Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. -- Virginia Tech will kick off postseason competition this week, as the H2Okies head to the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving and Men’s Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C., from Wednesday, Feb. 19 through Saturday, Feb. 22.
Last year, the H2Okies took runner-up honors at the Women’s ACC Championships, as every H2Okie female collectively earned a point for Tech as it tallied 536 points on the week. The second-place finish marked Virginia Tech’s highest-ever finish at the ACC Championships.
This season, the women enter the ACC Championships in sixth place in the conference, having posted a 2-4 record against conference competition during the regular season.
Junior Kaylea Arnett will be looking to defend her ACC Female Diver MVP title, which she has won both of the previous two seasons. Arnett currently owns the highest 1-meter score of any ACC competitor by more than 20 points.
Sophomore Weronika Paluszek, who scored 36 points for the H2Okies at last year’s ACC Championships, will look to have another strong weekend in Greensboro. Paluszek is currently ranked in the top five conference competitors in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
Senior Katarina Filova and freshman Jessica Hespeler both currently own the 10th-fastest time in their events, the 100 and 200 freestyle, respectively. Fellow freshman Fiona Donnelley also checks in at 10th in the 400 IM.
The H2Okie relay teams will also look to have good weekends. The 400 medley relay team, consisting of Maggie Gruber, Donnelly, Paluszek and Filova, is currently ranked third in the conference, while the 800 freestyle relay (Donnelly, Emily Ryczek, Hespeler and Margaret Parcell) is seeded fifth.
The men will also compete in the diving portion of their championships this weekend, led by senior Ryan Hawkins, who is currently ranked fourth in the conference in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Freshman T.J. Shinholser joins Hawkins on the 1-meter list in seventh place, while junior Kyle Butts checks in just behind Hawkins on the 3-meter list in fifth place.
Competition will begin on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. with the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay, before picking up again on Thursday morning with prelims. Complete meet information, as well as a schedule of events, can be found at the attached links.
A live video stream of event finals will be available at the Championship Central page on Thursday through Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m., with Dean Linke handling play-by-play and Frank Comfort adding analysis. A link can be found above.
There is no charge for admission to the 2014 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. Parking is available for $8 or for $15 for a session pass.
All championship information, including a full event schedule and live results, can be found at the official championship website, http://theacc.co/SwimDiveChamps. Fans can also get updates by following along on Twitter, @ACCSwimDive.