Virginia Men Capture Lead on Second Day of ACC Championships
Story Links
Feb. 28, 2013
Become a Fan of Virginia Swimming and Diving on Facebook
Follow Virginia Swimming and Diving on Twitter
GREENSBORO, N.C.—The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team took hold of the lead on the second day of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships Thursday (Feb. 28) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
The Cavaliers have 256 points through eight events, followed by Virginia Tech (217), Florida State (205), North Carolina (192), NC State (133), Georgia Tech (118), Duke (91) and Boston College (70).
“We had to come out of the shoot firing and we certainly did that this morning and this evening,” UVa head coach Mark Bernardino said. “It was a big day for us, but we have to hang tough tomorrow. We have to compete like the score is zero-zero and have the same team chemistry and intensity that we carried today.”
Juniors Brad Phillips (4:17.61) and Jan Daniec (4:17.76) went 1-2 in the 500 free in times that rank sixth and seventh on Virginia’s all-time lists, respectively. Freshman Nick Alexiou was fifth in 4:19.66, while junior Parker Camp was sixth in 4:20.10. All four times were career-best marks.
“Going in we had great prelim swims this morning with four up, two down (four swimmers in championship final, two in consolation final),” Phillips said. “We all knew we had further time that we could drop tonight and we executed well for the team. It’s been a goal of mine since I committed to UVa to win that title for the team, since it’s one of our signature events.”
In the consolation final, freshman Chris Webb touched first in 4:21.44, while junior Jonathan Buerger was third in 4:22.10.
“The 500 is one of our bread-and-butter events,” Bernardino said. “It’s an event we’ve taken great pride in for years and years. To be a 500 freestyle champion at UVa is a significant achievement. Bradley joins some pretty special company by winning tonight.”
Past winners in the event for the Cavaliers include Matt McLean, Fran Crippen and Austin Ramirez. UVa has won the 500 free 15 out of the last 17 years.
In the 200 IM final, junior Taylor Grey placed fourth in 1:45.71, the fourth-fastest time in UVa history, while sophomore David Ingraham was sixth in 1:46.78. Junior Nathan Hart was eighth in 1:48.81.
Freshman Luke Papendick claimed the consolation final in a time of 1:46.37, the eighth-fastest time on UVa’s all-time list, while Ingraham’s 1:46.59 in prelims sits 10th.
The 200 free relay team of sophomore Charlie Rommel, senior Tom Barrett, Camp and senior Matt Murray placed sixth in 1:19.17. Rommel’s leadoff 50 time of 19.98 places sixth on UVa’s all-time lists.
Barrett placed fifth in the 50 free final in 19.73, while Rommel was eighth in the consolation final in 20.23.
The action continues Friday (March 1) with the 400 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back events being contested. Prelims begin at 11 a.m., while the finals will start at 7 p.m.