Virginia Men's Swimming And Diving Team Wins Seventh Consecutive ACC Championship
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Feb. 26, 2005
ATLANTA, Ga. – The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team won its seventh consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship Saturday evening (February 26) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The Cavaliers tallied 726.50 points in the four-day meet to easily outdistance runners-up Florida State by 146.5 points. UVa won three events Saturday and 11 of the 20 events in the competition. Fourth-year Luke Anderson (Charlottesville, Va./Bolles School) was named the ACC Championship Most Valuable Swimmer. Anderson, who also won the honor in 2002, won the 100 and 200 freestyle, was second in the 50 free, and swam on three winning Cavalier relay.
The Cavaliers’ streak of seven consecutive ACC titles is the longest in Virginia school history and the second-longest streak in conference swimming history. NC State won 12 straight ACC crowns from 1971 to 1982.
Virginia scored 726.50 points in winning its ninth ACC title overall. Florida State was the runners-up with 580 points, while Georgia Tech was third with 429 points. North Carolina was fourth with 412 points and Clemson was fifth (323). NC State placed sixth (321), followed by Virginia Tech (289.50), Maryland (273), Duke (132) and Miami (73).
In the 1650 freestyle, second-year John Millen (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) was the runner-up with a NCAA “B” time of 15:06.57. Third-year Fran Crippen (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Academy) took fourth place with a NCAA “B” time of 15:13.46.
The Cavaliers also had a swimmer earn runner-up honors in the 200 backstroke as fourth-year Bo Greenwood (Manakin, Va./Goochland) clocked a second-place and NCAA “B” time of 1:46.22. First-year Pat Mellors (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), who swept the 200 I.M. and 400 I.M., was 10th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:48.50.
Anderson turned in an outstanding performance in winning the 100 freestyle ACC title for the fourth time in his career. He broke his own school and Georgia Tech pool record with his winning time of 43.01 while also bettering the NCAA automatic qualifying standard. Anderson also won the 200 freestyle Friday. First-year Matt Targett (Victoria, Australia/Scotch College) was fourth in the 100 free with a NCAA “B” time of 44.36.
In the 200 breaststroke, second-year Vanja Rogulj (Zagreb, Croatia/Split) touched first for the second consecutive year, clocking an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:56.69, which also set a new pool record by nearly three seconds. Rogulj also won the 100 breast title Friday. First-year PJ Sullivan (Franklin, Mass./Bishop Feehan) captured All-ACC honors with his third-place performance in the 200 breast (1:59.79), while first-year Ryan Hurley (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) was fourth in a time of 2:00.21. Both swimmers bettered the NCAA “B” qualifying standard. Third-year Ryan Berg (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Academy) swam in the consolation finals of the 200 breast and placed 14th in a time of 2:03.51.
Fourth-year Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) rounded out UVa’s individual event champions as he won the 200 butterfly title for the fourth consecutive year. He posted a pool record and NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:44.24 to win the title by 1.5 seconds. Raab becomes the first swimmer to win four ACC titles in the 200 fly since UVa’s Andy Wren garnered four straight titles from 1980 to 1983. Second-year Stefan Hirniak (Highland Park, N.J./Princeton Day) took third place with a NCAA “B” time of 1:47.11 to earn All-ACC honors. Fourth-year Chris Cooper (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) was also a finalist in the 200 fly and finished eighth with a time of 1:51.73. Fourth-year Scott DeMarco (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) swam in the consolation finals and was 13th overall with a time of 1:50.83.
In the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, UVa finished fifth with a time of 3:00.76. Targett, Hirniak, Raab and first-year Bryan Stahl (Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) each swam a leg on the relay.