Two Men's Swimmers Win Events

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Feb. 26, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of North Carolina scored 212.5 points to take the lead after the first day of the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference men’s swimming and diving championship. Coach Frank Comfort’s five-time defending-champion Tar Heels hold a 25.5 point advantage over second-place Virginia, which totaled 187 points at the UVa Aquatic and Fitness Center.

Pre-meet favorite Florida State held the lead for most of the day, but fell to third place after its 400-yard medley relay team was disqualified in the day’s final event. The Seminoles totaled 185 points, finishing the day only two points behind Virginia. North Carolina State stands in fourth place with 170 points, while Clemson (102), Maryland (100.5), Georgia Tech (62) and Duke (50) round out the scoring.

North Carolina won only one event, that being the 400-yard medley relay team of Ted Brisson, Brad Kline, Tucker Shade and Ed Abele with a time of 3:15.08. The Tar Heels also had three second-place finishers on the day. Mike Chorba placed second in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:26.13, while teammate Tom Schmelzer was second in the 200-yard individual medley with his time of 1:48.84. The Tar Heels’ team of Brisson, Ted Jennings, Shade, Abele also placed second in both the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:20.59.

Virginia had two swimmers win individual event titles on the first day of action. Austin Ramirez claimed first in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:22.13, successfully defending his title in the event. The Cavaliers’ Doak Finch was victorious in the 200-yard individual medley, swimming a school-record time of 1:47.97.

Florida State also won two events, in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle relay. In the 50 free four Seminoles placed in the top eight, led by Brendon Dedekind with a time of 19.52. Dedekind, who automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship with that time, claimed the ACC title in the 50 free for the third consecutive season. Other top finishers for the Seminoles in the event were Julio Santos in second place (19.85), Matt McVittie in fifth place (20.28) and Kevin Flanagan in eighth place (20.68). The Seminoles’ 200-free relay team of Santos, McVittie, Flanagan and Dedekind easily won its event with a time of 1:19.00.

The only other event winner on the day was Maryland’s Kevin Burke, who won the one-meter springboard diving with a score of 538.20 points.

The ACC Championship continues tomorrow with preliminaries at 11:00 a.m., followed by finals at 7:00 p.m.

1998 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship University of Virginia Aquatic & Fitness Center
* Charlottesville, Va. Results for Thursday, February 26, 1998

200-Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Florida State (Julio Santos, Matt McVittie, Kevin Flanagan, Brendon Dedekind), 1.19.00&. 2. North Carolina (Ted Brisson, Ted Jennings, Tucker Shade, Ed Abele), 1:20.59#. 3. North Carolina State (Phil Hardin, Braden Holloway, Chris Rendall, Greg Solt) , 1:21.42#. 4. Clemson (Razvan Petcu, Mike Pridemore, Tim Collis, Sean Stockton), 1:21.48#. 5. Maryland ( Jason Hicks, Scott Grayson, Jay Wolberg, Aaron Peterson), 1:22.39. 6. Virginia (William Planicka, Graeme Leiser, James Blitzer, Jared Felker), 1:23.06. 7. Duke (Brendan McGill, Mark Rotblat, Jack Newhouse, Matt Lynch), 1:25.76. 8. Georgia Tech (Jason Williams, David Nicol, Jeff Quinlivan, Ed Brinkman), 1:25.87.

500-Yard Freestyle

 1. Austin Ramirez, Virginia, 4:22.13#.  2. Mike Chorba, North Carolina, 4:26.13#.  3. Stephen Matthews, North Carolina State, 4:27.06#.  4. Richard Culberson, North Carolina State, 4:29.09  5. James Grimes, Virginia, 4:30.12.  6. Michael Fuller, Virginia, 4:31.18.  7. Mark Eberlie, North Carolina State, 4:31.42.  8. Jay McGarity, Florida State, 4:37.22.  9. Trevor Runberg, North Carolina, 4:30.88. 10. Kevin Pchola, North Carolina State, 4:31.95. 11. Bill Schultz, Florida State, 4:32.60. 12. Seth Laughlin, North Carolina, 4:33.00. 13. Bank Intharapichai, N. Carolina State, 4:33.37. 14. Randy Tyner, North Carolina State, 4:33.50. 15. Park Willis, North Carolina, 4:35.68. 16. William York, Clemson, 4:38.13. 

