Day 3 Finals of the ACC Championships here in Atlanta, GA where we saw a big upset in the 400 IM, and several occasions where meet records survived by a hair. NC State ended the day with the lead, but not without trading places with UVA and even falling into third at one point in the night.

400 IM

ACC Meet: 4:04.21 (Tanja Kylliainen - Louisville, 2015)
Conference: 4:03.51 (Tanja Kylliainen - Louisville, 2015)
NCAA 'A' Automatic: 4:05.37
NCAA 'B' Consideration: 4:19.39

1.) Reka Gyorgy (Virginia Tech): 4:04.97 (NCAA 'A')
2.) Kaitlyn Jones (Virginia): 4:06.80
3.) Hannah Moore (NC State): 4:09.10
4.) Rachael Bradford-Feldman (Louisville): 4:10.11
5.) Catherine Hulsey (UNC): 4:10.16
6.) Kira Debruyn (Georgia Tech): 4:12.69
7.) Rachel Politi (Virginia): 4:13.07
8.) Fiona Donnelly (Virginia Tech): 4:14.66

Upset alert! Freshman Reka Gyorgy of Virginia Tech won the 400IM with a whopper of a swim, getting to the wall in 4:04.97. Heavy favorite Kaitlyn Jones of UVA touched second with a 4:06.80. After the fly Jones had a nice lead, however Gyorgy closed in on the backstroke. Then the Hokie took advantage of a fast-fading Jones, out-splitting her on the freestyle leg 56.5 to 57 to put herself a full body length ahead of Jones. NC State's Hannah Moore came in 3rd with a 4:09.10 and the fastest freestyle split of the field, coming home in 55.75.

100 BUTTERFLY

ACC Meet: 50.06 (Kelsi Worrell - Louisville, 2016)
Conference: 49.43 (Kelsi Worrell - Louisville, 2016)
NCAA 'A' Automatic: 51.56
NCAA 'B' Consideration: 54.49

1.) Hellen Moffitt (UNC): 50.86
2.) Leah Goldman (Duke): 51.62
3.) Erin Sheehan (Notre Dame): 52.22
4.) Tayla Lovemore (FSU): 52.28
5.) Grace Oglesby (Louisville): 52.30 
6.) Sarah Koucheki (UNC): 52.48
7.) Nastja Goveksek (Louisville): 52.54 
8.) Alyssa Marsh (Duke): 52.54

Hellen Moffitt had no problems taking the 100 butterfly crown, but came up just a little short of her personal best. She was out in a quick 23.87 but faded just a little, coming home in 27.00. ​Leah Goldman ​of Duke touched second in a 51.62. A huge swim from the outside lane earned Notre Dame Freshman Erin Sheehan a bronze in the event, touching in 52.22.

200 FREESTYLE

ACC Meet: 1:42.79 (Mallory Comerford - Louisville, 2016) 1:41.70 (Mallory Comerford - Louisville, 2017)
Conference: 1:42.51 (Lauren Perdue - Virginia, 2011) 1:41.70 (Mallory Comerford - Louisville, 2017)
NCAA 'A' Automatic: 1:43.82
NCAA 'B' Consideration 1:47.99

1.) Mallory Comerford (Louisville): 1:41.70 (ACC RECORD)
2.) Leah Smith (UVA): 1:43.29 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Jessi Hespeler (VA Tech): 1:44.37
4.) Abigail Dolan (Notre Dame): 1:44.87
5.) Jenni Marrkand (UVA): 1:45.18
6.) Morgan Hill (UVA): 1:45.42
7.) Eryn Eddy (UVA): 1:45.63
8.) Iris Wang (GA Tech): 1:46.30

Mallory Comerford made one heck of a statement tonight. The Sophomore from Louisville took home the crown and rewrote the conference record books with authority in 1:41.70. Olympian Leah Smith finished second in 1:43.29. Comerford split the race incredibly, taking it out in 50.06 and coming home in 51.64, going matching 25s for her last two 50s, out-splitting Leah Smith by almost a full second on the last 50. Jessi Hespeler, the Senior from Virginia Tech, broke her own school record of 1:45.02 from last year with a 1:44.37, and will have another chance to do so at NCAAs. After putting up four Lady Cavaliers in the 200 freestyle, UVA pulled ahead of NC State in the team standings 595 to 561.5.

