2015 ACC Men's Swimming Championship - Day One Scores
Virginia Tech - 172 points
North Carolina - 170 points
Notre Dame - 144 points
Virginia - 140 points
North Carolina State - 128 points
Florida State - 124 points
Louisville - 112 points
Georgia Tech - 102 points (tied)
Duke - 102 points (tied)
Pittsburgh - 83 points
Boston College - 65 points
Miami - 60 points
Last year, the NC State Wolfpack swept the Wednesday relays to start off the ACC Championship. They did it again in 2015, successfully defending their titles in both the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays to grab 128 points .
“Our guys love relays,” said NC State coach Braden Holloway. “I always think starting a meet with a relay is exciting and it was just that here today. You start a big, long week with two relays and our guys just love it.”
Last week’s 1-meter results were factored in to the final team scores at the end of Wednesday’s competition. Virginia Tech sits in first place with 172 points, followed by North Carolina (170) in second, Notre Dame (144) in third, Virginia (140) in fourth, and NC State (128) in fifth.
It was an early day at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center as the opening day of the meet was moved up in anticipation of winter weather in Atlanta Wednesday evening. The action is scheduled to continue Thursday morning with the prelims for the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, and 50 freestyle.
800 Freestyle Relay
NC State continued its hot start in record fashion in the 800 freestyle relay, finishing in 6:13.14 to defend their title in the event and break a longstanding record in the process. The time was nearly two seconds faster than the old record that had stood for six years, set by Virginia (6:15.02) at the 2009 ACC Championship.
The record was a bit of redemption for the Wolfpack, who had won the event last year but just missed out on breaking Virginia’s mark, falling half a second shy in 6:15.58.
“Those guys just missed that record last year and it really ticked them off,” said NC State coach Braden Holloway. “They’ve been talking about it all season so as coaches, we just got out of the way.”
After a 1:34.02 opening leg from Soeren Dahl, Simonas Bilis swam a 1:32.05 leg to grab a lead that the Wolfpack wouldn’t relinquish. Ryan Held (1:33.63) and David Williams (1:33.44) closed out the victory for NC State and claim a spot in the record books.
Louisville (6:20.02) and Virginia Tech (6:21.48) finished in second and third, while Notre Dame (6:21.51) and North Carolina (6:22.47) also posted NCAA A cuts.
The gold medal was the second of the day for Dahl and Williams, who swam on both relay squads on Wednesday.
200 Medley Relay
NC State entered Wednesday as the defending champion and league record holder in the 200 medley relay, and it backed it up to start the 2015 championship. The Wolfpack topped Duke and Louisville to defend the title and grab early momentum to start off the meet.
“It was a fun start to the evening, and hopefully a fun start to a great week,” said NC State coach Braden Holloway. “We put four guys up there that we knew could do a good job and they definitely did it. It was a fast heat overall and very good competition.”
The Wolfpack relay squad of Andreas Schiellerup, Derek Hren, Soeren Dahl, and David Williams combined to finish in 1:24.07. The race was neck and neck through the first three legs, and Williams pulled away on the anchor to grab 64 points for NC State.
Duke (1:25.03) and Louisville (1:25.06) joined the Wolfpack on the podium.
Duke
The Blue Devil men will send a relay to the NCAA Championship for the first time in program history after gaining automatic qualification in the 200-yard medley relay on the opening day of action at the 2015 Men’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championship at Georgia Tech’s Aquatic Center. Duke swimmers also went 2-for-2 in breaking program relay records to kick off the conference championship in thrilling fashion.
In the opening event of the week, the Blue Devils’ 200 medley relay of sophomore Kaz Takabayashi, sophomore Peter Kropp, junior David Armstrong and sophomore James Peek earned automatic qualification to the NCAA meet with a school record-breaking mark of 1:25.03. That time, nearly a second faster than the previous program record, placed Duke second out of 11 relays in the event for a podium finish. The top four relays in the field all surpassed the NCAA ‘A’standard of 1:25.63.
Takabayashi started off the relay with a 22.18 split, shaving time off of his performance in the leadoff position a couple of weeks ago at the Carolina College Invitational. The Blue Devils were fifth in the heat at the first exchange but moved up before getting challenged by Louisville in lane four. Following strong showings by Kropp and Armstrong, Peek closed with an 18.99 split to help secure the podium finish and an ‘A’ cut.
