Virginia Finishes 16th in 400 Medley Relay
March 22, 2018
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team concluded the second day of competition at the NCAA Championships on Thursday (March 22) at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center with a 16th-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay.
The 400-yard medley relay team of sophomore Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), freshman Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), junior Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) and freshman Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.), respectively, swam a time of 3:06.79 to finish 16th overall in the event. All four Virginia swimmers earned All-America Honorable Mention honors in the event.
Virginia recorded two points with the 400-yard medley relay finish to tie for 30th in the team standings. Indiana leads the team standings with 169 points, followed NC State in second place with 165 points and Texas in third place with 159 points.
“We are happy with our second day’s performances,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “We had a lot of first time NCAA qualifiers competing today. Both of our 500 freestylers, Sam Magnan and Robby Giller, competed in their first NCAA Championships and both had great swims in the 500 (free). Zach Fong, with a lifetime best, just missed the school record in the 200 IM (individual medley). He is a veteran at the national championships and was showing that. Luke Georgiadis, in the 50 freestyle, again was another first-time individual qualifier.
“Our 400 medley relay got UVA on the board with some points. We are happy about that. That was one of our big goals, just to get some points this year after coming in last year and not scoring any. So, to be on the board after the first full day is a step in the right direction. We are looking forward to the next two days. We are looking forward to adding some points and keeping the momentum going and to keep laying the bricks for the future of our program.”
In the individual events, junior Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) finished 18th in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:15.96. He qualified as an alternate for the finals. Freshman Robby Giller (Wilton, Conn.) placed 28th in the event with a time of 4:17.36.
In the 200-yard individual medley, junior Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) finished 29th with a career-best time of 1:44.28.
In the 1-meter dive, sophomore Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) placed 35th, recording a score of 283.95.
Senior Luke Georgiadis (Jacksonville, Fla.) rounded out the day, in the 50-yard freestyle. He finished 49th with a time of 20.12.
The Cavaliers will open day three of the NCAA Championships with the preliminary races at 11 a.m. The finals will begin at 7 p.m. All times are in Eastern.