Ross Takes Third at ACC Swimming & Diving Championships
Feb. 18, 2010
Chapel Hill, N.C. – University of Miami senior men’s diver Reuben Ross turned in a score of 424.45 to finish third overall in the men’s 3-meter diving competition on Thurs., Feb. 18 at Koury Natatorium on the second day of the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving and Men’s Diving Championships on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill.
Ross, a three-year All-American for the Hurricanes, was competing in his first ACC event of the year on Thursday. The Regina, Saskatchewan (Canada) native led after the preliminary round with a score of 418.70, seeking his third 3-meter title in his career in Coral Gables. Ross was unable to sustain the energy in the finals, but collected his fourth-straight Top 3 placing during the 3-meter finals at the ACC Championships.
Despite his third-place finish, Ross is still the ACC record holder in the three-meter dive. He will look to defend his ACC Male Diver of the Year award on Fri., Feb. 19 when he steps onto the 1-meter springboard, seeking at least one ACC title in each of his four seasons competing under veteran UM diving head coach Randy Ableman.
Meanwhile, over in the swimming lanes, Miami sophomore Taylor Grenda posted a personal-best time of 5:04.60 in the 500 freestyle, while being followed closely with season-best marks recorded from freshmen Gina Mayer (5:07.42) and Susan Smiddy (5:09.37). Also performing well were juniors Ryann Labreche (5:07.85) and Tiffany Petzold (5:07.29). Sophomore Nicole Wright also took to the waters for UM in the 500 free, registering a time of 5:39.23 in the race.
In the preliminaries of the 200 individual medley, junior Deidre Novotny scored a time of 2:05.83, while teammates sophomore Roxanne Meyer (2:06.61) and sophomore Dana Hatic (2:07.67) saw action as well for the `Canes. Freshman Haley Nicholson also competed for UM, ending with a time of 2:12.07 on the day.
Junior Annika Saarnak placed fourth in the B-Finals of the 50 freestyle, touching the wall at 23.21, while she finished in 23.03 in the prelims. Both of Saarnak’s performances on Wednesday served as team season-best times for the Hurricanes in the event. Sophomore Hagar Elgendy finished the prelims of the event with a 24.08 mark – a season-best performance for her, with Lauren Jacoby finishing at 24.12 (her second-best time of the year).
In the 200 free relay event, the Hurricanes finished with a season-best performances of 1:34.26, using the swims of Annika Saarnak (leadoff), Hagar Elgendy (second), Hannah Kling (third) and Lauren Jacoby (anchor). This was the first time UM swimming head coach Christie Shefchunas employed this particular team together on the season.
After two days of action, Virginia holds the top spot with 300 points, followed by North Carolina with 225 points. After sitting in a tie for third place with Maryland after the first day of competition, Florida State sits alone in third place with 202 points. Virginia Tech jumped one slot from fifth place to fourth place (144.5), while Maryland fell to fifth place (133). NC State (108) and Duke (106) each moved up one slot to sixth and seventh, respectively, while Clemson fell to eighth place (89). Georgia Tech (70), Miami (46.5), and Boston College (24) round out the standings through day two of competition.
The four-day championship continues Fri., Feb. 19, with preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. and finals starting at 7 p.m. The men’s three-meter diving finals are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Coverage can be seen live via TheACC.com on Friday and Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. Evan Lepler and Pat McNew have tomorrow evening’s call. Follow all the 2010 Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships action at the official championship website, http://www.theacc.com/championships/10-sd-championship.html.
For more information on the University of Miami Swimming & Diving team, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, results and information regarding the Hurricanes Swimming & Diving program.
