Virginia Tech Men Collect Two Final Victories

BLACKSBURG, Virginia, February 3. THE Virginia Tech men's swimming and diving team hosted their final meet of the season at the War Memorial Pool, Saturday. The Hokies won all but one of the 12 events to defeat Washington & Lee, 107-73, and the Virginia Military Institute, 121-77. Tech improved their record to 10-2, and will now await the 2007 ACC Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Hokies had three student-athletes break records during the meet. Freshman Mikey McDonald broke both the school and pool records on the 1- and 3-meter springboard events, while senior Gus Calado finished his final meet in the War Memorial Pool with a pool record in the 500-yard freestyle. Classmate Neil Savage also set a pool record in the 400-yard individual medley.

Tech came out strong, taking the top two finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Kevin Koehr, Zac Czaplicki, Jake Bova and Ian deToll combined for a time of 1:34.03, and top honors in the event. Ben Prue, James Aitken, Mike Lewis and Jared Stowers were only seconds behind, swimming to a second-place finish in 1:36.83.

Calado's first of two wins was in the 200-yard freestyle, stopping the clock at 1:39.52. Scott Beard followed in the next event with the first of his two wins in the 50-yard freestyle. He swam two laps of the pool in 20.49.

The Hokies swept at least the top three spots in the next three events. Savage started the sweep with his pool-record and winning time of 4:04.98 in the 400-yard individual medley. Ben Miller and Griffin Lutterbein touched the wall in 4:14.42 and 4:16.28, respectively, for second and third.

In the 100-yard butterfly, it was a top-4 sweep, with all four Hokies finishing within one second of each other. Jimmy McLaughlin led the way, with a time of 51.11. Bova swam the race in 51.14 for second, followed by Pete Cancila, who finished with a time of 51.62. Prue rounded out the quartet, stopping the clock at 51.81.

The 100-yard freestyle was up next and Ian deToll led the 1-2-3 with a final time of 45.81. Scott Harkins touched the wall in 47.33 for second, while Chip Hughes finished third after recording a time of 47.57.

Andrew Rogers was the top Hokie finisher in the 100-yard backstroke. His time of 52.79 earned him medalist honors in the event. Calado's second win, and pool record time, came in the 500-yard freestyle. He stopped the clock at 4:25.50 for the honor and an NCAA provisional time. Lutterbein was just behind Calado, touching the wall at 4:47.76 for second.

McDonald's school- and pool-record score on the 1-meter was recorded at 363.15. Chris Waldheim earned second with a score of 312 and Pat Graves finished third, recording 306.30 points. All three scores qualified for the 2007 NCAA Zone Championships. In the 3-meter, McDonald's records were set with a score of 414.83, qualifying him for the Zone championship meet. Chris Waldheim took second with a score of 335.93, also a Zones score. Pat Graves finished third, with a score of 284.48. Both of McDonald's scores broke records previously set by himself.

Beard led a second top-4 sweep for the Hokies in the final individual event. Recording a season-best time, Beard finished the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.05. deToll stopped the clock at 58.64 for second, while Harkins took third in 58.94. Czaplicki's time of 1:00.11 gave him the fourth-place spot.

In the final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, all four Hokie seniors combined for a second-place finish. Calado, Savage, Stephen Jensen and Andy Pelenberg each took a leg of the event and finished in 1:26.62 in their final dual-meet event. Tech's team of Hughes, John Riley, McLaughlin and Jared Stowers were just behind in third with a time of 1:28.28.

The men now have a two-week break before heading to Chapel Hill, N.C., Feb. 21-24, for the 2007 Men's Swimming and Diving ACC Championships.

FINAL TEAM SCORES
Virginia Tech 121, Virginia Military Institute 77
Washington & Lee 156, Virginia Military Institute 48
Virginia Tech 107, Washington & Lee 73

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