Virginia Finishes Sixth At NCAA Championships
Posted on Saturday, Mar. 23, 2019, 9:51 pm
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Courtesy UVA Sports Media Relations
The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team concluded the NCAA Championships on Saturday at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center with a sixth-place finish in the team standings.
The team finish is the third best in program history, ranking behind back-to-back fifth-place finishes from the Cavaliers in 2015 and 2016.
Virginia finished the meet with 188 points as the team recorded All-America honors in 16 swims, 12 of which were individual performances. Stanford won its third consecutive national title, recording 456.5 points, while California finished as the national runner-up for the second straight season, scoring 419 points during the meet. Michigan placed third with 314 points.
Redshirt junior Megan Moroney and junior Morgan Hill finished the meet with 13 career All-America honors. The pair are tied for ninth in UVA history for overall All-America accolades.
“This women’s team is amazing and closed out the season in amazing fashion,” head swimming and diving coach Todd DeSorbo said. “After having been picked to not finish inside the top 10, our ladies defied the critics and finished sixth. It was a full team effort. Everyone contributed at a high level. We needed to come together as a team, as a family, and the women did so much better than I could have imagined. We had 16 women here and we are sending our three seniors out on a high note. Hopefully, they are as excited about the legacy they are leaving and the future of this program as our coaching staff.”
The Cavaliers concluded the final day of competition by sending two individuals and a relay to the top heat of the finals.
Moroney qualified for the finals in the 200-yard backstroke and recorded a career-best time to finish seventh. Her time of 1:51.28 ranks second in school history, a ranking she already held in the event. She would capture one of her two All-America honors from the day with the swim.
Freshman Kaki Christensen earned her first All-America honor with an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. She finished the race with a time of 2:08.74.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Hill, sophomore Anna Pang, Moroney and senior Eryn Eddy placed eighth with a time of 3:12.85. The four swimmers earned All-America honors in the event.
In addition to Moroney, Virginia qualified two swimmers in the consolation finals of the 200-yard backstroke as sophomores Paige Madden and Emma Seiberlich swam in the event. Madden finished second in the heat and 10th overall with a career-best time of 1:51.36, while Seiberlich finished third in the heat and 11th overall with a time of 1:52.14. Both Madden and Seiberlich earned honorable mention All-America honors.
Hill captured honorable mention All-America honors for her swim in the 100-yard freestyle. She placed 15th with a time of 48.33.
“I’m proud to say we’ve the best coaching staff in the country,” DeSorbo said. “We would never be where we are today if it weren’t for the staff that joined me a little over a year ago. It’s been a challenge and an experience. There’s only more fun in store.”
The Cavaliers will return to the Joe & Lee Jamail Texas Swimming Center as the UVA men’s swimming and diving team begins action at the NCAA Championships on Wednesday.
