Terps Finish Fifth, Kovacs Wins Silver
2/18/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 18, 2006
The Maryland women's swimming and diving team held on to finish fifth overall in the ACC Championships thanks to a fourth place finish in the meet-closing 400 free relay. The Terps' team of sophomore Maya Finkler (Rishon-le-zion, Israel), freshman Yelena Skalinskaya (Almaty, Kazakhstan), senior Barbara Sumrall (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and junior Sasha Malanina (Volgograd, Russia) took fourth in the event, missing out on a medal by .06 seconds. They finished in 3:23.31, trailing North Carolina's 3:23.25 for the bronze medal.
Maryland finished with 383 points, 9 ahead of Clemson for fifth place. Florida State took the championship with 586.5 points.
Senior Krisztina Kovacs (Budapest, Hungary) took the silver medal in the 200 breast with a time of 2:14.60. Kovacs, who swam a 2:14.43 in this morning's prelims, earned her second silver medal of the competition. Yesterday in the 100 breast, Kovacs took second with a personal-best time of 1:01.78.
Malanina, who has already won a gold (400 IM) and silver (200 IM) in this year's ACC Championships, narrowly missed winning a third medal as she finished fourth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:15.56. Third place finisher Jessica Botzum of Virginia Tech finished in 2:15.50. Nevertheless, Malanina set a personal record, eclipsing her time of 2:16.74 that she set in this morning's prelims.
Skalinskaya and Finkler came in fifth and sixth in the 100 free. Skalinskaya's time of 51.00 was just .06 seconds off her personal best, which she set in this morning's prelims. Finkler's time of 51.08 was just .12 seconds worse than her prelim time, which was also a personal best.
Senior Inbal Levavi (Kibutz Givat Haim, Israel) won her consolation heat of the 200 back with a time of 2:00.80. The time, a season best, gives her an NCAA B-cut standard.
Junior Kaleena Laputka (Shamong, N.J.) also won a consolation heat, this in the 100 free. Her time of 51.44 was good for 17th overall, and was a personal best. Her previous best, 52.01, was set this morning in the prelim.
Laputka was followed in the 100 free consolation heat by freshman Martha Whistler (Orchard Park, N.Y.). Whistler took 22nd overall with a time of 52.49.
In the grueling 1650 free, sophomore Kirsten Jones (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) swam to a 17:23.67 to finish 19th overall. The only Maryland entry in the race, Jones set a personal best with the time.
Sophomore Katarina Csomova (Komarno, Slovakia) finished 16th overall in the 200 breast with a time of 2:21.88.
The ACC Championships for men's swimming begins in earnest on Wednesday from the Natatorium at the Campus Recreation Center in College Park. Diving events, which were completed during this week's events, will be tallied with next week's scores. The first events will be the 800 free relay and the 200 medley relay, beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
