2022 ACC Championships: Ross Dant Leads NC State 1-2-3-4 Finish in 500 Free; Wolfpack Take Command

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Ross Dant -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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2022 ACC Championships: Ross Dant Leads NC State 1-2-3-4 Finish in 500 Free; Wolfpack Take Command

The University of Virginia men got off to a blistering start Wednesday night as they set an American record in the 200 freestyle relay, but NC State placed a close second place in that event before putting together some impressive efforts during the evening’s individual events. In the men’s 500 free, Ross Dant won the event and the Wolfpack swept the top four spots in the event, and later on, freshman David Curtiss took first in the 50 free. NC State won six straight ACC men’s titles from 2015 through 2020 before Louisville took a narrow triumph last season, but this year, the Wolfpack men have looked strong and deep so far in Atlanta. NC State currently leads by 145 points over the Cardinals.

2022 ACC Championships Links

Men’s Team Standings

  1. North Carolina State Universit  506.5   2. Louisville, University of       361.5
  3. Virginia, University of           336   4. VA Tech                           319
  5. Georgia Institute of Technolog    264   6. Florida State University          248
  7. North Carolina, University of,    236   8. Pittsburgh, University of         158
  9. Duke University                   135  10. Notre Dame, University of          84
 11. Boston College                     79  12. University of Miami (Florida)      57

Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay

Minutes after the University of Virginia women swam beat the American record in the 200 freestyle relay, their counterparts on the Cavaliers’ men’s squad matched that feat. The team of Matt Brownstead (18.87), Matt King (18.49), Connor Boyle (18.63) and Augustus Lamb (18.48) swam a time of 1:14.47, three hundredths faster than NC State’s American record of 1:14.50 set in 2018. That team included standout sprinters Ryan Held and Justin Ress as well as Coleman Stewart, now the short course world-record holder in the 100-meter backstroke.

The Virginia men fell just short of the NCAA and U.S. Open records in the event, the 1:14.08 set by Auburn’s Jakob Andkjaer, Gideon Louw, Kohlton Norys and Matt Targett during the high-tech suit era of 2009. Virginia’s time was actually behind the 1:14.36 that Cal swam to win last year’s NCAA title. Neither team was eligible to set the American record because non-U.S. swimmers competed on both squads.

In Wednesday’s race, the Cavalier men needed every bit of that margin to hold off an impressive performance from NC State. David Curtiss led off in 18.79, moving him into the all-time top-20 in the 50 free, and he was followed by Noah Henderson (18.46), Nyls Korstanje (18.54) and Kacper Stokowski (18.80) as NC State finished in 1:14.59. The times by Virginia and NC State were by far the two fastest relays so far this season in college swimming.

Meanwhile, the Louisville team of Abdelrahman Elaraby, Dalton Lowe, Nick Albiero and Michael Eastman placed third in 1:15.98.

