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Feb. 24, 2000
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The ninth-ranked Virginia men’s swimming and divingteam turned in four record-setting performances in taking an early lead inthe 2000 Men’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championship Thursday night atMaurice J. Koury Natatorium on the campus of the University of NorthCarolina. The Cavaliers set new school, conference and ACC Meet records inwinning the 400 medley relay, while fourth-year Austin Ramirez (Brookfield,Wisc./Brookfield) set a new ACC Meet record in winning his fourthconsecutive 500 freestyle title.
The Cavaliers scored 242 points to take an early lead in the 47th annualACC Championships after the first day of competition. Host North Carolinais second with 201.50 points, while Florida State and N.C. State are thirdand fourth with 162 and 151 points, respectively. Maryland (118), Clemson(84.50), Georgia Tech (65) and Duke (46) round out the field.
The Virginia foursome of first-year Chris Mousetis (Newport News,Va./Woodside), second-year Ed Moses (Burke, Va./Burke), fourth-year DoakFinch (Southern Pines, N.C./O’Neal) and third-year Troy Johnson (St.George, Utah/Dixie) shattered the conference and ACC Meet records by 1.2seconds in winning the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:11.60. Thefoursome also demolished the UVa school record of 3:14.42 by 2.82 seconds.In addition to leading off the 400 medley by swimming a 48.93 leg in the100 backstroke, Mousetis also dethroned teammate and two-time defendingchampion Finch in the 200 IM by a mere one one-hundredth of a second.Mousetis swam a personal-best and school record time of 1:47.68 to edgeFinch. Finch, who finished in 1:47.69, had broken his own school recordwith a time of 1:47.90 in the prelims earlier in the day. Moses placedfourth in the same event with a personal-best time of 1:48.23.
Ramirez broke the former ACC Meet record of 4:19.53 by turning in an NCAAautomatic qualifying time of 4:18.61 in the 500 free. In winning theevent, he became just the 13th swimmer to win four ACC titles in the sameevent. Ramirez led four top-five UVa finishers in the 500. Third-yearJamie Grimes (Olney, Md./Sherwood) placed third with a time of 4:24.84,while third-year Michael Fuller (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) was fourth(4:25.46) and first-year Mike Wheeler (Lisbon, Md./McDonogh) came in fifth(4:25.95). The latter three swimmers met the NCAA “B” qualifying standard.
Virginia set its fourth record on the night in the 200 freestyle as itfinished sixth with a school record time of 1:21.52. The relay wascomposed of Johnson, second-year Matt Lee (Munster, Ind./Munster),fourth-year Jimmy Blitzer (Springfield, Va./Bishop Ireton) and fourth-yearJared Felker (Yarmouth, Maine/Mercersburg Academy).
In the 50 free, Johnson placed eighth with a time of 20.80, whilesecond-year diver Joe Piorkowski (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) was seventh inthe one-meter diving with a score of 413.80 points.
Other UVa competitors in consolation and bonus consolation finals onThursday include:
| Jared Felker | 9th | 50 Free | 20.68 |
| Guy Yimsomruay | 9th | 200 IM | 1:47.82 |
| Evan Taylor | 10th | 200 IM | 1:49.73 |
| Matt Lee | T10th | 50 Free | 20.76 |
| Daniel Zurowski | 14th | 500 Free | 4:31.41 |
| Dan DeMarco | 18th | 500 Free | 4:31.94 |
The 2000 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships continue Friday withpreliminaries beginning at 11:00 a.m. and finals commencing at 7:00 p.m.The meet concludes Saturday evening. The entire results of the ACC Meetcan be obtained on UNC’s website at www.tarheelblue.com