Duke Women Close ACC Championship in Sixth

Saturday, February 20

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Four at Women's ACC Championship

Duke Women Close ACC Championship in Sixth

2/20/2016 10:58:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Photo Gallery Full Meet Results Results

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomore MaryEllen Targonski captured All-ACC honors in platform diving to highlight the final day of competition at the 2016 Women's ACC Championship. The Blue Devil women closed out the four-day conference meet in sixth place with a total of 642.5 points.

The sixth-place finish was the highest for the women's program since Duke took sixth at the 2010 ACC Championship.

"We are really excited that we made a nice jump,” said head coach Dan Colella. “It's us really getting ready to make some moves here. This is a conference that in the past three years has become one of the most competitive conferences in the country. It's exciting to be a part of … Our goal has been to try to finish in the top five, and we were just shy of that. I'm sure when we look back , there are going to be places where we could have made up that difference, but all in all, we had some really great performances tonight.”

Targonski reached the platform championship final for the second consecutive year after totaling 251.50 points in the preliminaries. During Saturday evening's final, the Gastonia, N.C., native earned an award of 72.00 on her second dive, a forward 3 ½ somersault for a 3.00 degree of difficulty, to move up to second place. She finished her list with a back 1 ½ somersault with 1 ½ twist that netted 51.25 points, solidifying her podium finish in third.

Targonski's final score of 286.85 ranked her second on Duke's all-time performance list. In addition, she became the first Blue Devil diver to garner All-ACC accolades since Jessica Lyden did so on the 3-meter in 2012. Freshman Mackenzie Willborn (230.50) also scored for Duke in 13th place.

“MaryEllen finaled last year, and it's really nice to see someone final again,” said head diving coach Nunzio Esposto. “She really performed well, better than she did last year and this morning. It's always nice to begin the first two rounds with dives for 7.5s, 8s. She even got a 9 on her two-and-a-half pike, so when you start off the meet like that, it really gives you the confidence to perform really well.”

The Blue Devils also shined in the pool, placing four swimmers in the 200-yard butterfly finals. Sophomore Isabella Paez turned in a record-breaking performance in the championship final, surpassing her own mark with a 1:56.04 clocking to come in fourth. Sophomore Anna Quinn and junior Colleen Wixted advanced to the consolation final, taking 11th and 13th, respectively, while junior Brittany Friese tied for 19th overall.

Freshman Hunter Aitchison opened the evening session by finishing 20th in the 1,650 freestyle. Aitchison completed the mile in 16:55.67 to rank eighth in program history, while her 1,000 split of 10:12.30 was good for seventh on Duke's all-time list.

Sophomore Maddie Hess headlined a trio of Blue Devils in the 200 backstroke, finishing 10th in 1:56.10. Classmate Mickayla Hinkle joined Hess in the consolation final, taking 12th (1:56.70) and junior Liza Bragg earned a spot in the bonus final, coming in 22nd (1:59.02).

In the 100 freestyle, junior Maddie Rusch posted the fourth-fastest mark in school history at 49.55. That placed her 18th in the field, while sophomore Leah Goldman followed in 23rd (50.27). Junior Ashleigh Shanley was the squad's highest finisher in the 200 breaststroke, finishing 26th in preliminaries (2:17.22).

Hess, Rusch, senior Chelsea Ye and Goldman combined for a fifth-place showing in the 400 freestyle, stopping the clock at 3:17.77.

The men's platform diving event was also held Saturday, with freshman Evan Moretti leading the Blue Devils in ninth place. Moretti garnered a season-best award of 319.90, and Josh Owsiany netted 295.15 points in a 14th-place finish. Lee Christensen also scored in 22nd (267.90).

The 642.5 points totaled by the Duke women over the four days in Greensboro were over 160 more than the team's total in 2015. The Blue Devils moved up four spots from a year ago with the sixth-place finish and broke seven program records.

Virginia claimed its ninth consecutive ACC title with 1332.5 total points while NC State was second (1178) and North Carolina third (1080).

The Blue Devil men take their turn at the ACC Championship next week, with the meet beginning Wednesday and running through Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Finals sessions Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Team Scores:
1) Virginia 1332.5, 2) NC State 1178, 3) North Carolina 1080, 4) Louisville 1059.5, 5) Virginia Tech 705, 6) Duke 642.5, 7) Notre Dame 537.5, 8) Miami 502.5, 9) Florida State 444.5, 10) Pitt 425, 11) Georgia Tech 356, 12) Boston College 152, 13) Clemson 86

Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women's 1,650-Yard Freestyle: Hunter Aitchison (20th), 16:55.67

Women's 200-Yard Backstroke: Maddie Hess (10th), 1:56.10

Women's 100-Yard Freestyle: Maddie Rusch (18th), 49.55

Women's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Ashleigh Shanley (26th), 2:17.22

Women's 200-Yard Butterfly: Isa Paez (4th), 1:56.04

Women's Platform Diving: MaryEllen Targonski (3rd), 286.85

Women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Maddie Hess, Maddie Rusch, Chelsea Ye, Leah Goldman (5th), 3:17.71

Men's Platform Diving: Evan Moretti (9th), 319.90

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