COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Maryland women's swimming and diving is set to begin the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships (hosted by the University of North Carolina) this Wednesday, February 14th in Chapel Hill. The Terrapins closed out the regular season on February 3rd with a 132-92 loss in Charlottesville against the University of Virginia. Maryland is going into the conference championships with a 6-5 season record, 3-3 conference record and sixth-place standing in the ACC. The Terps picked up wins during the 2006-07 regular season against ACC rivals Duke, NC State and Georgia Tech. Maryland also fell to Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia this year.

"We had a number of swimmers stand out for the women this year for different reasons. We had a young team and it has been fun to watch our freshman develop this season," said Maryland head coach Dave Durden, "There is a handful that are doing very well; Annie Broome, Andrea Lehner, Jen Vogel and Nina Rossi have all done a fantastic job in their respective events and have moved well through the season."

Going into ACCs, several of Maryland's freshmen are ranked in the conference's top-ten times for the regular season. Freshman Andrea Lehner (Orchard Park, N.Y.) is ranked in a number of events: 100-yard freestyle (third; 50.37), 200 free (fourth; 1:49.65), 500 free (ninth; 4:54.94), 1000 free (eighth; 10:05.75), 1650 free (seventh; 16:48.97), 100 backstroke (fourth; 56.31), 200 back (fifth; 2:00.39) and 200 individual medley (sixth; 2:03.73). Lehner swam NCAA B-cut times in the 100 free, 200 free, 1650 free, 200 back and 200 IM during regular season.

Freshman Jen Vogel (Hingham, Mass.) holds on to a seventh-place standing in the 100 butterfly (56.18) and swam an NCAA B-cut time in the 200 fly (2:01.91) which is currently the sixth-fastest time for the conference this season. Ranked ninth in the ACC for the 200 fly is freshman Nina Rossi (Princeton, N.J.) with a time of 2:03.54.

Joining Lehner, Vogel and Rossi in the top-ten conference times is sophomore Yelena Skalinskaya (Almaty, Kazakhstan) who is ranked 10th in the 50 free (23.52) and sixth in the 100 free with an NCAA B-cut time of 50.83. "In the sprint events this season, Yelena Skalinskaya has done a great job along with our captains, Emily Smoak and Kaleena Laputka who have steadied the ship at times when we needed them," explained Durden.

Senior Sasha Malanina (Volgograd, Russia) is currently second in the ACC for the 400 IM with an NCAA B-cut time of 4:21.37. Malanina is the reigning ACC Champion in this event. "Sasha has continued to stand out this season as a senior," said Durden, "She is coming off of an Honorable Mention All-American finish at last years NCAAs and that has compelled her through this year."

In addition to these individual standouts, the Maryland squad of Skalinskaya, junior Maya Finkler (Rishon le-zion, Israel), Lehner and junior Emily Smoak (Salisbury, Md.) swam the second-fastest time in the ACC this season for the 200 free relay when they notched an NCAA B-cut time of 1:33.00 against Duke and NC State on November 4th.

"Our team goal is always to advance up the ACC ladder and that is what we look to do this year," said Durden, "Our women finished fifth last year and we want to improve upon that finish, but it is going to take a lot of work and a lot of things are going to have to fall our way for that to happen. There are a number of great teams in the ACC, especially the top-four finishers from last year (Virginia, Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech)."

The 2007 Women's ACC Championships will begin this Wednesday, February 14th with finals in the 800 free relay and 200 medley relay starting at 7:00 p.m.

Competition will continue on Thursday, February 15th with prelims for the 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free starting at 11:00 a.m. and finals for these events in addition to the 200 free relay beginning at 7:00 p.m. Also on Thursday will be men's three-meter diving and women's one-meter diving. Diving competition will be hosted by Duke University.

On Friday, February 16th, prelims for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, and 100 back will begin at 11:00 a.m. with finals for these events plus the 400 medley relay beginning at 7:00 p.m. Also on Friday will be men's one-meter diving and women's three-meter diving.

The final day of this year's ACCs (Saturday, February 17th) will consist of prelims in the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 1650 free beginning at 11:00 a.m. with finals in these events in addition to the 400 free relay at 7:00 p.m. Platform diving competition will also take place on Saturday. Follow this weekend's meet with Live Scoring linked to both this release and to the Maryland women's swimming and diving schedule.

ACC WOMEN'S STANDINGS
1. North Carolina 5-0 (ACC); 8-1 (Overall)
2. Florida State 2-0 (ACC); 9-1 (Overall)
3. Virginia 5-1 (ACC); 7-3 (Overall)
4. Virginia Tech 4-1 (ACC); 9-2 (Overall)
5. Clemson 4-4 (ACC); 10-5 (Overall)
6. Maryland 3-3 (ACC); 6-5 (Overall)
7. Duke 1-4 (ACC); 4-4 (Overall)
8. Georgia Tech 1-4 (ACC); 4-7 (Overall)
9. Miami 0-1 (ACC); 4-5 (Overall)
10. Boston College 0-2 (ACC); 9-5 (Overall)
11. NC State 0-5 (ACC); 3-7 (Overall)