Casey Leads Virginia on Day Two of ACC Championships
GREENSBORO, N.C.- The Virginia men’s swimming team closed the second day of competition at the ACC Championships on Thursday (Feb. 28) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center with a podium finish from redshirt senior Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.).
The Cavaliers moved into fifth place with 392 points. NC State leads the field with 545.5 points, while Louisville is in second place with 437 points and Virginia Tech is in third with 412.5.
Casey opened the night for the Cavaliers with a second-place finish and All-ACC honors in the 500-yard freestyle. His time of 4:12.63 ranks second in UVA history as he dropped eight seconds off his entry time.
Virginia had three swimmers advance to the A finals in the 200-yard individual medley. Junior Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) led the team, finishing with a time of 1:44.51 for sixth place. Senior Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) finished seventh with a time of 1:44.57, while senior Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) placed eighth with a time of 1:44.98.
During the 200-yard individual medley prelims, Schubert and Keblish recorded the two-fastest times in program history. Keblish swam a time of 1:43.98 before Schubert topped the performance in the next heat with a time of 1:43.49.
Senior Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) joined Casey in the 500-yard freestyle where he finished eighth with a time of 4:20.54.
Junior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) recorded a time of 19.60 in the B finals of the 50-yard freestyle. He finished 10th in the event and recorded the third-fastest time in school history.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Baker, Keblish, sophomore Cooper Wozencraft (Houston, Texas) and sophomore Samuel Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) rounded out the night with an eighth-place finish and a season-best time of 1:18.62.
“The men had one of the best sessions since I’ve been here this morning, setting up a lot of scoring opportunities tonight,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “We talked about how the prelims are the most important to get into great scoring position and our guys got the job done. There were plenty of personal bests and a school record. Looking forward to another great morning tomorrow.”
Virginia will return to action tomorrow at 10 a.m. to compete in the prelims for the 100-yard butterfly, 400-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard backstroke. The finals will begin at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.