Clemson Women’s Swimming and Diving To Compete At ACC Championships

Feb. 15, 2001

CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of Virginia will host the 2001 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship Thursday, February 15 through Saturday, February 17 at the UVA Aquatic and Fitness Center. Admission to the ACC Championship is free. Preliminaries begin at 11:00 a.m. each day with finals commencing at 7:00 p.m.

North Carolina, under the direction of 24th-year head coach Frank Comfort, is the defending ACC Champion, winning the 2000 ACC title with 842.5 points. Virginia was second at the 2000 ACCs with 693.5 points, while Clemson was third with 476.5 points. North Carolina has won 13 of the 22 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships and finished second in the other nine. Clemson has won four ACC titles, while the Cavaliers have posted three, including back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999.

Tigers End Regular Season on High Note The Clemson women’s swimming and diving team (4-4 overall, 1-2 ACC) ended their regular season with a victory over NC State in their final home meet of the 2000-2001 season. In that meet, the Tigers won eight of the 13 contested events as they defeated the Wolfpack 152-91. Jenna Burtch led the Tigers with wins in the 50 and 100 free while Mandy Commons set a new pool record in the 100 breast (1:03.15). Clemson also swept the relays, winning the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay. The other three individual winners were Emily Hustead (1000 free), Elise Thieler (100 fly) and Lindsey Kroeger (100 back).

The Last Lap This is the final ACC Championship meet for four Tiger seniors. Leslie Anderson (Cary, NC), Betsy Potter (Elmira, NY), Lauren Rafferty (Raleigh, NC) and Charli Reasons (Newark, DE) are all making their final appearance at the conference meet. Anderson is sixth in the 100 breaststroke on Clemson’s all-time best list with a time of 1:04.78. She was also a member of the Tiger 200 freestyle relay that set an all-time best record of 1:31.60 in 1999. Potter has led Clemson all four years on the one and three-meter boards. She won the one-meter contest at the 2000 ACC Championships and finished third in the three-meter competition in 1999. She was also third in the conference on the one-meter board in 1998. Rafferty is on Clemson’s all-time best list in five different events. She is eighth all-time in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.18 and ranks fifth in the 200 backstroke (2:02.00). Her time of 1:05.03 in the 100 breaststroke is tenth best all-time and she is eighth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:19.87. Rafferty posted a time of 2:04.23 in the 200 individual medley to place sixth on that all-time best list. Reasons is also among Clemson’s all-time leaders. She is tenth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.39. She is sixth in the 100 backstroke (56.80) and her time of 2:02.43 is sixth best on the 200 backstroke list. Reasons was also a member of two top-three relay teams – the 200 freestyle relay, that posted a time of 1:32.70 in 1997, and the 400 freestyle relay team that posted a Clemson-best time of 3:22.45 in 1997.

Tigers in the ACC Top Ten Fourteen Tigers are listed in the top ten in 11 events entering the ACC Championships. Jenna Burtch is seventh in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.54 and is ninth in the 200 free (1:50.92) while Elise Thieler ranks fifth in the 100 fly (56.14) while Lindsey Kroeger and Krystal Ball are fifth (57.56) and ninth (58.14) in the 100 back, respectively . Four Tigers are ranked in the 200 backstroke. Nina Douglas is sixth with a time of 2:04.69 while Charli Reasons ranks ninth (2:05.01) and Ginny Kirouac is tenth with a time of 2:05.30. Clemson has good depth in the 100 breast as four more Tigers are ranked in the top ten in that event as well. Mandy Commons is second with a time of 1:02.52 while Leslie Anderson ranks eighth (1:04.78) and Caitlin Bissell’s time of 1:05.02 places her tenth on the list. Two of those four are also ranked in other events. Ellis is ranked fifth in the 200 breast (2:17.36) and 200 IM (2:04.63) while placing seventh in the 400 IM with a time of 4:20.29. Commons is sixth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:17.60. Ginny Kirouac is rankd in both the the 200 IM and the 400 IM. Kirouac is fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.59 and is fifth in the 400 IM with a time of 4:19.12. Betsy Potter is eighth in the three-meter diving with a season-high score of .293.625. Clemson’s 200 freestyle relay team ranks third overall with a time of 1:33.93 and the 400 freestyle relay team is fifth (3:30.33). The 200 medley relay team is second with a time of 1:43.50 while the 400 medley relay team is third in that event (3:49.79).

