Swimming & Diving

H2Okie women finish fifth at ACC Championships

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Lady H2Okies concluded the 2010 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships with a fifth-place finish on Saturday evening at Koury Natatorium.

Erika Hajnal earned her second individual title in the ACC Championships, winning the 1650 freestyle in 16:01.99 and earning an NCAA “B” cut. Lauren Ritter and Laura Simon also earned “B” qualifying times with respective ninth- and 14th-place finishes.

Backstroker Sara Shapiro coupled Friday’s performance in the 100 back with another top-20 finish in the 200 back on Saturday, as she was the final point scorer in the 200 backstroke event with a time of 2:00.67, a season-best mark.

Katarina Filova was a medal winner for the second time in the championships, posting a third-place finish in the 100 freestyle with a “B” qualifying time and season-best finish of 49.26. Emily Ferguson also recorded a “B” mark as she finished 11th in 50.02. Kelly deMarrais took 15th to give the Lady H2Okies a third point scorer in the event.

The H2Okies then had three finishers in the top-20 in the 200 breaststroke, all who qualified for NCAA “B” cuts. Jessica Earl recorded a career-best ninth-place finish in 2:14.75, while Keri Sink and Sarah Losinger finished 14th and 17th, respectively. Meaghan Holloway and Abby Barney posted respective 18th and 20th-place finishes in the 200 butterfly event.

In the final event of the championships, the women posted a season-best third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, but couldn’t beat Maryland who took second in the relay and fourth in the overall championships, beating Tech by a mere three points. Filova, deMarrais, Steffi Drechsel and Ferguson recorded an NCAA “B” mark of 3:17.97 in the relay.

Freshman Logan Shinholser posted an impressive school-record performance of 410.55 in the men’s platform event, finishing second only to Duke’s Nick McCrory, who set a new conference and ACC meet record. Mikey McDonald and Daniel Martin also finished in the top-10, scoring crucial points. The women were also led by a freshman, Sara Mokhtari, who finished ninth with a score of 213.40. Natalie West was the next finisher in 11th with a score of 207.70.

Virginia was named the women’s ACC Championships winner for the third-straight year with a score of 877.5. North Carolina and Florida State took second and third, respectively, with 642.5 and 545 points. Maryland squeaked by in fourth with 388 points, while the Hokies took a close fifth with 385.5 points.

The men’s ACC Championships will take place next week from Feb. 24th to Feb. 27th at Koury Natatorium. Live results will be available at theACC.com.