Jan. 13, 2007

Complete Results | Photo Gallery 

The University of Maryland women's swimming and diving team had two wins this weekend, against Richmond (186-160) and Villanova (192-148). Pittsburgh finished ahead of Maryland (185-161) at the home quad-meet. The second session of this weekend's competition occurred this morning following recognitions of this year's seniors.

The Terrapins had an exciting first night of competition, winning the 200-yard medley relay and having first-place swims by senior Sasha Malanina (Volgograd, Russia) in the 400 individual medley (4:21.37) and by freshman Jen Vogel (Hingham, Mass.) in the 100 butterfly (56.18). Freshman Andrea Lehner (Orchard Park, N.Y.) also finished first in the 100 freestyle (50.37). The Terps achieved three NCAA B-cut times Friday night with Malanina's 400 IM, Lehner's 100 free and with sophomore Yelena Skalinskaya (Almaty, Kazakhstan) swimming a 50.83 in the 100 free.

This morning's meet opened with the 500 free. Junior Kirsten Jones (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) led the Terps in the event with a sixth-place swim in 5:04.21, a season high for Jones.

The Terps dominated the 400 medley relay, taking first with the team of Malanina, Lehner, Vogel and Skalinskaya swimming a 3:49.82. The relay team established a new season high for the women in this event.

In the 200 free, Maryland took the second and third place positions with Malanina swimming a 1:51.43 and freshman Jackie Davidson (Beverly, Mass.) swimming a 1:55.17 respectively.

Lehner swam her second NCAA B-cut time of the weekend in the 200 IM. She won the event with a 2:03.73. Freshman Nina Rossi came in sixth place for the 200 IM (2:10.09).

Vogel led Maryland in the 200 butterfly on the women's side. She swam to a second-place finish in 2:04.97 with freshman Annie Broome (Knoxville, Tenn.) coming in fifth (2:06.57).

Skalinskaya took the 50 free with a first-place swim of 23.87. In the following event, Davidson was the top finisher for the Terps in the 200 backstroke with a 2:07.47, good for sixth place.

Malanina picked up her second win of the weekend in the 200 breaststroke (2:21.11) for a new season high.

The Terps closed out the weekend with a second-place finish in the 400 free relay. Lehner, Skalinskaya, junior Emily Smoak (Salisbury, Md.) and junior Maya Finkler (Rishon-le-zion, Israel) swam a 3:28.92 in the event.

Maryland will return to action next weekend in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Terps will take on Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech on January 20th in an ACC tri-meet starting at 1:00 pm.

Women's Team Scores

Pitt(216)-Richmond(136)

Pitt(185)-Maryland(161)

Pitt(214)-Villanova(138)

Maryland(186)-Richmond(160)

Richmond(179)-Villanova(173)

Maryland(192)-Villanova(148)

The following seniors (on the women's side) were recognized this morning for Senior Weekend:

Katarina Csomova

Csomova, an economics major from Komarno, Slovakia, had strong swims at ACCs her freshman and junior years. In 2004, she placed 14th in the 200 breast and 20th in the 100 breast at ACCs. Last season, Csomova finished 16th in the 200 breast and 21st in the 100 breast at the conference championships. She established her career-best times in the 100 breast (1:05.66) and 200 breast (2:21.62) at the 2003 Terrapin Cup Invitational.

Gigi deToll

deToll is a two-time ACC Champion in the 100-yard butterfly, two-time NCAA Championship qualifier, and Olympic Trial competitor. In her two ACC-title swims, she broke the school record for the 100 fly in 2004 (53.66) and broke the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center pool record for the 100 fly in 2005 (53.77). She was named an Honorable Mention All-American for the 200 and 400-meter medley in 2004 and for the 100 fly and 200 medley relay in 2005. deToll is a family studies major from Culpeper, Virginia.

Natalie Ferdinand

Ferdinand, a kinesiology major from St. Thomas, Barbados, had an impressive showing at last year's ACCs. She set career records in three events at the 2006 ACC Championships; Ferdinand swam a 24.02 in the 50 free (29th place), a 53.46 in the 100 free (37th place), and a 57.04 in the 100 back for a sixth-place finish.

Kaleena Laputka

Laputka was a strong factor for Maryland at 2006 ACCs. She placed 23rd overall in the 50 free, was a member of the 4th-place 200 free relay team, and finished 17th in both the 100 back and 100 free at ACCs last season. Laputka set her career bests in the 50 free (23.76) and 100 free (51.44) at 2006 ACCs. Laputka is a government and politics major from Shamong, New Jersey.

Sasha Malanina

Malanina is the defending ACC Champion in the 400 IM (4:14.77) and placed second in the 200 IM (2:01.54) at last season's ACCs. She competed at the NCAA Championships in 2006 for the 200 and 400 IM and in 2005 for the 400 IM, 500 free, 1650 free and 800 free relay. Malanina was awarded Honorable Mention All-American honors in 2006 for the 400 IM. She received All-ACC honors in 2006 for the 200 and 400 IM, was named to the All-ACC team in 2005 for the 800 free relay and in 2004 for the 400 IM. Malanina is a finance major and came to Maryland from Volgograd, Russia.