Duke Women Ranked No. 20 in Preseason CSCAA Poll

DURHAM, N.C. – The College Swimming Coaches Association of America released Tuesday evening its Division I preseason national rankings, with the Blue Devil women coming in at No. 20.

The Duke women appeared among the preseason top 20 after qualifying student-athletes to the NCAA Championships for the fifth straight season in 2017. The squad scored at the meet behind a top-16 performance by MaryEllen Targonski in the platform diving competition, and also saw the 200-yard freestyle and 200 medley relays race to top-20 showings. Leah Goldman added a top-20 finish for the program individually in the 100 butterfly. The Blue Devils were sixth at the 2017 ACC Championships with Goldman taking home All-ACC honors in the 100 butterfly.

Duke wrapped up the 2016-17 regular season at 6-2 overall and 2-2 against ACC opponents, defeating conference rival North Carolina for the first time in program history.

Stanford topped the CSCAA/TYR preseason poll, followed by Cal, Texas, Georgia and Texas A&M in the top five. Duke was one of seven ACC teams ranked in the initial poll, joining No. 8 NC State, No. 9 Louisville, No. 13 Virginia, No. 22 North Carolina, No. 23 Florida State and No. 25 Notre Dame.

The Blue Devils will face the Seminole women in their season opener Oct. 13-14 in Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. The Hokies, who received 12 votes in the initial poll to rank just outside the top 25, will also head to Durham for the two-day competition. The Duke men will square off against Florida State and Virginia Tech as well, with events beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13 and at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14.

Both the men's and women's teams will also take part in an intrasquad Blue/White meet this Saturday in Taishoff beginning at 8 a.m.

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