UNC women's swimming and diving teams set 10 personal bests at ACC Championships

First-year Emily Grund narrowly missed being named the ACC’s most valuable diver after collecting two top-five scores and finishing second in total points. As a whole, UNC set 10 personal bests despite returning from Greensboro with 700.5 points and a seventh-place finish in the event.

What happened?

“We had a great group of leaders in our seniors that set a good tone for our team and provided a great deal of guidance,” head coach Rich DeSelm said.

Senior Zhada Fields, performing in her last ACC Championships, swam a personal-best time of 48.90 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. Though her time was good for the eighth-best mark in UNC history, she trailed another Tar Heel when her fingers met the side of the pool. Sophomore Caroline Hauder helped usher in the younger generation when she recorded a blistering time of 48.69 in the event. Her score was good for fifth all-time in UNC history and won her the consolation final.

“Robyn Dryer did extremely well, she placed in all three of her events, did best times in all but one, and was a top-eight finalist in the 1650,” DeSelm said.

One of several team captains, Dryer swam a personal-best 16:15.63 in the 1650-yard freestyle to finish sixth overall. Junior Bryanna Cameron also had a stellar day as she clocked a top-ten time in UNC history in the 100-yard freestyle preliminaries and finished eighth overall in the race.

Grund looked anything but a first-year when she dominated on the board. Fresh off an All-ACC and second-place performance in the platform competition, Grund would finish with another top-five score when she placed fourth in the 1-meter springboard. After a solid showing in the 3-meter competition, the Texas native fell just a few points shy of winning the MVP for ACC women’s diving.

Who stood out?

“Bryanna Cameron, Robyn Dryer, Grace Countie, Zhada Fields, and Lily Higgs were the top five performers,” said Coach DeSelm.

Senior swimmers finished their ACC careers with a high note as Kate Boyer, and Andi Mack competed in their first ACC meets in their four years at Chapel Hill.

On the diving side, another senior, Maria Lohman, finished with the sixth best time in UNC’s record books with a score of 256.70 in the 1-meter springboard.

First-year Lilly Higgs set a personal record in the 200-yard breaststroke during the preliminaries before topping it by nearly a full second in the finals for a time of 2:10.91 and a seventh-place finish.

When was it decided?

“The great thing about swimming is that times don’t lie,” Deselm said. “But the other great thing about completion is you can’t predict an outcome. 

"We knew coming in that we weren’t as deep; we knew we didn’t have the firepower at the very very top that other teams had.” “But I will say our women put their heart and soul into the ACC Championships and they put their best efforts out every time and never gave up.”

Though UNC hasn’t had the season it may have hoped for; the team has found a way to maintain a competitive fire. Despite dropping three places from last year’s fourth-place finish in the ACC Championships, great performances from the younger athletes have spirits high for the future.

Why does it matter?

The ACC Championships are the most significant events in a conference that loves the water. Bragging rights, exposure, and individual and school records were all up for grabs when the conference’s best took their laps around Greensboro.

Placing seventh in the event doesn’t generate too much excitement as a team, but the personal bests and 14 NCAA provisional times does. The Tar Heels used the time to get their arms loose prior to the upcoming and ever-important NCAAs. 

When do they play next?

UNC’s women’s swimming and diving teams will jump in the water next on  Sunday when they participate in a last-chance event in Chapel Hill. The event is all day and poses as one of the last opportunities to qualify for the NCAAs in late March.

@KenjonVander

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