Event 6  Men 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
         MEET: # 1:14.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          M Brownstead, M King, C Boyle, A Lamb
         CONF: % 1:14.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          M Brownstead, M King, C Boyle, A Lamb
         AMER: $ 1:14.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          M Brownstead, M King, C Boyle, A Lamb
         USOP: & 1:14.08  3/28/2009 Auburn, Auburn
                          J Andkjaer, G Louw, K Norys, M Targett
         NCAA: ! 1:14.08  3/28/2009 Auburn
                          J Andkjaer, G Louw, K Norys, M Targett
         Pool: ^ 1:14.88  3/24/2016 Texas, Texas
                          B Ringgold, J Schooling, J Conger, J Murray
                 1:17.07  A
                 1:17.80  B
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 UVA  'A'                      1:16.71    1:14.47#A       64  
     1) Brownstead, Matthew K SO      2) r:0.17 King, Matthew SO      
     3) r:0.17 Boyle, Connor FR       4) r:0.19 Lamb, Augustus JR     
    r:+0.61  18.87        37.36 (18.49)
          55.99 (18.63)     1:14.47 (18.48)
  2 NC State  'A'                 1:16.76    1:14.59^A       56  
     1) Curtiss, David A FR           2) r:0.18 Henderson, Noah JR    
     3) r:0.14 Korstanje, Nyls JR     4) r:0.02 Stokowski, Kacper JR  
    r:+0.61  18.79        37.25 (18.46)
          55.79 (18.54)     1:14.59 (18.80)
  3 Louisville  'A'               1:17.68    1:15.98 A       54  
     1) Elaraby, Abdelrahman S JR     2) r:0.06 Lowe, Dalton SO       
     3) r:0.27 Albiero, Nicolas 5Y    4) r:0.23 Eastman, Michael SR   
    r:+0.64  18.96        37.75 (18.79)
          57.05 (19.30)     1:15.98 (18.93)
  4 Virginia Tech  'A'            1:17.43    1:16.29 A       52  
     1) Ramadan, Youssef T SO         2) r:0.12 Coll Marti, Carles SO 
     3) r:0.23 Hallock, Thomas 5Y     4) r:0.20 Dominguez CalonLuis FR
    r:+0.59  18.80        37.62 (18.82)
          56.93 (19.31)     1:16.29 (19.36)
  5 Florida St.  'A'              1:16.96    1:16.40 A       50  
     1) Varjasi, Peter JR             2) r:-0.03 Herbet, Mason SO     
     3) r:0.07 Ksiazek, Jakub SR      4) r:0.11 McCusker, Max SR      
    r:+0.66  19.39        38.41 (19.02)
          57.66 (19.25)     1:16.40 (18.74)
  6 Notre Dame  'A'               1:18.75    1:16.98 A       48  
     1) Guiliano, Christopher R FR    2) r:0.23 Wilburn, Cason JR     
     3) r:0.08 Lukashev, Stephan SO   4) r:0.20 Bottelberghe, Jshua SR
    r:+0.62  19.17        38.22 (19.05)
          57.41 (19.19)     1:16.98 (19.57)
  7 Georgia Tech  'A'             1:18.65    1:17.59 B       46  
     1) Ferraro, Christian 5Y         2) r:0.18 Daniel, Austin 5Y     
     3) r:0.08 Alderson, Justin SO    4) r:0.18 Pumputis, Caio 5Y     
    r:+0.60  19.56        38.85 (19.29)
          58.21 (19.36)     1:17.59 (19.38)
  8 Duke  'A'                     1:19.58    1:17.86         44  
     1) Kredich, Coleman A JR         2) r:0.10 Gingrich, Charlie JR  
     3) r:0.05 Sanford, Bradley JR    4) r:0.04 McIntyre, Zachary SO  
    r:+0.59  19.97        39.10 (19.13)
          58.42 (19.32)     1:17.86 (19.44)

Men’s 500 Freestyle

North Carolina State entered only four swimmers in the men’s 500 free, but those swimmers were utterly dominant, finishing 1-2-3-4 to score a whopping 115 points for the Wolfpack. Fifth-year swimmer Eric Knowles opened up an early lead, but after that, it was junior Ross Dant who took over and pulled away to win by more than two seconds. Dant, who placed third in both the 400 and 800-meter freestyle at last year’s Olympic Trials, swam a time of 4:10.35, which would have been good enough for sixth place at NCAAs last year.

Meanwhile, sophomore James Plage placed second in 4:12.57, and Will Gallant was just behind in third in 4:12.99. Knowles ended up fourth in 4:13.60 to cap off the utterly dominant team effort.

