Feb. 28, 2009
Complete Results
COLLEGE PARK, MD. -
After trailing Georgia Tech for three days of competition, the North Carolina men's swimming and diving team posted six school records on the final day of competition and surged past the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to take third place at the 2009 ACC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. Competition concluded Saturday night at the University of Maryland's Eppley Recreation Center Pool.
"It took us all meet to catch Georgia Tech and we did," UNC head coach Rich DeSelm said. "We finished stronger and stronger throughout the course of the meet. We had some great performances and a number of school records. The biggest thing I'm proud of is that our guys stepped up and raced. The guys were faster at night and that's a big key to competing effectively.
"We broke a lot of records which should have been expected with these new technology suits," explained coach DeSelm. "It's a little confusing for any coach to evaluate the whole process but we'll gladly take it because it is a level playing field and records are made to be broken."
Sophomore Joe Kinderwater broke teammate Chip Peterson's team record in the 1650-yard freestyle in the evening's first event. Kinderwater finished fourth in the competitive field with a career best time of 14:46.93, an automatic NCAA qualifying time (his previous best was 14:53.57). He broke Peterson's record of 14:48.86 set in November 2008 at the Gamecock Invitational. Peterson finished sixth in the event with an NCAA "B" cut of 14:57.31. Freshman Wil Singley took seventh place in an NCAA "B" cut of 15:06.52, demolishing his previous career best time of 15:41.03. Junior Hank Browning grabbed 15th place in 15:26.97. Senior Yi-Khy Saw swam the final race of his career, placing 17th in the mile with a time of 15:30.51.
Sophomore
Tommy Wyher continued his record-setting weekend by breaking the UNC record in the men's 200-yard backstroke. Wyher finished third in the event with a time of 1:43.34. He posted the Tar Heel record time of 1:42.40 during prelims. Wyher's record was an NCAA "B" cut and broke the 2007 school record set by
Keith Laabs at 1:45.43.
"Tommy raced a very good 200 back against Andy Hodgson from Florida State," DeSelm said. "He had a fantastic evening and another school record."
Junior Jeff James finished 15th in the event with a time of 1:46.77. James swam a career best time of 1:45.63 in prelims, which puts him fourth all-time at UNC in the event.
Sophomore Josh Hafkin swam a career best time of 1:44.47 during prelims in the 200-yard backstroke. Hafkin's 1:44.47 is an NCAA "B" qualifying time and ranks him second all-time at UNC in the event behind only Wyher.
"Josh swam faster than the old school record and swam really well," said DeSelm. "He's coming off an injury from last spring and he's shown that he's very talented. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do when he's healthy next year."
Three Tar Heel freshman posted times below Carolina's 16-year-old record in the 100-yard freestyle. Steve Cebertowicz set the new standard of 43.98 to become the first Tar Heel to ever break the 44-second barrier. Cebertowicz finished ninth in the event and broke Daniel Summerlin's record of 44.26 set in 1993. Brad Hamilton and Evan Reed also swam faster than Summerlin's record, finishing 10th and 17th, respectively, in the exact same time of 44.16. The tie places both Hamilton and Reed in second place on Carolina's All-Time Top 10 depth chart.
"The three freshman in the 100 free - Cebertowicz, Hamilton and Reed - are going to get bigger and faster, and that's exciting," DeSelm said. "I thought we did very well in that event, and I'm really proud of those guys."
Exhibition swimmer freshman Brock Park also posted a career best time in the 100-yard freestyle by going 45.19 during prelims.
Sophomore Tyler Harris finished fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke with an NCAA "B" cut and a career best time of 1:56.45, just missing Sean Quinn's UNC record of 1:56.39 set in 2002. Harris dropped just under two seconds off his previous best time of 1:58.33 to move into second place all-time at UNC. Sophomore Vinny Pryor finished sixth in a career best and NCAA "B" cut time of 1:57.96 (previous best 1:58.74). Pryor's time moves him into third place all-time in the event. Sophomore Flynn Jones dropped more than three seconds during prelims the 200-yard breaststroke to swim a career best time of 2:02.07 (previous best 2:05.28).
"Vinny and Tyler both went faster tonight, and it's a tough field," DeSelm said. "The times are really fast. Tyler barely missed Sean Quinn's record and that shows just how good our school records are, especially the ones that are long-standing."
Junior Jason McLaughlin took second place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:44.46 after setting a UNC record and NCAA "B" cut of 1:44.37 during prelims (previous best 1:47.73). McLaughlin broke Josh Glasco's record of 1:44.60 that was set in 2004.
"Jason McLaughlin had an outstanding swim," DeSelm said. "He's coming off two shoulder surgeries and that shows how tough he is. We're glad we've got him on our side."
Sophomore Robert Grimmett-Norris continued his stellar weekend as an exhibition swimmer with a career best time of 1:47.26 during prelims (previous best 1:49.02). Grimmett-Norris' time moves him into seventh place all-time at Carolina in the event. Freshman Victor Leclere tied for 11th place in the 200-yard butterfly with a career best time of 1:47.80 (previous best 1:49.12). Sophomore Andy Brake placed 19th in a career best time of 1:48.71 (previous best 1:49.76).
Junior David Solarz wrapped up his superb diving by setting a school record in men's 10-meter platform diving. It was his third championships' finals appearance after finishing fifth in three-meter diving and seventh in one-meter diving and now taking fourth in platform diving. Solarz scored 338.25 points to break the school record of 306.00 points scored by Ryan Funderburk in 2008. Freshman David MacDonald placed 16th with 213.45 points.
Carolina's 400-yard freestyle relay finished fifth with a time of 2:55.53, breaking UNC's 18-year-old record in the event. The team of Reed (44.31), Cebertowicz (43.79), Hamilton (43.91), and James (43.52) broke the record set by John Davis (44.66), Tod Schroeder (44.38), Mark Sedlak (43.55) and David Monasterio (44.02) in 1991.
"We have a young team," DeSelm said. "A lot of the scoring points came from freshman and sophomores. That's exciting. We're going to work hard to improve and recruit higher caliber swimmers. Hats off to Virginia and Florida State. I'm proud of our guys and looking forward to NCAAs in a few weeks."
Virginia won its second straight ACC Championship with a team total of 832 points while Florida State took second with 640 points and UNC placed third with 504.5 points. Georgia Tech took fourth with 474.5 points, Virginia Tech fifth with 379 points, NC State sixth with 238 points, Duke seventh with 207 points, Maryland eighth with 203.5, Clemson ninth with 196.5, Boston College 10th with 74 points, and Miami 11th with 57 points.
