Classic at SMU, Day One

DALLAS, TEXAS, January 14. THE ninth-ranked University of North Carolina men's swimming and diving team, paced by individual victories by the 400-yard medley relay team, Tyler Harris and David MacDonald, stands third after the opening day of the 2010 Classic at SMU swimming and diving competition at historic Perkins Natatorium.

The Tar Heels are in third place after the opening day with 144 points, trailing only 13th-ranked Michigan with 164 points and seventh-ranked USC with 148. Behind UNC the rest of the field includes No. 5 Florida with 138 points, No. 21 Purdue with 123 points and host SMU with 120.

"It's great coming back to the Dallas Classic. We were here two years ago and had a tremendous experience," said Tar Heel head coach Rich DeSelm. "We got off to a tremendous start by winning the 400-yard medley relay from lane one. We had four great swims with Tommy Wyher, Colin Bridier, Tom Luchsinger and Steve Cebertowicz getting the job done."

Wyher led off the winning 400 medley relay in 48.20 seconds and was joined by Bridier, Luchsinger andCebertowicz in winning the relay in a time of 3:15.16. The Tar Heel relay touched 1.43 seconds ahead of second place Michigan. Senior Tyler Harris won the 400 IM in 3:46.54, beating Kyle Whitaker of Michigan by 1.08seconds. That was a season best time for Harris. In the consolation heat of the event, Tom Luchsinger went his season best time at 3:53.16 and just missed touching first in the heat as Michigan's Jared Miller won it in a time of 3:53.01. Carolina's Evan Reed took third place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:38.56 while Steve Cebertowicz placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle at 20.64 seconds.

"Tyler Harris stepped up and won the 400 individual medley and went two seconds faster than he was two years ago when we were here. It was a very convincing win for Tyler," said DeSelm. "Tom Luchsinger came right out of the water from the medley relay and was barely touched out in the consolation heat."

The Tar Heels regainedmomentum as David MacDonald rallied to win one-meter diving with a score of325.57 points. He edged USC's Steven Starks who placed second with a total of 324.07 points.

"Plaudits go to David MacDonald who took top honors in one-meter diving. David nailed his last two dives and pulled out the win. That was a real spark to our team at the midway point of the meet," said DeSelm.

Senior Tommy Wyher swam in successive events as he placed second in the 100-yard butterfly in 48.40 seconds followed by a sixth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. UNC's Colin Bridier were fifth and eight, respectively, in the 100-yard breaststroke. UNC finished off the evening with a fourth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay as Evan Reed, Tyler Harris, Tom Luchsinger and Brock Park finished in 6:38.10.

"We continued to compete hard in the second half of the evening. Tommy Wyher pulled a really tough double going the 100 fly and 100 back in back-to-back events. We were pleased with toughness. We were also solid in the breaststroke event and then did a really good job in the 800 freestyle relay. Tom Luchsinger's swim on the third leg was really solid after Evan Reed and Tyler Harris got us off to agreat start on the first two legs," DeSelm concluded.

The Classic at SMU will conclude with nine more events on the Saturday evening docket beginning at 8:30 p.m. EST.

"The nice thing about the evening is we were out in front in a lot of races and we're sitting in a good place in the team standings," DeSelm said. "It was a good night overall and we're looking forward to tomorrow."

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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