University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NCAA Women's Championships Finals
Tar Heels In 20th Place At NCAA Championships
March 17, 2012 | Swimming & Diving
March 17, 2012
AUBURN, ALA. - The North Carolina women's swimming and diving team made its presence felt Friday on the second day of 2012 NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships as the team stands in 20th place heading into the final day of competition.
Sophomore Cari Blalock and senior Laura Moriarty performed particularly well in their events being held at Auburn University. The Tar Heels also earned honorable mention All-America honors with their 14th-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
The Tar Heels finished in 19th place during the preliminary round in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:40.00. Senior Candace Cooper led off the relay, followed by Moriarty, Blalock and freshman Danielle Siverling. The California Golden Bears finished first in the event with a time of 1:34.24.
Earlier in the day, Blalock and Moriarty swam in the preliminaries for the 400-yard individual medley, placing 13th (4:09.01) and 20th (4:11.70), respectively. Blalock qualified for the consolation final, and finished seventh in that heat with a time of 4:09.73. Blalock's time in the prelims was a personal best time, bettering her mark at this year's ACC Championships.
"Cari Blalock achieved her personal best time in the 400 IM in the preliminaries and tonight finished out with the third 4:09 plus 400 IM of her career," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "She did what she needed to do this morning to put herself in a scoring position."
Siverling swam for the Tar Heels in the 200-yard freestyle preliminary, representing her university in a 19th-place finish with a time of 1:45.66. That was the personal best time for Siverling. Her previous best was a time of 1:46.19 at the ACC Championships. Stephanie Peacoack finished in 25th place with a time of 1:45.92.
Carolina's Moriarty participated in the 100-yard breaststroke preliminary, finishing with a time of 1:02.02. Cooper represented UNC in the 100-yard backstroke preliminary. She finished with at time of 54.10.
Carolina wrapped up the evening with a 14th-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Sophomore Stephanie Peacock, Siverling, junior Katie Nolan and Blalock finished with a time of 7:08.41. An impressive Georgia group took first place in the event with a time of 6:55.96.
"Our 800 freestyle relay finished 14th in what was a very late session this evening," said DeSelm. " We got a great leadoff leg from Stephanie Peacock and then a great split from Danielle Siverling on the second leg in 1:44 plus. Katie Nolan did great job on the third leg and a tired Cari Blalock did a fine job getting us home. It is a scoring relay and all those swimmers get honorable mention All-America honors."
At the end of the second day of NCAA competition, UNC sits in 20th place in a field of 42 teams. Preliminary competition will resume tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. at Auburn University.
Players Mentioned
