Virginia Men's Swimming And Diving Team Extends Lead After Third Day Of ACC Championship
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Feb. 25, 2005
ATLANTA, Ga. – The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team extended its lead after the third of four days of competition Friday (February 25) in the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship, which is being held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. UVa won four events Friday and registered a pair of one-two-three finishes in increasing its point total to 502.50 after 14 of 20 events.
Virginia has scored 502.50 points and leads the ACC Championship by 119.50 points over Florida State, which is in second place with 383 points. North Carolina is third with 300.50 points and Georgia Tech is fourth with 300 points. Clemson is fifth with 248.50 points, followed by Virginia Tech (227.50), NC State (220), Maryland (172), Duke (103) and Miami (73).
The Cavaliers registered the first of their one-two-three sweeps in the opening event of the session, the 400 individual medley. First-year Pat Mellors (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), fresh off his victory in the 200 I.M. Thursday, won the won 400 I.M. with a pool record and NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:46.93. Third-year Fran Crippen (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Academy), the 2004 ACC champion in the 400 I.M., was second in a time of 3:47.61, while fourth-year Bo Greenwood (Manakin, Va./Goochland), the 2002 and 2003 champion, was third in a time of 3:49.49. Crippen and Greenwood both bettered the NCAA “B” standard. First-year Kevin Nead (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) also swam in the finals of the 400 I.M. and was seventh with a time of 3:54.15. First-years Ryan Hurley (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) and PJ Sullivan (Franklin, Mass./Bishop Feehan) competed in the 400 I.M. consolation final and were 11th and 14th, respectively, with times of 3:57.73 and 3:58.80.
In the 100 butterfly, fourth-year Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) was UVa’s lone swimmer in the championship final and he earned runner-up honors with a NCAA “B” time of 47.64. He was the top qualifier from the prelims, clocking a Georgia Tech pool record time of 48.15. First-year Matt Targett (Victoria, Australia/Scotch College) won the consolation final in the 100 fly with a NCAA “B” time of 48.59 seconds.
Virginia also picked up a top three sweep in the 200 freestyle with fourth-year Luke Anderson (Charlottesville, Va./Bolles School) leading the way with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:35.96. He broke his own school and pool records set on Wednesday with his lead-off split in the 800 free relay. Anderson also won the 200 free in 2001 and 2002. Second-year Stefan Hirniak (Highland Park, N.J./Princeton Day) was second with a time of 1:37.50, while second-year John Millen (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) touched third in a time of 1:37.55. Hirniak and Millen bettered the NCAA “B” standard.
UVa picked up its third victory of the evening in the 100 breaststroke as second-year Vanja Rogulj (Zagreb, Croatia/Split) clocked an NCAA automatic qualifying and pool record time of 53.27. The Cavaliers also had three swimmers in the consolation finals. Hurley was 11th in a time of 56.73, while third-year Ryan Berg (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Academy) took 12th place (56.97) and Sullivan finished 13th (57.08).
First-year Bryan Stahl (Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) was Virginia’s lone competitor in the 100 backstroke and he tied for 11th with a time of 50.29. In the three-meter diving competition, third-year Andrew Barber (Vienna, Va./Marshall) finished sixth with 494.85 points, while third-year Eric Kelley (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Christian School) was 11th with 440.70 points.
UVa wrapped up the night by winning the 400 medley relay for its fourth victory of the session. Stahl, Rogulj, Raab and Anderson combined to break the pool record with a time of 3:12.58, and just missed the NCAA automatic qualifying standard.
The ACC Championship concludes Saturday (February 26). Prelims begin at 11:00 a.m. and finals commence at 7:00 p.m.