“We’ve been excited about the 200 medley relay all season long and we knew we had the opportunity tonight to really shine,” said head coach Dan Colella. “We couldn’t be more proud of how they executed. Each and every one of them was phenomenal. James on the end, to go in that pack of four individuals and to run down Louisville and squeeze in there for second place, we couldn’t ask for anything better. All four of them are on their way to Iowa now.”
Another program record fell in the next event, as sophomore Michael Miller, sophomore Bradley Cline, freshman Nick Bigot and freshman Alex Peña won the first heat of the 800 freestyle relay. The group took down the previous program benchmark of 6:34.65, set at last year’s ACC Championship, with a 6:27.07 clocking. That time also surpassed the NCAA provisional standard in the event and placed the Blue Devils seventh overall in the conference.
In addition, Miller’s leadoff split of 1:36.66 represented the second-fastest 200 freestyle mark on Duke’s all-time top-10.
“On that relay we had two freshmen and two sophomores, and all of them posted fantastic splits,” Colella said. “We loved the way everybody got it started tonight, and we look forward to keeping it rolling tomorrow in prelims. It’s important that we tap into that energy tomorrow.”
At the end of the first day of action in Atlanta, the Blue Devil men were eighth in the team standings with 102 points.
Florida State
Despite the winter weather taking over Atlanta on Wednesday, the 2015 Men’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championships started off with a pair of relays at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
“I think it was a solid first session,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “Some of these guys have never competed in this meet. It’s a risk but I thought we did some good things.”
The team of senior Josh Friedel, sophomore Jason Coombs, senior Connor Knight and sophomore Jason McCormick turned in a season top time of 1:26.21 for sixth place in the 200 medley relay to start off the meet.
“That was a good time for them,” Bradley said. “Hopefully, that was just a glimpse of what they can do for their individual races.”
Senior Kevin Rogers led off the 800 free relay with a split of 1:36.00 giving the Noles the lead in heat one as he handed the race off to freshman Anthony Lyons, who turned in a 1:36:32.
In a tight battle with Duke, sophomore Jemal LeGrand split a 1:38.55 touching slightly behind the Blue Devils. Freshman Calvin Bryant made up time but the Seminoles finished second in the first heat with a total time of 6:28.49.
“Other than Kevin up front, that’s a young relay,” Bradley said. “I think they’re going to take what they learned tonight into their individual races. If they can do that I think they’ll have a shot of doing some great things.”
After two relays as well as the men’s 1-meter diving scores from last week, Florida State sits in sixth place with a score of 124 points.
Thursday’s session will include the 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free individuals events finishing with the 200 free relay and will start as scheduled at 10 a.m. with finals beginning at 6 p.m. on ESPN3. There has been no indication of any changes due to winter weather at this time.
N.C. State
The NC State men’s swimming team opened its showing at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Swimming Championship in winning fashion, as it swept the relay events on the opening night of the meet inside the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
After day one, Virginia Tech leads the team standings with 172 points, followed by UNC-CH (170) and Notre Dame (144). Virginia sits in fourth place with 140 while NC State rounds out the top five with 128. The overall standings include the men’s diving points, which carried over from last week’s championship.
Wolfpack Relays
The team of Andreas Schiellerup, Derek Hren, Soren Dahl and David Williams started off the Pack’s showing with a victory in the 200 medley relay. The squad’s time of 1:24.07 marked the second consecutive year NC State has won the event, as well as earned the program an NCAA Championship qualifying mark.
Additionally, their time now stands as the second-fastest time in the nation, which is just .19 seconds off of Texas’ time of 1:23.88.
NC State picked up its second victory of the evening in the 800 freestyle relay, as the squad of Dahl, Simonas Bilis, Hren and Williams posted a time of 6:13.14.
The team’s time marked another NCAA Championship qualifying standard for the Pack, as well as a school, conference and ACC meet record. The previous record, set by Vriginia, stood for six years.
The Pack’s 800 free relay time also now stands as the second-fastest time in the country, just .29 seconds off of Florida’s time of 6:12.85.
North Carolina
The University of North Carolina men’s swimming and diving team started off the 2015 ACC Championships in fine fashion Wednesday, setting three school records in a pair of relays and also adding in an excellent day on the one-meter diving board.
Carolina’s records came in the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay and on Ben Colley’s opening 200-yard freestyle split on the 800 free relay.