Event 8  Men 500 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         MEET: # 4:10.00  2/26/2009 Matt McLean, Virginia
         CONF: % 4:09.13  1/26/2018 Anton Ipsen, NCSU-NC
         AMER: $ 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
         USOP: & 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
         NCAA: ! 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
         Pool: ^ 4:08.60  12/5/2008 Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
                 4:11.62  A
                 4:16.75  IV21 Invited NCAA 2021
                 4:23.34  B
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Dant, Ross M     JR NC State          4:12.03    4:10.35 A       32  
    r:+0.58  22.90        47.94 (25.04)
        1:13.32 (25.38)     1:38.74 (25.42)
        2:04.35 (25.61)     2:29.87 (25.52)
        2:55.09 (25.22)     3:20.29 (25.20)
        3:45.47 (25.18)     4:10.35 (24.88)
  2 Plage, James L   SO NC State          4:14.32    4:12.57 IV21    28  
    r:+0.69  23.61        48.87 (25.26)
        1:14.45 (25.58)     1:40.02 (25.57)
        2:05.71 (25.69)     2:31.35 (25.64)
        2:56.95 (25.60)     3:22.32 (25.37)
        3:47.72 (25.40)     4:12.57 (24.85)
  3 Gallant, John W  SO NC State          4:13.15    4:12.99 IV21    27  
    r:+0.66  23.24        48.34 (25.10)
        1:13.78 (25.44)     1:39.32 (25.54)
        2:04.94 (25.62)     2:30.73 (25.79)
        2:56.64 (25.91)     3:22.22 (25.58)
        3:47.95 (25.73)     4:12.99 (25.04)
  4 Knowles, Eric W  5Y NC State          4:15.48    4:13.60 IV21    26  
    r:+0.68  23.17        48.10 (24.93)
        1:13.33 (25.23)     1:38.66 (25.33)
        2:04.06 (25.40)     2:29.74 (25.68)
        2:55.61 (25.87)     3:21.81 (26.20)
        3:48.33 (26.52)     4:13.60 (25.27)
  5 Ivanov, Antani   SR Virginia Tech     4:15.02    4:14.08 IV21    25  
    r:+0.67  22.63        47.93 (25.30)
        1:13.77 (25.84)     1:39.55 (25.78)
        2:05.21 (25.66)     2:30.92 (25.71)
        2:56.71 (25.79)     3:22.75 (26.04)
        3:48.74 (25.99)     4:14.08 (25.34)
  6 Kilavuz, Mert    FR Georgia Tech      4:16.14    4:15.44 IV21    24  
    r:+0.61  23.26        48.40 (25.14)
        1:14.01 (25.61)     1:39.81 (25.80)
        2:05.86 (26.05)     2:31.88 (26.02)
        2:58.02 (26.14)     3:24.27 (26.25)
        3:50.34 (26.07)     4:15.44 (25.10)
  7 Wright, Jack C   JR UVA               4:15.65    4:15.58 IV21    23  
    r:+0.67  22.71        48.06 (25.35)
        1:13.92 (25.86)     1:39.84 (25.92)
        2:05.68 (25.84)     2:31.83 (26.15)
        2:58.03 (26.20)     3:24.57 (26.54)
        3:50.76 (26.19)     4:15.58 (24.82)
  8 Unlu, Baturalp   SO Georgia Tech      4:15.66    4:19.43 B       22  
    r:+0.63  23.38        48.78 (25.40)
        1:14.56 (25.78)     1:40.44 (25.88)
        2:06.44 (26.00)     2:32.65 (26.21)
        2:59.24 (26.59)     3:26.17 (26.93)
        3:53.02 (26.85)     4:19.43 (26.41)

Men’s 200 IM

Virginia Tech’s Carles Coll Marti placed 33rd in the 200 IM at last year’s NCAA Championships, and he had never broken 1:43 prior to swimming a 1:42.14 to claim the top seed in Wednesday morning’s prelims. But Coll Marti dropped the hammer in the final, and he now owns the top time in the nation. Coll Marti pulled away over the middle segment of the race, and he swam a time of 1:40.67, edging out Leon Marchand’s 1:40.80 from November for the top time in the nation so far this season. Coll Marti broke Andreas Vazaios’ meet record of 1:41.25 in the process.

Coll Marti won the event by more than two second. Louisville’s Daniel Sos took second in 1:42.74, and NC State’s Giovanni Izzo took third in 1:42.97. Georgia Tech got fourth-place points from Caio Pumputis (1:43.89), but NC State continued building a lead in the team race as Wolfpack swimmers Sam Hoover, Arsenio Bustos, Mikey Moore and Noah Bowers comprised the rest of the A-final.

