The NC State Wolfpack men have won five of the six swimming finals contested so far at the men’s ACC championships and lead the overall team race. That run of success should extend into Friday night’s finals after three Wolfpack swimmers posted the top seeds in prelims for their respective events, with Coleman Stewart leading the way with the nation’s top time in the 100 back.
NC State’s Ryan Held already the ACC champion in the 50 free, posted a time of 45.28 for the top seed in the 100 fly heats. He holds the conference and meet record at 44.79 from last season. Stewart, in his first of two races on the morning, placed just two hundredths back in 45.30, and those times rank fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively, behind Joseph Schooling, Jan Switkowski and Matthew Josa.
Louisville’s Nicolas Albiero took third in 45.89, and NC State’s James Bretscher also got under 46 with a time of 45.93.
Virginia’s Bryce Keblish took fifth in 46.02, followed by Louisville’s Zach Harting (46.08), Virginia’s Zach Fong (46.16) and NC State’s Giovanni Izzo (46.26).
Event 9 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
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Conference: % 44.79 3/1/2017 Ryan Held, NCSU-NC
ACC Meet: & 44.79 3/1/2017 Ryan Held, NCSU-NC
American: @ 43.58 3/24/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
NCAA: $ 43.58 3/24/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
U. S. Open: * 43.58 3/24/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Pool Record: ^ 44.99 12/5/2014 Giles Smith, PSC-AZ
45.49 A
46.10 IV17 Invited to 2017 NCAA
48.29 B
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Held, Ryan SR NC State 45.92 45.28 qA
r:+0.64 20.77 45.28 (24.51)
2 Stewart, Colema SO NC State 46.81 45.30 qA
r:+0.69 20.94 45.30 (24.36)
3 Albiero, Nicola FR Louisville 47.19 45.89 qIV17
r:+0.66 21.48 45.89 (24.41)
4 Bretscher, Jame JR NC State 47.65 45.93 qIV17
r:+0.63 21.45 45.93 (24.48)
5 Keblish, Bryce JR Virginia 47.13 46.02 qIV17
r:+0.67 21.15 46.02 (24.87)
6 Harting, Zach JR Louisville 47.28 46.08 qIV17
r:+0.67 21.51 46.08 (24.57)
7 Fong, Zach JR Virginia 46.98 46.16 qB
r:+0.62 21.59 46.16 (24.57)
8 Izzo, Giovanni FR NC State 47.82 46.26 qB
r:+0.65 21.41 46.26 (24.85)
Virginia will look to break up the NC State dominance in the 400 IM, where Brendan Casey took the top spot in prelims with his time of 3:43.22. But he will have to deal with NC State’s Anton Ipsen, already the 500 free winner, who qualified second in 3:44.26.
Another Cavalier, freshman Robby Giller, took third in 3:45.29, followed by UNC’s Henry Campbell (3:45.48) and Louisville’s Etay Gurevich (3:45.91). NC State’s Eric Knowles finished sixth in 3:46.29, ahead of two more Louisville Cardinals, Jarrett Jones (3:46.34) and Daniel Sos (3:47.91).
Event 10 Men 400 Yard IM
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Conference: % 3:38.00 3/27/2009 Gal Nevo, Georgia Tech
ACC Meet: & 3:38.43 3/1/2017 Robert Owen, VT-VA
American: @ 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
NCAA: $ 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
U. S. Open: * 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
Pool Record: ^ 3:41.08 2/26/2016 Robert Owen, VT-VA
3:39.95 A
3:44.92 IV17 Invited to 2017 NCAA
3:54.49 B
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Casey, Brendan JR Virginia 3:46.86 3:43.22 qIV17
r:+0.68 23.45 50.22 (26.77)
1:17.38 (27.16) 1:44.42 (27.04)
2:17.35 (32.93) 2:51.18 (33.83)
