Miami Closes Historic Run at ACC Championships
Feb. 19, 2011
Complete ACC Meet Results | Complete ACC Meet Results 
Atlanta, Ga. – The University of Miami swimming & diving team earned its highest finish ever at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships on Saturday, finishing in sixth place with 349 points -just nine points away from fifth place, inside the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
Under the direction of fifth-year swimming head coach Christie Shefchunas, the Hurricanes concluded the best season in more than 12 years, and earned the highest conference championship finish since 2002-03 when UM was part of the BIG EAST.
“This week was a giant leap for this program,” said Shefchunas following the meet. “We have definitely taken it to another level, and we plan to stay here. Now we just wait to see if we get an invite to NCAA’s for our `B’ cuts and look forward to being in Austin, Texas in four weeks.”
In the diving well, senior Brittany Viola took fourth place in her final ACC event on the 10-meter platform, earning 278.25 points. Teammate Carrie Dragland claimed second place in her first ACC Championships, collecting 336.90 points in the finals to add to the UMiami scoring.
Over in the swimming lanes, junior Dana Hatic picked up an NCAA “B” cut time in the 200 breaststroke event, touching the wall in a UM season-best time of 2:15.47. Sophomore Sofia Johansson added her second NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the Championships in a time of 2:15.68, coming in right behind Hatic.
Miami ended the night with a third NCAA “B” cut time in the 400 free relay, using the team of Annika Saarnak (leadoff), Kelsi Hall (second), Alexis Fee (third) and Lauren Jacoby (anchor) to turn in a season-fast mark of 3:22.42.
Overall, Miami captured 12 NCAA provisional qualifying times in the four-day event; including the first-ever individual swimming champion with Johansson in the 100 breaststroke on Friday. The 12 NCAA “B” cut times is the most since joining the ACC, and the most for UMiami since 1996-97 when UM advanced members of the women’s swimming team to the NCAA Championships.
Virginia capped the meet and ensured their fourth-straight title with a victorious run in the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay. Led by Perdue, seniors Kristen Moores and Hannah Davis and freshman Emily Lloyd, the Cavaliers posted a time of 3:15.68. Maryland came in second with a 3:17.44, followed by North Carolina with a 3:19.11. The top nine teams posted `B’ cuts.
A total of five “A” cuts were hit by ACC student-athletes, guaranteeing them a bid to the 2011 NCAA Championship. North Carolina’s Carly Smith met standards in both the women’s 100- and 200-yard backstroke events.
In the final men’s diving event of the championship, Virginia Tech sophomore Logan Shinholser registered a score of 449.15 to win the men’s platform dive. Florida State swept the final two podium spots as senior Landon Marzullo (441.25) and sophomore Mike Neubacher (422.90) finished second and third, respectively.
The 2011 ACC Men’s Swimming Championship will be held Wednesday, Feb. 23 through Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center as 10 teams vie for the conference title. Live action will be available on the ACC Network on theACC.com Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Fans can follow all the 2011 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 HurricaneSports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes swimming & diving program.
You can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the `Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