After the first day of competition, defending champion Virginia Tech holds a two-point lead over the Tar Heels, 172-170. Notre Dame is third with 144 points followed by Virginia with 140, NC State with 128 and Florida State with 124. The second half of the field includes Louisville at 112, Georgia Tech at 102, Duke at 102, Pittsburgh at 83, Boston College at 65 and Miami at 60.
“It was a terrific day for the Heels,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “We had great leadership and some tremendous performances in both swimming and diving.”
The Tar Heels started off the day with an automatic NCAA qualifying time in the 200-yard medley relay, in addition to a school record in the event. Carolina clocked a 1:25.36, which was .27 under the NCAA automatic qualifying standard. UNC also took .44 of a second off the previous school record time in the event.
The record-setting relay included Nic Graesser (21.57), Dom Glavich (24.19), Nick Lowe (20.53) and Sam Lewis (19.07). UNC’s previous record was 1:25.80 set in 2014 by Nic Graesser, Kurt Wohlrab, Sam Lewis and Logan Heck.
“Our medley relay had a different look for us than we’ve had recently and we set a school record with it,” said DeSelm. “Nic Graesser was just off his lifetime best at the start, Dom Glavich had one of the best breaststroke splits we’ve seen in a good while, Nick Lowe had the third fastest split in the fly in today’s field and Sam Lewis was stellar as usual. We think we can even go faster in this relay down the road after looking at all of our splits.”
The Tar Heels had all four of their divers finish in the Top 16 of the one-meter diving competition, which was held last week in conjunction with the women’s meet. Sophomore Jack Nyquist was the top finisher with 361.75 points, almost identical to his score of 361.30 in the prelims of the event. Three other Tar Heels placed in the consolation final of the event with junior Ozzie Moyer taking ninth with 316.85 points, freshman Sean Burston placing 15th with 294.60 points and senior Ryan Fox notching 16th place with 294.10 points.
Carolina tied the school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 6:22.47, good for a fifth place finish. Ben Colley led off the unit with a time of 1:34.89. That clocking shattered his previous career best of 1:37.63 and set the school record in the 200-yard freestyle in the process. The previous record was 1:35.42 set by J.T. Stilley in 2013.
The rest of UNC’s relay included Mitch DeForest with a split of 1:36.65, Logan Heck with a split of 1:36.06 and freshman Henry Campbell with an anchor leg of 1:34.87. UNC attained the NCAA automatic qualifying time for next month’s NCAA Championships which is 6:22.81. The relay matched the school record time of 6:22.47 set in 2013 by J.T. Stilley, Brad Dillon, Tom Luchsinger and Brett Nagle.
“The 800 free relay was put together with guys whose best events may not be the 200-yard freestyle,” said DeSelm. “We still tied school record we initially set two years ago. We had a great leadoff leg by Ben Colley with a school record. He’s the first Tat Heel to ever go under 1:35 in the 200 free. The middle two swimmers had very solid splits coming from DeForest and Heck and we got a great anchor from freshman Henry Campbell.”
Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame men's swim team spent Wednesday morning preparing for both a winter storm warning and the start of the ACC Championships that afternoon. In the 200 medley relay, the Irish finished seventh and in the 800 free relay they placed fourth. Both teams earned trips to the NCAA Championships next month, while 800 free lead-off swimmer Trent Jackson earned his own NCAA B-cut time.
"The 200 medley relay was a little off; but to be able to get the cut that we needed, and to follow with the 800 free relay's performance made for a great first night," Irish head coach Matt Tallman said. "We're in real good shape, we swam a lot of great lengths out of the eight swims we saw tonight, so we are anxious to see what we have left for the weekend."
In the 200 medley relay, the Irish won their heat, taking seventh in the final standings. Bogac Ayhan, Cameron Miller, Justin Plaschka and Zachary Stephens raced to the wall in 1:26.35, earning an NCAA B-cut in the process. Stephens' split of 19.42 in the 50 free would have broken the school record mark of 19.57 - if it had been the lead-off leg of the relay team (only first swimmer's split-times count towards other events in NCAA cut times) instead of the last.
In the 800 free relay, the Irish lineup of Jacksonfreshman Benjamin Jany, Reed Fujan and TomAnderson finished fourth in the second heat and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships with their 6:21.51 time. Jackson's split time of 1:35.04 also stands as a B-cut qualifier. The Irish finished in fourth overall and set the school record in the race.
The Irish earned 88 points heading into this week's swimming championships from their four-man diving rotation - Joseph Coumos, James Lichtenstein, Michael Kreft and Nick Nemetz - competing last week. With the points combined, Notre Dame stands in third place after the first day of swimming with 144 points. They are behind Virginia Tech (first, 172 points) and North Carolina (second, 170 points).
