The NC State Wolfpack started the day in fifth place, but won th
ree of the day's four events to secure the lead in the hunt for the 2016 ACC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships.
NC State sits on top with 491 points, with the previous leader, Virginia Tech, in second with 399. Louisville is in third with 376 points, followed by North Carolina with 353 and Virginia rounds out the top five with 310.
The Wolfpack took the gold in the 500 freestyle, 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay. Anton Ipsen started things off for NC State, winning his second straight 500 freestyle with a time of 4:14.53. The Wolfpack became the only team in the country to have multiple swimmers in the 50 freestyle finish in under 19 seconds, as Ryan Held finished in 18.92 and bested teammate Simonas Bilis by .02 seconds.
Both Held and Bilis were on the 200 freestyle relay team for NC State, which captured the gold in 1:15.65, only .03 seconds off the conference record.
Virginia Tech's Brandon Fiala won the 200 individual medley for the second year in a row, with a time of 1:42.77.
The 2016 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships resume Friday morning at 10 a.m. with preliminaries for the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breastroke, and 100 backstroke. The finals for those events, in addition to the 400 medley relay, will get underway at 6 p.m.
200 Freestyle Relay
NC State ended the evening by winning their third straight 200 freestyle relay.
Shortly after winning the 50 freestyle, Ryan Held grabbed the lead for the Wolfpack with a 19.31 opening split, and they never looked back. The team of Held, Simonas Bilis, Joseph Bonk and Andreas Schiellerup finished in 1:15.65, only .03 off the conference record.
North Carolina took silver with a 1:18.02, and Louisville followed close behind with a time of 1:18.15.
50 Freestyle
NC State's Ryan Held turned in a new meet record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 18.92, only .01 seconds off the conference record.
"It feels so wonderful (to finish under 19 seconds)," Held said. "I knew it was possible, everything had to go right to get it."
Held finished just .02 seconds ahead of teammate and 2015 champion, Simonas Bilis, who checked in at 18.94.
Samuel Lewis of North Carolina finished third with a time 19.49.
200 Individual Medley
Brandon Fiala of Virginia Tech won the 200 individual medley for the second straight year with a time of 1:42.26.
"200 IM is something we take a lot of pride in at Virginia Tech," Fiala siad. "It kinda gets the snowball going for us."
The junior had to fight off a charging Soeren Dahl from NC State, who finished just behind at 1:42.50.
Louisville's Nolan Tesone came in third with a time of 1:43.88.
500 Freestyle
NC State's Anton Ipsen wouldn't be denied in his quest for a second 500 freestyle gold, finishing the event in 4:14.53.
"It's a really great honor to be here again and repeat from last year," Ipsen said.
The sophomore had to fend off Trevor Carroll of Louisville, who was right behind at 4:15.77.
Henry Campbell of North Carolina rounded out the podium at third with a time of 4:17.72.
Thursday Morning Preliminaries
The sixth day of the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Swimming & Diving Championship started Thursday morning with preliminaries in the 500 freestyle, the 200 yard individual medley, and the 50 freestyle.
NC State's Simonas Bilis set a new meet record in the 50 free with a time of 19.00, besting his previous record of 19.04. Teammate Ryan Held was also under the previous record, checking in at 19.02.
In the 200 individual medley, Brandon Fiala of Virginia Tech turned in the fastest qualifying time, clocking a 1:42.77. The pair of Soeren Dahl and Justin Ress from NC State followed, with times of 1:42.93 and 1:43.73, respectively.
The Wolfpack's Anton Ipsen led the way in the 500 free with a time of 4:18.50. Teammate Adam Linker followed closely behind with a 4:18.68, and Trevor Carroll of Louisville had the third-fastest qualifying time, checking in at 4:19.17.