Event 10  Men 200 Yard IM
=========================================================================
         MEET: # 1:41.25  2/28/2017 Andreas Vazaios, NCSU-NC
         CONF: % 1:39.35  3/24/2019 Andreas Vazaios, NCSU-NC
         AMER: $ 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         USOP: & 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         NCAA: ! 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Pool: ^ 1:40.04  3/24/2016 Will Licon, Texas-ST
                 1:41.34  A
                 1:44.15  IV21 Invited NCAA 2021
                 1:46.77  B
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Coll Marti, Car  SO Virginia Tech     1:42.14    1:40.67#A       32  
    r:+0.61  22.21        47.49 (25.28)
        1:16.20 (28.71)     1:40.67 (24.47)
  2 Sos, Daniel      SR Louisville        1:43.45    1:42.74 IV21    28  
    r:+0.65  22.88        48.23 (25.35)
        1:17.79 (29.56)     1:42.74 (24.95)
  3 Izzo, Giovanni   SR NC State          1:43.83    1:42.97 IV21    27  
    r:+0.61  21.41        46.76 (25.35)
        1:17.21 (30.45)     1:42.97 (25.76)
  4 Pumputis, Caio   5Y Georgia Tech      1:44.49    1:43.89 IV21    26  
    r:+0.64  22.05        48.08 (26.03)
        1:17.77 (29.69)     1:43.89 (26.12)
  5 Hoover, Samuel   FR NC State          1:43.37    1:44.13 IV21    25  
    r:+0.70  22.22        49.17 (26.95)
        1:19.62 (30.45)     1:44.13 (24.51)
  6 Bustos, Arsenio  FR NC State          1:43.41    1:44.14 IV21    24  
    r:+0.68  22.47        48.89 (26.42)
        1:19.10 (30.21)     1:44.14 (25.04)
  7 Moore, Michael   SO NC State          1:43.45    1:44.44 B       23  
    r:+0.58  22.86        48.59 (25.73)
        1:19.86 (31.27)     1:44.44 (24.58)
  8 Bowers, Noah L   JR NC State          1:44.07    1:44.55 B       22  
    r:+0.67  22.04        48.74 (26.70)
        1:19.64 (30.90)     1:44.55 (24.91)

Men’s 50 Freestyle

NC State freshman David Curtiss captured his first individual conference title as he edged out the field in the 50 free. He popped a time of 18.74, ranked third in the nation this season behind Jordan Crooks and Brooks Curry from the SEC Championships in Knoxville. Curtiss was in a tight race for most of the length of the 50 yards before he just pulled away at the finish.

Louisville’s Abdelrahman Elaraby claimed second in 18.83, four hundredths ahead of Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan (18.87). Virginia’s Matt Brownstead, who won the ACC title in the event last year, placed fourth in 19.01. Following the Virginia-NC State battle in the 200 free relay earlier in the night (which resulted in the nation’s two fastest times so far), it was no surprise to see NC State and Virginia each scoring big in the A-final, with three Wolfpack swimmers and three Cavalier swimmers in the race.

Men’s 1-Meter Diving

North Carolina’s Anton Down-Jenkins, who placed second in 3-meter diving Tuesday, won the 1-meter event comfortably with a 419.40 score. Georgia Tech’s Ruben Lechuga (371.20) and Pittsburgh’s Dylan Reed (367.80) rounded out the top three.

Event 13  Men 1 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
         MEET: # 499.95  2/25/2010 Nick McCrory, Duke
         CONF: % 499.95  2/25/2010 Nick McCrory, Duke
         Pool: ^ 475.80  2/26/2011 Nick McCrory, Duke
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                             === Finals ===                              
 
  1 Down-Jenkins, A  JR UNC                346.50     419.40         32  
  2 Lechuga, Ruben   JR Georgia Tech       344.90     371.20         28  
  3 Reed, Dylan D    JR Pittsburgh         307.25     367.80         27  
  4 Stephens, Che    FR Louisville         328.45     366.05         26  
  5 Flory, Max L     JR Miami              329.00     363.75         25  
  6 Creedon, Walker  SR UVA                316.60     326.90         24  
  7 Zawadzki, Noah   SR Virginia Tech      339.90     319.65         23  
  8 Cash, Cameron M  FR Pittsburgh         315.90     314.65         22
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