3:17.67 (26.49) 3:43.22 (25.55)
2 Ipsen, Anton Oe SR NC State 3:44.28 3:44.26 qIV17
r:+0.70 24.44 52.21 (27.77)
1:20.86 (28.65) 1:48.42 (27.56)
2:20.07 (31.65) 2:51.83 (31.76)
3:18.56 (26.73) 3:44.26 (25.70)
3 Giller, Robby FR Virginia 3:48.33 3:45.29 qB
r:+0.70 24.51 52.08 (27.57)
1:20.13 (28.05) 1:47.52 (27.39)
2:20.04 (32.52) 2:52.51 (32.47)
3:19.38 (26.87) 3:45.29 (25.91)
4 Campbell, Henry SR UNC 3:53.78 3:45.48 qB
r:+0.65 24.38 51.89 (27.51)
1:20.73 (28.84) 1:49.14 (28.41)
2:20.99 (31.85) 2:53.06 (32.07)
3:19.78 (26.72) 3:45.48 (25.70)
5 Gurevich, Etay SO Louisville 3:45.56 3:45.91 qB
r:+0.71 23.35 50.84 (27.49)
1:19.73 (28.89) 1:48.15 (28.42)
2:19.22 (31.07) 2:51.18 (31.96)
3:19.23 (28.05) 3:45.91 (26.68)
6 Knowles, Eric FR NC State 3:52.03 3:46.29 qB
r:+0.73 24.30 52.28 (27.98)
1:21.62 (29.34) 1:49.82 (28.20)
2:21.83 (32.01) 2:54.83 (33.00)
3:21.16 (26.33) 3:46.29 (25.13)
7 Jones, Jarrett SO Louisville 3:49.96 3:46.34 qB
r:+0.77 24.01 51.53 (27.52)
1:20.74 (29.21) 1:49.60 (28.86)
2:21.30 (31.70) 2:53.60 (32.30)
3:20.30 (26.70) 3:46.34 (26.04)
8 Sos, Daniel FR Louisville 3:48.31 3:47.91 qB
r:+0.69 23.69 51.19 (27.50)
1:19.74 (28.55) 1:48.45 (28.71)
2:21.72 (33.27) 2:54.25 (32.53)
3:21.25 (27.00) 3:47.91 (26.66)
NC State again claimed the top two seeds in the 200 free, with Justin Ress topping the field in 1:33.41 and Andreas Vazaios finishing almost one second back in 1:34.25. It was slightly surprising to see both in this event, as Ress is a strong backstroker and Vazaios a strong butterflyer, but the Wolfpack already had strong swimmers entered in those events.
Virginia’s Luke Georgiadis took third in 1:34.45, and Florida State’s Felipe Ribeiro de Souza (1:34.65) and Louisville’s Andrej Barna (1:34.92) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The remainder of the final will include Louisville’s Sam Steele (1:35.02) and Virginia Tech teammates Norbert Szabo (1:35.20) and Lane Stone (1:35.48).
Event 11 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
Conference: % 1:31.37 3/23/2017 Soren Dahl, NC State
ACC Meet: & 1:32.45 2/26/2010 Scot Robison, Virginia -VA
American: @ 1:30.46 3/25/2016 Townley Haas, Texas
NCAA: $ 1:30.46 3/25/2016 Townley Haas, Texas
U. S. Open: * 1:30.46 3/25/2016 Townley Haas, Texas
Pool Record: ^ 1:32.46 2/26/2016 Simonas Bilis, NCSU-NC
1:32.54 A
1:34.20 IV17 Invited to 2017 NCAA
1:37.99 B
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Ress, Justin JR NC State 1:33.92 1:33.41 qIV17
r:+0.67 21.48 45.27 (23.79)
1:09.37 (24.10) 1:33.41 (24.04)
2 Vazaios, Andrea JR NC State 1:36.32 1:34.25 qB
r:+0.73 22.30 46.20 (23.90)
1:10.07 (23.87) 1:34.25 (24.18)
3 Georgiadis, Luk SR Virginia 1:39.65 1:34.45 qB
r:+0.65 22.16 45.97 (23.81)
1:09.78 (23.81) 1:34.45 (24.67)
4 Ribeiro de Souz SO Florida St 1:36.39 1:34.65 qB
r:+0.68 22.36 46.19 (23.83)
1:10.14 (23.95) 1:34.65 (24.51)
5 Barna, Andrej SO Louisville 1:35.72 1:34.92 qB
r:+0.63 21.59 45.82 (24.23)
1:10.04 (24.22) 1:34.92 (24.88)
6 Steele, Sam SO Louisville 1:35.93 1:35.02 qB
r:+0.63 22.57 46.67 (24.10)
1:10.92 (24.25) 1:35.02 (24.10)
7 Szabo, Norbert JR VT 1:36.16 1:35.20 qB
r:+0.66 21.95 45.96 (24.01)
1:10.41 (24.45) 1:35.20 (24.79)
8 Stone, Lane FR VT 1:37.13 1:35.48 qB
r:+0.73 22.76 46.65 (23.89)
1:10.85 (24.20) 1:35.48 (24.63)
North Carolina’s Michael McBryan posted the top-ranked time in the 100 breast prelims, coming in at 52.56. That’s four hundredths quicker than Virginia’s Keefer Barnum, who touched in 52.60.
