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Virginia Claims Eighth Consecutive ACC Men's Swimming and Diving Championship
Feb. 25, 2006
2006 ACC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Virginia claimed its eighth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championship on Saturday, utilizing its depth in several events to overtake second-place finisher Florida State, which held the lead after the previous two days of competition. Virginia racked up 694 points over the course of the four-day meet, which was held at Maryland's Campus Recreation Center Natatorium. Florida State finished second with 685.5 points, while North Carolina was third with 496.5. Georgia Tech (371 points) followed in fourth, with NC State (362), Virginia Tech (334.5), Clemson (293), Maryland (222.5), Duke (99), Boston College (70) and Miami (37) rounding out the field. Florida State and Virginia would trade the lead all night, with the Cavaliers closing to within just one point of the Seminoles after the first event of the evening, the 1650 free, at 492-491. Virginia's John Millen won the event in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 15:03.09, while 2005 champion Sam Morgan of Georgia Tech was second in 15:06.69. Florida State's Kyle Young took the bronze medal with his 15:08.40 effort, While Virginia's Fran Crippen was fourth and Florida State's Steve Roof was fifth. The second- through ninth-place finishers all achieved NCAA B cuts. Virginia overtook Florida State in the 200 back, as it had three of the top five finishers to go up by a score of 548-545. The Seminoles' Jarryd Botha claimed gold in the event, however, turning in an NCAA B time of 1:45.54. Virginia's Pat Mellors took second in 1:45.60, while FSU's Carl Marais claimed bronze in 1:46.18. The Cavaliers' Bjorn Falk finished fourth in 1:46.28, giving the top four finishers NCAA B cuts, and Virginia's Bryan Stahl finished fifth. Florida State kept the pressure on with Ian Powell finishing eighth in the championship final. Florida State climbed back on top in the 100 free, is it went 2-3-4 to open up a 41-point lead, 602-561. NC State's Cullen Jones won the event for the second time in his career, turning in a 43.35, good for an NCAA A cut. Jones also won the 50 free on Thursday and medaled in four relays at the 2006 ACC Championships, earning the meet's Most Valuable Swimmer distinction. Jones was followed by the Seminoles' Joel Roycik, Ed Denton and Alex Kennon, in that order. Those three, plus Maryland's Daniel Gray and Virginia's Ethan McCoy, all posted NCAA B times in the event. Virginia stormed back in the 200 breast, pulling off a 1-2-3 finish to open up a 626-622.5 lead. Vanja Rogulj won the event in an NCAA A time of 1:55.07, and was followed by PJ Sullivan, who touched in 1:58.85. Fellow Cavalier Ryan Hurley took bronze in 1:59.16, giving Virginia the medal sweep. NC State's Dan Velez and Florida State's Paul Erben finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with each of the second- through fifth-place finishers posting NCAA B times. Virginia Tech's Gus Calado won his first-ever ACC title with a victory in the 200 fly, as the junior from Recife, Brazil, touched in 1:44.64, good for an NCAA A time. Virginia's Stefan Hirniak added to the Cavaliers' lead with a silver-medal showing, touching in 1:45.30, an NCAA B cut. North Carolina's Chad Ames posted an NCAA B time of 1:47.98 to take the bronze medal in the event. Virginia had three more swimmers score in the event, while Florida State had four swimmers of its own pick up points. With the meet's result still up in the air entering the final event of the meet, the ACC Men's Swimming and Diving title came down to the 400 free relay. With the title still mathematically in reach, Florida State did what it had to do, winning the event in NCAA B standard time. Kennon, Botha, Denton and Roycik combined to turn in a 2:55.92 effort for the gold medal. NC State took the silver medal, with Peter Ranstead, Steve Cowling, Scott Dettloff and Jones teaming to touch in 2:57.47, also an NCAA B standard. Maryland picked up the final medal of the meet, with Dong Kim, Patrick Doyle, Gray and Matt Golebiewski turning in a time of 2:58.83. Maryland, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Clemson all turned in NCAA provisional qualifying times in the event. Virginia nailed down its eighth consecutive title with an eighth-place finish in the event, as Greg Imboden, McCoy, Ryan Berg and Mellors picked up the meet-clinching points. Miami's Derek Starks was named the Diver of the Meet after earning one gold and one silver medal on the boards. The 8.5-point differential between first and second place marked the closest finish to the ACC meet since Virginia topped Florida State by just 6.5 points in 1999. The Seminoles have finished second to the Cavaliers in each of the last four seasons, and five times overall. Team Standings Event Winners Thursday, Feb. 23 Friday, Feb. 24 Saturday, Feb. 25 ^ Meet record -ACC-
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