100 BREASTSTROKE

ACC Meet: 58.26 (Andrea Cottrell - Louisville, 2016)
Conference: 57.79 (Emma Reaney - Notre Dame, 2015)
NCAA 'A' Automatic: 59.04
NCAA 'B' Consideration: 1:02.49

1.) Laura Simon (UVA): 58.46
2.) Andrea Cottrell (Louisville): 58.81
3.) Kayla Brumbaum (NC State): 58.91 
4.) Vivian Tafuto (UVA): 59.79
5.) Natalie Pierce (FSU): 59.87
6.) Lina Rathsack (Pitt): 1:00.21
7.) Meagan O'Donnell (Notre Dame): 1:00.24
8.) Silvia Guerra (Louisville): 1:00.58

A battle of three seniors came down to the wire in the 100 breaststroke tonight. Laura Simon, who was denied a title last year by Andrea Cottrell, earned herself a victory and broke her own school record of 58.53 from back in 2015. Touching the wall in 58.81 was current ACC meet record holder Andrea Cottrell, behind Simon's 58.46. NC State senior Kayla Brumbaum was third in 58.91, which was just a few hundredths off her time from the prelims session. After the breaststroke not only was UVA in the lead with 681 points, but Louisville passed NC State as well, with 592.5 points, with the Wolfpack at 588.5. But the backstroke was about to begin.  

100 BACKSTROKE

ACC Meet: 50.74 (Courtney Bartholomew - Virginia, 2016)
Conference: 50.01 (Courtney Bartholomew - Virginia, 2014)
NCAA 'A' Automatic: 51.51
NCAA 'B' Consideration: 55.09

1.) Alexia Zevnik (NC State): 50.80
2.) Caroline Baldwin (UNC): 51.38
3.) Hellen Moffitt (UNC): 51.42
4.) Courtney Caldwell (NC State): 51.75
5.) Klaudia Nzieblo (Virginia Tech): 52.05
6.) Elise Haan (NC State): 52.18
7.) Alina Kendzior (Louisville): 52.66
8.) Lotta Nevalainen (NC State): 53.46

Choosing the 100 backstroke over the 400 IM and 200 freestyle proved a brilliant choice for Alexia Zevnik. She finished second in last year's ACC Championship in 51.27 to senior Courtney Bartholomew, but teammate Elise Haan posted a great prelims swim this morning, possibly threatening her chances. However tonight, Haan was out more than half a second slower at the 50 leaving the door wide open. Zevnik was 24.84 to the feet, followed closely by UNC's Caroline Baldwin at 24.87, but Zevnik pulled away the second half, touching in 50.80 just missing Bartholomew's meet record of 50.74. Only four hundredths behind Baldwin was UNC's Hellen Moffitt who had just won the 100 butterfly, touching in 51.42. That's a rough double - I mean triple - don't forget the 400 Medley Relay is coming up. Ready the ice baths! After getting 1st, 4th, 6th, and 8th, NC State took the lead in team standings 712.5 to UVA's 696. Louisville on the other hand was only able to score 26 points in the backstroke, in comparison to NC State's 120 or so. When you open up scoring to the top 24, that depth has a huge effect!

400 MEDLEY RELAY

ACC Meet: 3:28.25 (Virginia, 2016)
Conference: 3:26.42 (Virginia, 2015)
NCAA 'A' Automatic: 3:33.40
NCAA 'B' Consideration: 3:34.96

1.) NC State: 3:28.26 (Zevnik 50.81, Brumbaum 58.98, Duffield 51.44, Caldwell 47.03)  (NCAA 'A')
2.) Louisville: 3:30.45 (Kendzior 52.65, Cottrell 58.65, Oglesby 52.44, Comerford 46.71) (NCAA 'A')
3.) UVA: 3:31.42 (Marrkand 53.55, Simon 58.47, Jones 51.36, Thomas 48.04) (NCAA 'A')
4.) UNC: 3:31.53 (Baldwin 51.69, Pfeiffer 1:01.07, Moffitt 51.01, Hitchens 47.76) (NCAA 'A')
5.) Notre Dame: 3:34.07 (Mulquin 52.99, O'Donnell 59.92, Smith 53.00, Dolan 48.16) 
6.) VA Tech: 3:34.20 (Nazieblo 51.86, Henry 1:00.81, Donnelly 53.01, Hespeler 48.52)
7.) FSU: 3:34.54 (Barber 54.66, Pierce 58.95, Lovemore 51.66, Ware 49.27)
8.) GA Tech: 3:37.26 (Paschal 54.05, Ruiu 1:01.90, Branton 52.84, Wang 48.47) 

The NC State squad missed Virginia's ACC Meet record by ONE ONE-HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND. So close. That win put them up in the standings 776.5 to Virginia's 750 going into tomorrow. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's going to be a battle.

TEAM SCORES

1.) NC State - 776.5  
2.) UVA - 750
3.) Louisville - 674.5
4.) UNC - 665
5.) Duke - 513.5
6.) VA Tech - 485
7.) Notre Dame - 428.5
8.) Miami - 294.5  
9.) Pitt - 294
10.) Georgia Tech - 256  
11.) Boston College - 122
12.) Clemson - 73