Clemson’s All-Time Leaders Besides Clemson’s four seniors, seven sophomores and three juniors rank among Clemson’s all-time swimming leaders. Krystal Ball, a sophomore from King George, VA, ranks tenth in the 100 back with a time of 57.37 and was a member of the third ranked medley relay team. Sophomore Catherine Blaney, a native of Columbia, SC, is ranked eighth in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.22. Jenna Burtch, a sophomore from Holland, MI, is second in the 50 free (23.20) and third in the 100 free (50.47). Burtch is also a member of the all-time fastest 200 free relay team and the second and third ranked 200 medley relay teams. Mandy Commons, a sophomore from Cincinnati, OH, is the all-time leader in the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.52 and ranks second in the 200 breast (2:17.60). This year, she set a new pool record in the 100 breast with a time of 1:03.15 against NC State. Commons is also a member of the second and third ranked 200 medley relay teams. Junior Nina Douglas, a native of Gaithersburg, MD, is a member of the second ranked 200 medley relay team. Sophomore Liz Dwors, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, ranks ninth in the 500 free (4:51.83) and 1000 free (10:06.38), and is seventh in the 1650 free with a time of 16:55.42. A sophomore from Edmonds, WA, Courtney Ellis is Clemson’s all-time leader in the 200 breast with a time of 2:17.36 and is fifth in the 100 breast (1:04.67). She is seventh in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.36 and third in the 400 IM (4:20.29). Junior All-American Ginny Kirouac, from Norcross, GA, is second all-time in the 400 IM (4:16.03) and fourth in the 200 IM (2:03.28). She ranks tenth in the 200 back with a time of 2:02.98. Caroline Peterson, a junior from Franklin, TN, ranks sixth all-time in the 50 free with a time of 23.59 and is ninth in the 100 free (51.23). She is also a member of the top-ranked 200 free relay team. Sophomore Elise Thieler, a native of Harbor Township, NJ, is ninth all-time in the 50 free with a time of 23.80 and is a member of the second ranked 200 medley relay team.

Tiger Freshmen The Tigers have five rookies who have turned in top-three performances this season. Bethany Bruzzi, a native of Providence, RI, ranks third in diving in both the one- and three-meter boards. Her top one-meter score is 181.125 and her season best three-meter performance is 192.225. Alison Gjervold, from Plano, TX, has made an impact in the distance freestyle events, especially in the 1000 free where she holds the team’s top time of 10:18.35. A native of Cincinnati, OH, Lindsey Kroeger holds the top Tiger time in the 100 back (57.56). Meaghan Murphy, from Lawrenceville, GA, is Clemson’s leader in the 200 fly where she holds a season- best time of 2:05.01. Kate Walker, a native of Woodbine, MD, is third on the team in the 100 back with a time of 58.23, and leads the team in the 200 back with a time of 2:04.04.

Clemson at the ACC Championships Clemson has never finished lower than fifth at the ACC Championships and have an all-time winning percentage of .588 in ACC regular season contests. The Tigers have won four ACC titles over the years – with championships in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1997. They have finished second once (1992), third on ten occassions, fourth in six championships and fifth one time (1993).

Clemson Under Bruce Marchionda Under seventh-year head coach Bruce Marchionda, the Clemson women’s swimming and diving teams have never finished lower than fourth at the conference meet. At the 1995 meet, the Tigers were fourth. Clemson improved on that mark with a third place finish at the 1996 championships. Clemson won its first conference title under Marchionda in 1997. Clemson posted a third place finish and an NCAA final ranking of 35 during the 1997-98 season. Clemson was fourth at the ACC’s in 1999 and finished the season tied for 36th in the nation. Last year, the Tigers finished third at the ACC meet with 476.5 points and were ranked 42nd nationally. The Tigers boast an overall record of 47-23 in the last seven years and are 14-9 in ACC contests. With Marchionda at the helm, Clemson has had four swimmers earn All-American honors, one academic All-American, six individual ACC Champions and 10 All-ACC performers.