More School Records Fall on Day Three at ACCs

Friday, February 19

Greensboro, N.C.

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Duke University

Day Three at Women's ACC Championship

More School Records Fall on Day Three at ACCs

2/19/2016 8:46:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Live Results Watch Saturday's Finals on ESPN3 Results

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The depth of the Duke women's swimming and diving team was on display Friday, as the squad placed 12 swimmers in finals events in another strong showing. The Blue Devils totaled 199 points on the third day of action to remain in fifth place.

Sophomore Lizzie Devitt started off the day by eclipsing the program record in the 400-yard individual medley. She earned a spot in the consolation final with a 4:16.55 swim, and returned to the pool in the evening to break the record again at 4:16.29, placing her 14th. Devitt also earned an NCAA provisional cut, as did classmate Verity Abel, who joined Devitt in recording a pair of best times on the day. Abel touched at 4:20.47 Friday morning and dropped time with for a second-place finish in the bonus final. Her mark of 4:17.84 ranked third on the Blue Devils' all-time list.

“We are really excited for Lizzie and very proud of her,” said head coach Dan Colella. “She had an illness this fall that kept her out of the water for a period of time. For her to come back, especially in an event like the 400 IM – she dropped a significant amount of time off her best to break the school record, and then to come back tonight and break it again was really exciting. Both gals tonight, Verity and Lizzie, really stepped up to get us started and really were the catalysts for the kind of performances we had tonight.”

Duke featured four swimmers in the 100 butterfly finals, led by sophomore Leah Goldman, who earned All-ACC accolades in the event last year. Goldman advanced to the championship final for the second-straight season, turning in a time just off her own school record (52.32) to place fourth. Sophomore Isabella Paez registered the fifth-fastest mark in program history (53.41) in a 12th-place finish and junior Maddie Rusch followed in 13th (53.43). Sophomore Anna Quinn represented the Blue Devils in the bonus final, coming in 21st at 54.66.

In the 200 freestyle, junior Brittany Friese tied for second on the program's all-time performance list with a 1:47.93 clocking. That put her sixth in the bonus final and 22nd in the conference.

The squad also saw the program performance list get rewritten in the 100 breaststroke, as junior Ashleigh Shanley posted the third-fastest mark at 1:01.77 to finish ninth. Competing in the bonus final, freshman Alyssa Arwood took 24th after touching at 1:02.75 during preliminaries to rank seventh in Duke history.

The Blue Devils also picked up points in the 100 backstroke, returning three swimmers for finals. Freshman Maddie Hess led the way in 10th place overall after breaking her own school record twice on the day. The Brandon, Fla., native went 53.25 during the morning session and dropped down to 53.11 Friday evening. Fellow rookie Mickayla Hinkle also qualified for the consolation final, taking 15th (53.67) and junior Jessie Sutherland was 24th (55.29) in the bonus final.

Freshman Mackenzie Willborn paced the divers in the women's 3-meter springboard competition, breaking into the top 10 with a preliminaries score of 313.15. She topped the 50-point mark on four of her six dives, including an award of 58.80 on a back 2 ½ somersault in the third round.

In final event of the evening, Hinkle, Shanley, Goldman and Hess took seventh in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:38.31.

After battling with Virginia Tech in the team standings throughout the day, Duke remained in fifth with 441 points, while the Hokies were sixth with 433.5 points.

“Tomorrow is going to be a good day for us, but it's also going to be a good day for Virginia Tech,” Colella said. “It'll be a dogfight right down until the last relay, but I think our 400 free relay will be one that will be a real contender in the mix. But we are excited with the performances tonight, and that's something that's going to get them excited for what they need to do tomorrow morning.”

The Women's ACC Championship wraps up Saturday with preliminaries and finals of the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and men's and women's platform diving, as well as the 1,650 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay. Swimming preliminaries get underway at 10 a.m., followed by diving preliminaries at 11:30 a.m., the mile at 4 p.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The finals session will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Team Scores:
1) Virginia 897.5, 2) NC State 807, 3) North Carolina 733, 4) Louisville 707, 5) Duke 441, 6) Virginia Tech 433.5, 7) Notre Dame 399.5, 8) Miami 381, 9) Florida State 293, 10) Pittsburgh 284, 11) Georgia Tech 242.5, 12) Boston College 122, 13) Clemson 38

Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women's 400-Yard Individual Medley: Lizzie Devitt (14th), 4:16.29

Women's 100-Yard Butterfly: Leah Goldman (4th), 52.32

Women's 200-Yard Freestyle: Brittany Friese (22nd), 1:47.93

Women's 100-Yard Breaststroke: Ashleigh Shanley (9th), 1:01.77

Women's 100-Yard Backstroke: Maddie Hess (10th), 53.11

Women's 3-Meter Diving: Mackenzie Willborn (10th), 313.15

Women's 400-Yard Medley Relay: Mickayla Hinkle, Ashleigh Shanley, Leah Goldman, Maddie Hess (7th), 3:38.31

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