Nine Virginia Men To Swim At NCAA Championships
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March 24, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The eighth-ranked Virginia men’s swimming and diving team is sending nine swimmers to compete in the 2004 Men’s NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in East Meadow, N.Y. The meet will be held at the Nassau County Aquatics Center, Thursday March 25 through Saturday, March 27. The Cavalier men are looking to improve upon their 10th-place performance in 2003, the best finish in school history. The meet will be contested in short-course meters.
Virginia, the six-time defending ACC champions, has entrants in all 13 individual swimming events and is also competing in all five relays. The Cavaliers have multiple entrants in six events. UVa has four entrants in the 400 and 200-meter freestyles and three entrants in the 1500-meter free. Virginia has two swimmers competing in the 400-meter I.M. 200-meter backstroke, and 200-meter butterfly. Listed below is an entire breakdown of Virginia’s event entrants.
Second-year Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) – 1500 free, 400 free, 400 I.M.
Third-year Bo Greenwood (Manakin, Va./Goochland) – 400 I.M., 200 I.M., 200 back
First-third Stefan Hirniak (Highland Park, N.J.) – 200 fly, 400 free, 200 free
Fourth-year Adam Kerpelman (Lutherville, Md./St. Paul’s School) – 50 free, 100 free, 200 free
First-year John Millen (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) – 1500 free, 400 free, 200 free
Fourth-year Ian Prichard (Ventura, Calif./Buena) – 1500 free, 500 free, 200 free
Third-year Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) – 200 fly, 100 fly
First-year Vanja Rogulj (Zagreb, Croatia/Split) – 100 breast, 200 breast
Fourth-year Luke Wagner (Englewood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) – 100 back, 200 back
Seven Virginia swimmers are seeded in the top 10 in a total of six events. Prichard, Crippen and Millen are seeded third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 1500-meter free. In the 400-meter free, Crippen, Prichard, and Millen are seeded fifth through seventh, respectively. Crippen is also the seventh seed in the 400-meter I.M. Raab is seeded seventh in the 200-meter butterfly, while Greenwood is ninth in the 400 I.M. Rogulj and Wagner are ranked 10th in the 200 breaststroke and 200 backstroke, respectively, and round out UVa’s top 10 seeds. Virginia also has two seeded relays entered in the meet. UVa’s 800-meter freestyle relay is 11th and the 400 medley relay is 14th.
Crippen, Prichard, and Raab each earned first-team All-America accolades at the 2003 NCAA Championships, while Wagner and Kerpelman were honorable mention All-Americans. Crippen was a two-time first-team All-American last year as he was third in the 1650-yard freestyle and fifth in the 500 free. Raab was third in the 200-yard butterfly to capture first-team All-America honors for the first time. Prichard placed sixth in the 1650 free to garner first-team honors. Prichard and Wagner finished ninth and 10th in the 500 free and 200 backstroke, respectively, to earn honorable mention accolades. Crippen, Prichard, Raab, and Wagner comprised UVa’s honorable mention All-America 800 free relay that finished 12th. Raab, Wagner and Kerpelman swam a leg on the Cavaliers’ 11th-place 400 medley relay, while Wagner and Kerpelman also swam legs on Virginia’s 12th-place 400 free relay that earned honorable mention All-America certificates.