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COLLEGE STATION, Texas The Virginia men’s swimming team placed ninth with 133 points Saturday at the 2009 NCAA Championships, the program’s highest finish. The three-day event was held at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on Texas A&M’s campus.
Virginia’s best showing at NCAA meet before this year was a 10th-place finish in 2003.
Senior Ryan Hurley, swimming in his fourth and final NCAA Championships, won the consolation finals of the 200 breaststroke in 1:53.93. That time broke former NCAA champion Ed Moses’ conference and school record time of 1:53.99, the winning time of the 2000 NCAA Championships.
Sophomores Matt McLean and John Snawerdt both earned honorable mention All-America honors for their performances in the 1650 freestyle. McLean placed 12th overall in 14:51.44 while Snawerdt was 14th in 14:53.42. Fellow sophomore Taylor Smith finished 21st in the event (15:03.19) while junior Darren Ankosko was 23rd (15:05.99). It was the second All-America nod for Snawerdt in the event after an eighth-place finish a year ago as a freshman.
Sophomore Scot Robison also picked up honorable mention All-America accolades after finishing 14th in the 100 freestyle. Robison, the conference and school record holder in the event, clocked a time of 43.08. Robison finished his second NCAA championships with two All-America performances after a fifth-place finish in the 200 freestyle on Friday.
The 400 freestyle relay team of Robison, Peter Geissinger, John Azar and McLean capped the meet with an 11th-place finish, clocking a time of 2:53.29. The Cavalier foursome captured honorable mention All-America honors.
All five of Virginia’s relays earned All-America or honorable mention All-America status at the NCAA Championships, led by the 800 freestyle relay’s fifth performance on Friday night. Five All-American relays has occurred only once in program history, back in 2001.
The Cavaliers also totaled two individual All-America performances and seven honorable mention All-America performances in the meet.
Seniors Ryan Hurley, Pat Mellors, Pat Reams and Lee Robertson competed for the final time for the Orange and Blue.
2009 Men’s NCAA Championships
Final Team Standings
| 1. Auburn | 526 |
| 2. Texas | 487 |
| 3. Stanford | 460.5 |
| 4. California | 350 |
| 5. Florida | 324 |
| 6. Arizona | 309 |
| 7. Michigan | 248 |
| 8. Tennessee | 144 |
| 9. Virginia | 133 |
| 10. Georgia | 131 |