By Chandler Brandes, ACC Beat Writer
It will be another exciting weekend in Greensboro with the start of the 2016 Men’s ACC Championships tomorrow. NC State won in 2015, followed by Louisville and Virginia Tech.
5 Races to Watch:
1. 50 Free
If NC State is known for anything, it’s for producing top-level sprinters. Simonas Bilis won the event last year and holds the conference and meet record, and will look to defend his title. The Wolfpack placed four swimmers in the A final last year, and even with the graduation of David Williams, they still have four of the top ten seed times. FSU’s Jason McCormick and Duke’s James Peek will also be in the running, and Boston’s Dan Kelly has been looking strong.
2. 100 and 200 Back
All eyes will be on Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich and NC State’s Hennessey Staurt in both backstroke events. Tarasevich won the 100 in 2015, and Staurt won the 200, breaking the meet and conference record. The Cardinal is the top seed in both and has already achieved his NCAA A cut in the 100, and they both have earned their A cuts in the 200. Although the races are likely to come down between those two, NC State’s Andreas Schiellerup and Louisville’s Aaron Greene could be a dark horse.
3. 200 IM
2015 ACC Champion Brandon Fiala will aim to defend his title, but will have to hold off Louisville’s strong IM group. Nolan Tesone is the top seed in the event and will look to improve upon his fifth-place finish last year. Josh Quallen was also an A finalist in 2015, and Jonathan Zouca is yet another Cardinal top seed. Each swimmer will utilize their strengths as some fast times are sure to be posted in what will be a close race.
4. 800 Free Relay
All of the relays should be exciting, but the 800 free relay is particularly interesting. Last year, NC State dominated the event, winning by seven seconds over Louisville and setting a new meet and conference record. However, Louisville’s Trevor Carroll and Matthias Lindenbauer hold the top two times in the 200 free for the ACC, but the Cardinals and the Wolfpack combined currently hold ten of the 11 top times in the the conference in the event. Louisville is seeded four seconds ahead of the Wolfpack as they fight for the win on the first night of competition. The meet and conference record are sure to be broken as both teams look to approach the American record.
5. 100 Breast
After a disappointing disqualification in finals after setting a new meet record during prelims in 2015, Duke’s Peter Kropp will look for redemption in the men’s 100 breast on the third day of the meet. Kropp is currently ranked second in the conference and seeded first in the event, but will face tough competiton in Virginia’s Yannick Kaesser, who has already achieved his NCAA A cut. FSU’s Jason Coombs and Louisville’s Carlos Claverie will also be in the title hunt.
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Oh yeah Coombs won’t be in the 2IM discussion at all, what a joke
Pardon any misspellings. I’m trying to type on my phone. However, unless I am misreading the psych sheet Hennessey Stuart is number one in the 200 back coming into the meet and is the only one that has his A cut.