March 29, 2009

Virginia Finishes Ninth at NCAA Championships
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.

Ross Takes Third on Platform at NCAA Championships
University of Miami diver Reuben Ross completed his All-American diving sweep Saturday evening, taking third place on the 10-meter platform inside the Student Recreation Natatorium at this year's NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships in College Station, Texas.

Ross walked into this year's platform championships seeking to become just the fifth diver in Miami's storied history of men's diving to earn All-American honors in all three diving events (1-meter, 3-meter and platform) at the NCAA Championships. Only Miguel Velazquez (2004), Tyce Routson (1996, '97, 2000), Chris Mantilla (1996, '97, '98) and Bryan Gillooly (1996, '97) had accomplished that task before.

After collecting a fourth place finish in the preliminaries, Ross earned a spot in UM history by advancing to the finals and earning All-America honors for the third consecutive day. 

GEORGIA TECH MEN’S SWIMMING FINISHES 19TH AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Noah Copeland, Ilia Ayzenshtok and Gal Nevo all turned in solid swims Saturday for the Georgia Tech men’s swimming team at the NCAA Championships held at the Student Rec Natatorium on the campus of Texas A&M University.

The Yellow Jackets completed the meet 19th in the nation, its best finish in school history. They recorded 38 points.

In the 200-back, Ayzenshtok turned in a solid 29th-place swim as he finished in 1:43.96. Copeland placed 35th in the 100-free with a time of 43.70, while Nevo just missed qualifying for the night session in the 200-breat. He finished with a time of 1:56.22, good for 19th place.

Hodgson Earns A Pair Of Honorable Mention All-American Awards On Final Day Of NCAA Championships
The Florida State men's swimming and diving team finished the 2009 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships with four more athletes earning honorable mention All-American status in College Station, Texas. The Seminoles scored 36 points to finish in 20th-place.

The Garnet and Gold were led by junior Andy Hodgson who earned honorable mention All-American status in the 200 backstroke. After breaking his own conference and school record in the preliminary round with a time of 1:41.11, the Blackpool, England native took home 13th place in an evening swim of 1:41.85.

The 400 free relay team of fifth-year seniors Jarryd Botha and Ed Denton, senior Jimmy Holway and Hodgson finished the meet with honorable mention All-American honors, touching the wall in a 12th-place time of 2:53.44.

Joe Kinderwater Sets New UNC Record In The 1650 Freestyle
Sophomore Joe Kinderwater of the University of North Carolina's men's swimming and diving team earned All-America honors in the 1650-yard freestyle and eclipsed his own UNC record in the event on the final evening of the 2009 Division I NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Kinderwater's time of 14:46.06 placed him eighth in the competitive field and bettered his previous UNC record of 14:46.93 set at ACCs last month.

Teammate redshirt sophomore Chip Peterson earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 1650-yard freestyle with a 10th place finish and time of 14:49.78, less than a second off of his career best time. 

Tech concludes season at the NCAA Championships
At the final day of action at the NCAA Championships the Virginia Tech men’s swimming and diving team posted a 36th place finish and scored 4.5 points. Auburn won the competition with a score of 526. Freshman Charlie Higgins raced in the 200 back and junior Mikey McDonald dove in the platform event.

Higgins, who posted the 20th-best time in the 100 back on Friday, posted a time of 1:45.44 in the 200 back. The freshman registered the 33rd-best time to close out his first appearance at the championship meet.

In the platform dive, McDonald scored 293.00 for the 23rd-best score in the preliminary round. The junior posted a stellar showing in his second appearance at the NCAA Championships after earning 14th-place in the 1-meter event and tying for 15th in 3-meter dive.