Feb. 15, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The No. 12 Maryland women's swimming and diving team will head to Atlanta this week for the 2005 ACC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. The meet begins Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center and lasts through Saturday, Feb. 19. Prelims begin at 11 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, while finals start at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
The Terps (11-0, 7-0 ACC) completed the program's second consecutive undefeated season with a narrow 119.5-117.5 victory over Virginia (10-2, 5-1 ACC) Feb. 5. The team has won 22 consecutive dual meets dating back to the beginning of the 2003-04 season. Their last loss came more than two years ago, on Feb. 8, 2003, to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va. The Terps are 34-2 over the last three seasons.
Three ACC schools are ranked in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Division I poll, with Maryland at No. 12, Virginia at No. 13 and North Carolina at No. 16. The Terps defeated North Carolina (9-3, 3-2 ACC), 175-125, on Jan. 29.
The Terps will look to dethrone two-time defending champ Virginia in Atlanta. Though the Terps took a perfect 6-0 conference record into last year's ACC Championships, they finished fourth with 506 points after suffering several setbacks. Still, the Terrapins broke four school records, and Gigi deToll (Culpeper, Va.) became the first Maryland freshman to claim an individual ACC title under head coach Jim Wenhold when she won the 100-yard butterfly.
Five of the Terps' six All-ACC swimmers from last year's squad return to the championships, including deToll, seniors Megan Knepper (Williamsport, Md.), Elizabeth Lavell (Annapolis, Md.) and Marina Mulyayeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and sophomore Sasha Malanina (Volgograd, Russia). Knepper garnered All-ACC honors in the 100-yard backstroke, Lavell in the 400-yard individual medley and 1,650-free, Mulyayeva in the 200-IM and Malanina in the 400-IM.
Several Terps have times that rank among the top three in the ACC this season, making them favorites for All-ACC honors - which go to the top three finishers in each event - at the championships. Mulyayeva leads the way with the conference's fastest times in the 100-fly and the 200-IM and the third-fastest top in the 100-breast. Knepper has the top times in both backstroke events, while Lavell is first in the 400-IM and third in the 500-free. Freshman Meghan Sackett (Cockeysville, Md.) has the second-fastest times in the 200-free, the 500-free and the 1,650-free to go along with the No. 3 time in the 1,000-free. Malanina is second in the 400-IM, senior Cynthia Weir (Irwin, Pa.) is second in the 50-free and senior Chrissy Miller (Seaside Park, N.J.) is third in the 200-free.
This year, Lavell is coming off an ACC Swimmer of the Week performance against Virginia. The senior won two individual events, including an NCAA `B' cut time of 4:53.00 in the 500-free. She also recorded her fastest time of the season in the 1,000-free, winning the event in 9:55.19.
Can't Make It To Atlanta? Follow along with the meet with Livestats.
E-mail Straight to You- If you would like the latest Maryland men's and women's swimming and diving news e-mailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, e-mail men's and women's swimming and diving contact Jessica Bernheim at JessicaB@wam.umd.edu with the message "Swimming E-mail" as the subject and you will receive every update released about the team.