Louisville teammates Carlos Claverie and Evgenii Somov tied for third at 52.69, and Duke’s Judd Howard also got under 53, putting up a time of 52.95.
McBryan’s Tar Heel teammate Valdas Abaliksta took sixth in 53.12, while Georgia Tech’s Moises Loschi and Notre Dame’s Steven Shek tied for seventh at 53.30.
Event 12 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
==================================================================
Conference: % 51.30 3/24/2017 Brandon Fiala, Virginia Tech
ACC Meet: & 51.46 3/1/2017 Peter Kropp, Duke-NC
American: @ 50.03 2/17/2018 Caleb Dressel, Florida
NCAA: $ 50.03 2/17/2018 Caleb Dressel, Florida
U. S. Open: * 50.03 2/17/2018 Caleb Dressel, Arizona
Pool Record: ^ 51.86 2/26/2016 Brandon Fiala, VT-VA
51.74 A
52.62 IV17 Invited to 2017 NCAA
55.39 B
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 McBryan, Michae SR UNC 55.06 52.56 qIV17
r:+0.68 24.73 52.56 (27.83)
2 Barnum, Keefer FR Virginia 54.32 52.60 qIV17
r:+0.67 24.61 52.60 (27.99)
3 Claverie, Carlo SR Louisville 52.83 52.69 qB
r:+0.73 24.81 52.69 (27.88)
3 Somov, Evgenii FR Louisville 54.25 52.69 qB
r:+0.80 24.80 52.69 (27.89)
5 Howard, Judd JR Duke 53.95 52.95 qB
r:+0.71 25.02 52.95 (27.93)
6 Abaliksta, Vald FR UNC 53.29 53.12 qB
r:+0.79 24.99 53.12 (28.13)
7 Loschi, Moises SR GT 53.10 53.30 qB
r:+5.03 25.05 53.30 (28.25)
7 Shek, Steven JR ND 54.26 53.30 qB
r:+0.61 24.72 53.30 (28.58)
Finally, Stewart rounded out the morning with an impressive time of 44.80 in the 100 back for NC State. That smashed Grigory Tarasevich’s previous ACC record of 45.13 and moved Stewart past Grand Canyon’s Mark Nikolaev as the top-ranked swimmer in the country this season.
Stewart was not the only swimmer to double up in the 100 fly and 100 back finals. Albiero took second in the 100 back for Louisville at 45.89, while Stewart’s teammate Bretscher also advanced to the top eight in his second event of the morning, recording a time of 46.49 for eight place in the backstroke.
Two more Wolfpack swimmers qualified for the evening swim, third-place finisher Hennessy Stuart (46.07) and sixth-place man Noah Hensley (46.41). Virginia’s Joe Clark took fourth in 46.22, while UNC’s Alvin Jiang (46.33) and Notre Dame’s Rob Whitacre (46.46) took fifth and seventh, respectively.
Event 13 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
==================================================================
Conference: % 44.80 2/23/2018 Coleman Stewart, NC State-NC
ACC Meet: & 44.80 2/23/2018 Coleman Stewart, NC State-NC
American: @ 43.49 3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
NCAA: $ 43.49 3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
U. S. Open: * 43.49 3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
Pool Record: ^ 44.80 2/23/2018 Coleman Stewart, NC State-NC
45.25 A
46.28 IV17 Invited to 2017 NCAA
48.49 B
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Stewart, Colema SO NC State 46.28 44.80%qA
r:+0.60 21.56 44.80 (23.24)
2 Albiero, Nicola FR Louisville 47.36 45.89 qIV17
r:+0.53 22.37 45.89 (23.52)
3 Stuart, Henness SR NC State 46.44 46.07 qIV17
r:+0.49 22.37 46.07 (23.70)
4 Clark, Joe SO Virginia 46.00 46.22 qIV17
r:+0.60 22.17 46.22 (24.05)
5 Jiang, Alvin FR UNC 46.83 46.33 qB
r:+0.61 22.37 46.33 (23.96)
6 Hensley, Noah JR NC State 48.57 46.41 qB
r:+0.55 22.10 46.41 (24.31)
7 Whitacre, Rober SR ND 46.94 46.46 qB
r:+0.56 22.55 46.46 (23.91)
8 Bretscher, Jame JR NC State 47.54 46.49 qB
r:+0.54 22.95 46.49 (23.54)
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