Nov. 16, 2012
NORFOLK, Va.- The Old Dominion University men's and women's swimming and diving teams both completed their first day of competition at the Nike Cup yesterday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Old Dominion proved they belonged with some of the top swimming programs in the country including the nationally ranked host UNC as well as NC State.
ODU finished first in a total of three events including Sidni Hoxha's victory in the 50 yard freestyle final race with a time of 19.9. Hoxha pulled away from the other 51 student-athletes in the event, with second place winner Simonas Bilis of NC State finishing in 20.34.
Kimberley Rashleigh hit the wall before 39 other competitors in the 200 yard IM event. Rashleigh finished the race in 2:01 and beat second place finisher Laura Gorinski from Navy by nearly two full seconds.
Both Hoxha and Rashleigh posted times good enough for NCAA B-cuts, which means they are now eligible to be selected to compete in the NCAA Championships on March 21-23 in Indianapolis, Ind.
Yesim Giresunlu placed first and broke a school record by finishing the 500 yard preliminary freestyle in 4:52.92.
Old Dominion will be back in action today for day two of this three day event. Friday's schedule includes the 400 yard IM, 100 yard butterfly, 200 yard freestyle, 100 yard breaststroke, 100 yard backstroke, the men's 1 meter diving, and the women's 3 meter diving.