With a total of 180 points, the women’s swimming and diving team placed ninth out of 10 teams at the ACC Championships.
Throughout the meet the Blue Devils were ranked as high as fifth and as low as 10th, but Duke secured its ultimate position in the rankings above Miami by finishing seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay Saturday with a time of 3:28.00.
Freshman Danielle Spearman and juniors Katie Ness, Nora Stupp and Julia Lewis combined efforts to produce the success in the meet’s final race.
“It came down to the last relay, and we knew we had to beat Miami” assistant coach Lauren Hancock said. “They knew what they had to do, and we ended up beating three teams.”
The performance earned the team 24 points and set a new Duke record for the event.
Points earned in individual events Friday and Saturday also helped keep the Blue Devils out of last place.
“We struggled a little bit in the beginning,” Hancock said, noting the importance of placing in individual events. “After prelims on day three, they kind of realized they could place in the top 16, and they did.”
Of the team’s 45 individually-earned points, Ness contributed 24 by placing sixth in the 100-yard butterfly with an NCAA B-cut qualifying time of 55.12 and eighth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.22.
Sophomore Jackie Rodriguez’s seventh place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:18.63 time added 16 points to Duke’s total and 13th place finish in the 100-yard breastroke at 1:04.36. Rodriguez and Ness, along with sophomore Michelle Aristeo and junior Julia Lewis placed eighth in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:49.54.
Although the Blue Devils ended the competition near the bottom of the standings, the team recorded several personal bests.
“We swam as well as we could have,” Hancock said. “We had a lot of best times.”
Spearman swam a lifetime best in the 100-yard backstroke with a 57.71 time, but because of her preliminary standing, she was ineligible to score points in the final race. In the 400-yard individual medley, sophomore Aristeo’s 4:27.41 time in the preliminary round was also a lifetime best; she scored three points during the final race.
The ACC Championships marks the end of the season for most of Duke’s team members. The names of those who may have qualified to participate in NCAA Championships will be announced in the beginning of March. Ness and Rodriquez may qualify.
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