Story Links
March 28, 2003
AUSTIN, Texas – University of Virginia second-year Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) and first-year Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) barely missed advancing to finals Friday (March 28) during the second day of preliminaries at the 2003 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The lone event the Cavaliers will compete in Friday evening is the 800 freestyle relay, which will be swum as a timed final. UVa is currently in 13th place with 40 points after six events.
Raab placed 17th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 47.57, which is the second fastest time in school history. Raab entered the 2003 NCAAs as the 35th seed in the 100 fly and nearly qualified for the consolation final with his 17th-place finish. He was three-tenths of a second shy of finishing 16th and advancing to the consolation finals. Raab’s previous collegiate best time in the 100 butterfly was 48.23.
Crippen, who placed fifth in the 500 free Thursday night, was 18th in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:50.35. He was also three-tenths of a second short of qualifying for the consolation finals. Also in the 400 individual medley, second-year Bo Greenwood (Manakin, Va./Goochland) was on pace to finish among the top qualifiers, but was disqualified
Third-years Ian Prichard (Ventura, Calif./Buena) and Adam Kerpelman (Lutherville, Md./St. Paul’s School) competed in the 200 freestyle. Prichard tied for 27th place with a time of 1:37.65, while Kerpelman was 44th in a time of 1:39.88.
Third-year Luke Wagner (Greenwood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) rounded out UVa’s competitors in the preliminaries. He placed 27th in the 100 backstroke, clocking a time of 49.07.
The second of three final sessions for the 2003 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. Saturday’s preliminary events begin at 11:00 a.m. CT.