Seven Virginia Men's Swimmers Earn All-America Honors During Second Day Of NCAA Championships
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March 24, 2006
ATLANTA, Ga. – The University of Virginia men’s swimming and diving team had seven swimmers capture All-America honors Friday (Mar. 24) during the second day of competition at the 2006 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The Cavaliers earned All-America honors in two relays and also had two individuals finish in the top 16 to help UVa score 20 points and move up to 21st place in the team standings.
Virginia has scored 20 points after 14 of 21 events and stands in 21st place. Arizona leads the 2006 NCAA Championships with 336.5 points, while Auburn is second with 331.5 points and Stanford is third with 244.5 points. Texas (220 points) and Florida (203 points) round out the top five.
Third-year Vanja Rogulj (Zagreb, Croatia/Split) captured honorable mention All-America accolades in the 100 breaststroke with an 11th-place finish. Rogulj clocked a time of 53.57. He was ninth in the prelims in a time of 53.81.
Second-year Pat Mellors (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) placed 13th in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:50.20 to earn honorable mention All-America honors. He was ninth in the prelims with a time of 3:48.11.
Rogulj was also a member of UVa’s honorable mention All-America 200 medley relay that finished 16th with a time of 1:29.32. Second-year Bryan Stahl (Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands), third-year Stefan Hirniak (Highland Park, N.J./Princeton Day) and fourth-year Ethan McCoy (McMinnville, Ore./McMinnville) joined Rogulj on the medley relay. The same foursome was 15th in the prelims with a time of 1:29.49. It marked the first All-America certificate for McCoy.
UVa took 13th in the 800 free relay with a time of 6:33.20 for honorable mention accolades. Mellors, third-year John Millen (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview), Hirniak, and fourth-year Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) swam legs on the relay.
Crippen also competed in the 400 individual medley and finished 28th in the prelims with a time of 3:53.84. Stahl swam in the 100 backstroke and finished 27th in the prelims with a time of 49.92. Hirniak swam in the preliminaries of the 200 freestyle and was 38th with a time of 1:38.88. Millen was 35th in the 200 free in a time of 1:38.29.
The 2006 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships conclude Saturday with prelims beginning at noon and finals commencing at 7:00 p.m.