Pittsburgh
The Pitt men’s swimming team began its stay at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships by swimming its fastest times of the season in both the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay.
Pitt placed 10th in both races, completing the 200 medley relay in 1:28.36 and the 800 free in 6:30.46.
The 200 medley relay team, consisting of seniors Luke Nosbisch (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) and Kourosh Ahani (Richmond Hill, Ontario/Thornhill Secondary) and juniors Mack Rice (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) and Sean Heiden (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson), were 1.12 seconds faster than the previous best time and just over a second away from the school record. Senior Jon Lierley (Mount Pleasant, S.C./Waldo) teamed up with juniors David Sweeney (Acworth, Ga./North Paulding), Martin Vogel (Johannesburg, South Africa/Cambridge International Distance College) and Avery Warrington (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park) to lower this seasons 800 free relay time by nearly five full seconds, but still finished about two seconds away from a new school record.
After the first day, the Panthers sit in 10th place with 83 points. Pitt also had the luxury of points scored last week by sophomores Dominic Giordano (Wexford, Pa./Florida State) and Tony Galante (Cary, N.C./Athens Drive) in 1-meter diving. The 17th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies are first with 172 points, followed by No. 15. North Carolina close behind with 170 for second. Notre Dame (144), No. 25 Virginia (140), and No. 7 NC State (128) round out the top five.
Virginia
The No. 25 Virginia men’s swimming and diving team concluded action on the first day of the ACC Championships Wednesday (Feb. 25) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
The Cavaliers sit in fourth place with 140 points, behind Virginia Tech (172), North Carolina (170) and Notre Dame (144). NC State is fifth with 128 points, followed by Florida State (124), Louisville (112), Georgia Tech (102), Duke (102), Pitt (83), Boston College (65) and Miami (60). Scores include men’s 1-meter diving, which was contested last week.
“Our men showed a strong effort today,” UVa head coach Augie Busch said. “We had some good splits that show we are ready to swim fast. With our better events coming up as the meet goes along, I feel good that we will be able to build on today’s performances."
The 200 medley relay team of sophomore Zach Bunner (Marietta, Ga.), junior Yannick Kaeser (Mumpf, Switzerland), sophomore Adam Whitener (Saline, Mich.) and senior Charlie Rommel (East Amherst, N.Y.) placed eighth in a time of 1:26.51, the fourth-fastest time in school history.
In the 800 free relay, the team of sophomore Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), freshmen Nicholas Magana (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Omer Tara (Istanbul, Turkey) and Luke Georgiadis (Jasksonville, Fla.) finished ninth in 6:30.08.
Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech men’s swimming and diving team finished the first day of the ACC Men’s Championships in first place at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Wednesday. Tech earned a bronze medal and a fifth-place finish in the two relay events of the opening day of action.
“Very solid start for us,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “I could have prepared the medley relay better, but they still raced very well. The 800 free relay was a strong effort and getting on the podium was a needed lift to end the day. We are excited for Thursday’s events.”
In the opening race of the championships, Tech’s 200 medley relay team of Brandon Fiala, C.J. Fiala, Morgan Latimer and Drake Becksted finished in fifth with a time of 1:25.82.
In the other event of the day, Tech won the bronze medal in the 800 free relay after Owen Burns, Lucas Bureau, Latimer and Michal Szuba hit the wall in an NCAA A-cut time of 6:21.48. After finishing within the A standard, the relay quartet automatically qualifies for the NCAA Championships.
The first day team scores revealed the 17th-ranked H2Okies with 172 points holding a slim lead over No. 15 North Carolina with 170 points. Notre Dame is in third with a score of 144. The highest ranked competitor in the field, No. 7 NC State, finished the day in fifth with 128 points. No. 10 Louisville finished the day in seventh with 112 points.
Day one team scores included the day’s two swimming event points and the 1-meter diving points, which came from last Wednesday’s 1-meter competition during the women’s ACC Championships. 1-meter diving scores from last week were added to Wednesday’s swimming points, 3-meter scores will be added after Friday’s events, and platform scores will be added after Saturday’s events.
Tech’s added diving points in the 1-meter came from Kyle Butts, who finished fourth, Thomas Shinholser, who finished eighth, Logan Stevens, who finished 14th, and Mauro Castro-Silva, who finished 18th.