200-Yard Individual Medley

 1. Doak Finch, Virginia, 1:47.97#.  2. Tom Schmelzer, North Carolina, 1:48.84#.     Michael Renshaw, Virginia, 1:48.88#.  4. Steve Parry, Florida State, 1:49.15#.  5. Braden Holloway, North Carolina State, 1:49,96#.  6. Randy Thorpe, North Carolina, 1:50.15#.  7. Jason Webb, Virginia, 1:50.25#.  8. Eric Fehr, North Carolina, 1:50.81.  9. Brad Kline, North Carolina, 1:50.97. 10. Greg Main-Bailue, Florida State, 1:51.05. 11. Tucker Shade, North Carolina, 1:51.08. 12. Ryan Walker, Maryland, 1:51.38. 13. Casey Hughes, Virginia, 1:51.51. 14. Brian Hicks, Virginia, 1:52.82. 15. Mark Seidman, North Carolina, 1:53.18. 16. Scott Ayer, Clemson, 1:56.58. 

50-Yard Freestyle

 1. Brendon Dedekind, Florida State, :19.52&.  2. Julio Santos, Florida State, :19.85#.  3. Razvan Petcu, Clemson, :20.11#.  4. Ted Brisson, North Carolina, :20.17#.  5. Matt McVittie, Florida State, :20.31#,  6. Aaron Peterson, Maryland, :20.40#.  7. Chris Jennings, North Carolina, :20.40#.  8. Kevin Flanagan, Florida State, :20.68.  9. Mike Pridemore, Clemson, :20.53. 10. Ed Abele, North Carolina, :20.64. 11. Phil Hardin, North Carolina State, :20.65. 12. JAred Felker, Virginia, :20.80. 13. William Planicka, Virginia, :20.85. 13. Graeme Leiser, Virginia, :20.85. 15. Will McReynolds, Florida State, :21.14. 16. Sean Stockton, Clemson, :21.37.

One-Meter Diving

 1. Kevin Burke, Maryland, 538.20,  2. Andy Johnson, North Carolina State, 511.75.  3. Brent Burkman, Florida State, 449.00.  4. Glen Gonzalez, Florida State, 448.65.  5. Kevin Brooks, Georgia Tech, 442.05.  6. Andrew Cunningham, Virginia, 439.30.  7. Kevin Cutts, North Carolina State, 431.10.  8. Ben Nuttall, Florida State, 412.90.  9. Andy Garrett, Clemson, 343.50. 10. Brian Cockman, North Carolina, 338.50. 11. Kevin Magnum, North Carolina, 336.35. 12. Chris Anderson, Clemson, 308.30. 13. Brendon Firestone, North CArolina State, 303.35. 14. Matt Berens, Maryland, 281.45. 15. Michael O'Toole, Georgia Tech, 266.90.

400-Yard Medley Relay

 1. North Carolina (Ted Brisson, Brad Kline, Tucker Shade, Ed Abele), 3:15.08#.  2. Virginia (Jason Webb, DJ Gallagher, Shamek Pietucha, Doak Finch), 3:16.62#.  3. Maryland( Ryan Walker, Scott Grayson, Aaoron Peterson, Matt Childs), 3:19.35.  4. Clemson (Tim Collis, Alejaner Dubreuil, Razvan Patcu, Mike Pridemore), 3:20.51.  5. North Carolina State), 3:20.60.  6. Duke (David Tonini, Mark Rotblat, Marshal Preston, Matt Lynch), 3:26.42.  7. Georgia Tech (Glenn Goldstein, Theral Mackey, James Nozar, Ed Brinkman), 3:27.72.

Team Scores

1. North Carolina, 212.5. 2. Virginia, 187.0. 3. Florida State, 185.0. 4. North Carolina State, 170.0. 5. Clemson, 102.0. 6. Maryland, 100.5. 7. Georgia Tech, 62.0. 8. Duke, 50.0.* Atlantic Coast Conference Record! Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Meet Record # NCAA Division I Consideration Qualification Standard   & NCAA Division I Automatic Qualification Standard