Viola Dominates One-Meter Diving Final In Atlanta
Feb. 21, 2008
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>ATLANTA, Ga. – For the fourth consecutive season, a University of Miami women’s diver won the one-meter diving event at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships as sophomore diver Brittany Viola scored a 324.65 in the event final, beating the entire field by nearly 45 points Thursday at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
“I’ve yet to see Brittany perform as well as she did tonight in the one-meter,” head diving coach Randy Ableman said. “Hopefully her performance will set the tone for the rest of the weekend.”
Viola’s win follows up teammate Jenna Dreyer’s wins in the one-meter event in 2005 and 2007 and Melanie Rinaldi’s first-place finish in 2006.
After picking up the top score of 291.80 in the preliminary round earlier in the day, Viola cruised to victory in the final round, beating out second-place Hannah Krimm of Georgia Tech (280.00) by 44.65 points. It marked Viola’s first career individual win in the ACC Championships as well established a new season-high score in the ACC this season.
“I am really looking forward to how she performs from here on out, especially in Saturday’s 10-meter,” Ableman added.
On the swimming side, junior Britta Boesing placed 11th overall and third in group “B” in the 200-yard IM final with a mark of 2:03.03, the fifth-fastest mark in school history. Freshman Ryann Labreche finished second in the “C” group and 18th overall with a time of 4:54.98 in the 500-yard freestyle final, the seventh-fastest time in school history while a pair of Hurricanes also established season bests in the 50-yard free. Freshman Annika Saarnak set a personal and team best mark in the 50 free, coming in at 23.67 to place 21st overall while sophomore Kirsten Pomerleau finished 24th at 23.77.
Through the first two days of action, Miami sits in eighth place overall with 94 points. The University of Virginia, currently with 259 points, leads the way for the second consecutive day while North Carolina, FloridaState, Clemson and Virginia Tech round out the Top 5
In Thursday morning’s preliminary round, Boesing picked up a ninth-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:03.20. In addition to Boesing, Saarnak came away with an 18th-place with a time of 23.56 in the 50-yard freestyle event to qualify for the final round.
Friday’s schedule opens with preliminary events at 11 a.m. followed by several diving events in the afternoon before the seven swimming finals and one diving final beginning that begin at 7 p.m.
For complete results of this week’s action in Atlanta, visit the 2008 Men’s & Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship website.
Fans can also follow the action live via ACC Select at www.ACCSelect.com.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Feb. 22
Prelims — 11 a.m.
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
One Meter Dive (Men) — 1 p.m.
Three Meter Dive (Women) — 3:15 p.m.
One Meter Dive Finals (Men)
Finals — 7 p.m.
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
Three Meter Dive (Women)
400 Medley Relay
Saturday, Feb. 23
Prelims — 11 a.m.
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
Platform Dive (Men) — 1 p.m.
Platform Dive (Women) — 3 p.m.
1650 Free — 4 p.m.
Platform Dive (Men) — 4:30 p.m.
Finals — 7 p.m.
1650 Free — Final Heat
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
Platform Dive (Women)
400 Free Relay
