Blagg, Dinsmore Add Gold Medals on Final Day
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The University of Miami swimming & diving team capped its trip to the 2019 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships Saturday night, adding two more gold medals on the final day of action.
Redshirt junior diver David Dinsmore took home top honors in the men’s platform event for the third time in his career, while redshirt sophomore Alicia Blagg completed a sweep of the springboard by taking the women’s 1-meter title.
Not far behind Dinsmore’s score of 482.10 was sophomore Zach Cooper, who took home an ACC silver medal in the platform with a score of 413.50.
Blagg, who captured the top finish in the 3-meter on the opening day of competition, won the 1-meter with a score of 329.15. Freshman Millie Haffety was fifth with a score of 280.50.
Freshman swimmer Zorry Mason finished in third in the ‘C’ final of the 200-yard breaststroke (2:13.98) to highlight the swimming action on the day.
“A lot of good things to take away from this trip. We certainly didn’t accomplish everything we wanted to do, but as a program, we took a big step in a lot of ways,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “The culture that’s in place now, we’re going to make big moves going forward. We closed the gap a lot this year. We’re a lot closer to the teams in front of us.”
Kershaw said he was especially proud of Mason, who battled her way through four days and was Miami’s top point-getter in between the lanes.
“Zorry was really tired and had the team on her back to a large degree, from a points standpoint, for a big portion of the meet. The team was behind her. She really battled. I’m really proud of her,” he said.
Kershaw said he was also impressed with junior Claire McGinnis, who finished the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:52.35.
“Claire scored in the mile today and went a lifetime best and got herself in the top 10 in school history in the mile,” he said. “On her way, got herself in the top 10 in the 1,000-yard freestyle in school history.”
The Hurricanes’ performance at the Greensboro Aquatic Center was indicative of good things to come, according to Kershaw.
“We had a number of lifetime bests throughout the weekend. All of our people were moving up compared to where they were seeded going in, and have really put themselves in striking distance going forward,” he said.
Kershaw took time to recognize his group of senior tri-captains, competing in their last meet as Hurricanes swimmers: Katie Sickinger, Sydney Story and Roxanne Yu.
“I’m very proud of the seniors,” he said. “They played a huge role in leading us towards that. Everything they have done has been amazing.
“All in all, not quite everything we wanted to do, but in a lot of ways, some of the things that didn’t show up on the scoreboard, we put a lot a lot of those things in place and everyone is on board moving forward.”
