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Feb. 27, 2004
2004 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia Cavaliers continue to lead after Friday’s (February 27) third day of competition of the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, being held at the Aquatic and Fitness Center on the grounds of the University of Virginia.
Virginia holds the lead with a score of 558.50 points, while Florida State maintained its grip on second place with a score of 361. In third place is North Carolina with 329.5 points, and Clemson is in fourth place with 293 points. Georgia Tech (266.5), N.C. State (221.5), Maryland (178), and Duke (109) round out the field of competitors in the team competition.
The night began with an exciting 400 individual medley event. Virginia second-year Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Acad.) won the ACC title with an Aquatic and Fitness Center pool record time of 3:47.16. Crippen was trailing third-year and two-time defending champion Bo Greenwoood (Manakin, Va./Goochland) and made up a deficit of over one second in the last 50 yards of the race. Green wood finished second with a time of 3:47.64. Both men’s times met the NCAA “B” or consideration standard.
Florida State sophomore Joel Roycik won the 100 butterfly with an NCAA “B” time of 47.53, improving on his time in the prelims by over half a second. Virginia third-year Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) earned All-ACC honors by placing third in the event. Raab touched in at 48.12 to meet the NCAA consideration standard.
In the 200 freestyle, North Carolina senior Yuri Suguiyama came from behind during the last 50 yards of the race to win with an NCAA “B” time of 1:37.33. Virginia fourth-year Ian Prichard (Ventura, Calif./Buena) was the top finisher for the Cavaliers with a second-place time of 1:37.52. First-year John Millen (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) touched in third for the Cavaliers with a time of 1:37.66. Fourth-year Adam Kerpelman (Lutherville, Md./St. Paul’s School) finished fifth (1:38.20) and first-year Stefan Hirniak (Highland Park, N.J./Princeton Day) came in seventh (1:38.45). All four Cavalier men posted times meeting the NCAA “B” standard.
The winner in the 100 breaststroke was Florida State senior Wickus Nienaber. Nienbar swam a time of 54.18 to meet the NCAA consideration standard. The Virginia first-year team of Vanja Rogulj (Zagreb, Croatia/Split) and Rick Hancock (Pendleton, S.C./Pendleton) came in second and third for the Cavaliers. Rogulj clocked a time of 54.28 to meet the NCAA “B” standard, and Hancock swam a season best time of 55.85. Second-year Ryan Berg (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) touched in fifth for the Cavaliers (55.98).
Fourth-year Luke Wagner (Englewood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) won 100 backstroke title when he came in first with a time of 48.58 to meet the NCAA consideration time. He beat his closest competitor by over half of a second while capturing the second 100 backstroke title of his career. Wagner followed this victory by leading off Virginia’s victorious 400 medley relay. The team of Wagner, Rogulj, Raab, and Kerpelman won the relay with a time 3:13.01, beating their nearest competitor by well over two seconds.
The ACC Championship will wrap up Saturday (February 28), with preliminaries beginning at 11:00 a.m. and finals commencing at 7:00 p.m.