Feb. 20, 2013
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Georgia Tech women opened the 2013 ACC Swimming & Diving Championship Wednesday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, and the Yellow Jackets find themselves tied for fifth after an impressive 200 medley relay set the tone.
Tech scored 52 points on the opening night — thanks to a seventh-place finish by the 200 medley relay and a fifth-place finish from 800 free relay — and is tied with Duke. Virginia’s 70 points leads the meet heading into Thursday’s action.
Tech’s medley relay of freshman Carly Sweeney, sophomore Catherine Richards, sophomore Kate Brandus and freshman Erika Staskevicius set the second-fastest time in school history by putting down a 1:42.08 and finished just behind North Carolina for seventh place.
“That was a great swim for that relay,” said head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “With four underclassmen on that relay, I’m very excited about their potential for years to come.”
Staskevicius came right back and teamed with senior Alexis Weber, junior Hailey White and senior Kate Riley to post a fifth-place finish for the Jackets in the 800 free relay. They were clocked in 7:20.21, and scored 28 points for Tech.
The championship continues Thursday at 11 a.m. with the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free preliminaries. Finals in those events, along with the 200 free relay, will begin at 7 p.m. The men’s 1-meter diving prelims are scheduled for 3:15 p.m., followed by the finals at 5 p.m. The women’s 3-meter prelims are at 1 p.m. with the finals at 7 p.m.
“We put ourselves in good position and we’re right there in fifth place,” said Hart. “We need to come out tomorrow morning and set the tone right away. I think we have a chance to get points in all three events.”
Live coverage of the finals on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday can be seen on the ACC Digital Network and ESPN3 starting at 7 p.m. For more on the 2013 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships, head to the official website at http://theacc.co/SwimDiveChamps.
