sophomore Eliza Butts qualified for the consolation final with a time of 50.77, good for 12th place.
Kane and Steeves moved into ninth and 10th places, respectively, on the UNC list of all-time performers in the 100-yard freestyle.
UNC had only three scoring entries combined in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly and two reached tonight's championship finals.
Clemens earned the No. 2 qualifying spot in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:14.68, just .07 off her personal best. Freshman Katie Marsh finished 18th at 2:24.09 and junior Jen Frazier went 2:23.74 as an exhibition entry.
In the 200-yard butterfly, senior Lindsey Marck qualified fifth with a time of 2:00.53. UNC's exhibition entries were senior Kelly Woodruff who went a career best 2:04.82 and junior Sarah Scott who finished in 2:05.81. Woodruff's previous personal best came last fall in the dual meet at Duke, a clocking of 2:06.57.
In this afternoon's 10-meter diving platform preliminaries, UNC has three scoring entries -- seniors Laura Filip and Erika Matheis as well as junior Erica Schiffler -- an one exhibition entry, junior Katy Pritchett.
Six Tar Heels will participate later today in the timed finals heats of the 1650-yard freestyle. Junior Whitney Sprague and freshman Katura Harvey will swim in the final heat and juniors Lindsay McIlvain and Aubrette Biegel and freshman Ashley Miller will be the next-to-final heat. Freshman Allison Barnes will swim in the mile as an exhibition entry.
Players Mentioned
