Virginia Captures Second-Place Finish at ACC Swimming and Diving Championships
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team concluded the ACC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday (Feb. 29) with the Cavaliers capturing their best team finish at the conference meet since 2013. Virginia scored 1,098 points, second-highest point total in program history, to finish as the conference runner-up.
The second-place finish was the best team finish since the Cavaliers won the conference title in 2013. NC State won its sixth consecutive conference championship with 1,250 points. Louisville finished third with 1,066 points.
Junior Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.) led the team on the final day of competition. He set a UVA record in the 200-yard breaststroke on his way to a second-place finish and All-ACC honors in the event. The junior breaststroke recorded a career-best time of 1:52.91 to top the UVA record set by Yannick Kaeser in 2015. Barnum earned his first All-ACC honor at the meet and second honor of his career.
Sophomore Casey Storch (Great Falls, Va.) joined Barnum in the finals of the 200-yard breaststroke, placing fourth in the event with a career-best time of 1:54.04. His time ranks sixth in UVA history.
Senior Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) advanced to the finals in his third event of the meet, competing in the 200-yard butterfly. Schubert swam a time of 1:41.34, a career best by a hundredth of a second, to place fourth in the competition.
Sophomore Justin Grender (Cincinnati, Ohio) also finished fourth in an event, leading the Cavaliers in the 200-yard backstroke. Grender recorded a time of 1:41.05 in the finals. He captured a time of 1:40.83 in the prelims, the third-best time in UVA history.
In his first collegiate swim in the mile, freshman Jack Walker (Charlotte, N.C.) battled his way through the 66 lap event to reach the wall with a time of 15:01.72 and finish fifth overall.
Senior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) went 42.27 in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle. The senior sprinter finished fifth in the event.
Virginia concluded the meet with the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Baker, junior Samuel Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.), freshman August Lamb (Charlottesville, Va.) and freshman Konnar Klinksiek (San Antonio, Texas) placing fourth with a time of 2:51.32.
The Cavaliers will return to action for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships in Morgantown, W.Va. The three-day meet will begin March 9.
Commonwealth Clash
The ACC Championships signified the men’s swimming and diving matchup between Virginia and Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash, sponsored by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of University of Virginia Athletics. Virginia won the point between the two schools and leads 7.5-5.5.
Meet Notes:
• Schubert finished the meet as a two-time ACC champion, winning the 200 and 400-yard individual medley titles.
• Including Schubert’s first-place finishes, Virginia concluded the meet with six All-ACC honors.
• Barnum set two UVA records during the week, topping the prior UVA standard in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke.
• Schubert’s career-best time in the 200-yard butterfly ranks second in UVA history, a rank he held prior to tonight’s race.
• The second-place finish was the program’s best conference placement since 2013.
• Virginia recorded its second largest point total at the ACC Championships.
Quote from Todd DeSorbo
“Hats off to our men for their efforts today and the entire week,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “It feels great to move on up a spot from last year and get second overall as a team. The goal the last few seasons has been to improve and our men have been successful at that. It is a full team effort to move towards challenging for a conference title and we took a step closer this weekend. We had great senior leadership with Ted Schubert, Joe Clark and Ryan Baker. They’ve been integral in sparking our rise. We ended the meet with some great performances led by Keefer’s (Barnum) podium finish and program record in the 200 breast. Now we turn our attention towards the NCAA Championship in four weeks. I’m excited to see how our guys finish this historic season.”