Terps Finish Fourth at ACC Championships
2/20/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 20, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Junior Annie Fittin and senior Jen Vogel both landed on the podium Saturday as Maryland battled to finish fourth in the overall team standings at the 2010 ACC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.
After narrowly missing a pair of third-place finishes earlier in the championships, Fittin took second in the 100 free with a school-record time of 49.22. Her time broke the previous record established by Yelena Skalinskaya last season at the championships in College Park and also gave the junior yet another NCAA B-cut performance. In the same event, freshman Megan Lafferty took 12th with a B-cut time of 50.12.
Vogel, despite still nursing an injury, led a solid Maryland showing in the 200 fly, finishing third (1:59.16). Fellow captain Patty DeScenza took fourth (1:59.20) and Nina Rossi took 13th (2:01.21) to give the Terps its best event performance of the championships. Both Vogel and DeScenza's times tallied in as B-cut showings.
Maryland wrapped up the championships with a nail-biting thriller in the 400 free relay, finishing second and edging Virginia Tech for the fourth slot in the overall team standings. Fittin, Laura Wright, Lafferty, and Ginny Glover finished with a time of 3:17.79, breaking the previous program-record of 3:18.65 set by the Terps a year ago. Glover furnished the Terps with more points, tacking on a sixth-place finish in the 200 back (1:56.65) to her already outstanding championship. Glover broke her previously-set school record of 1:57.07 that she established last season at the championships and picked up yet another B-cut time. Senior Jackie Davidson finished eighth (1:59.26) in the finals.
Alexa Hamilton continued to be Maryland's top threat in the breast events, finishing 12th in the 200 breast (2:15.59) with a B-cut performance.
"The way everyone swam in that last relay was absolutely extraordinary," head coach Sean Schimmel said. "Jen's (Vogel) 200 fly swim was the most valiant effort I've ever seen from an athlete. Everybody put points on the board and we put so many of our athletes on the podium. They've come so far the last two years, and this was the goal, but it took so much effort and I am just so proud of our team. We wouldn't have been in this situation if it wasn't for our five seniors and every single person on the pool deck."
The Terps return to action March 18-20 when Purdue plays host to the 2010 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Ind.
