Day 1 Men’s NCAAs – ACC Roundup: Sprinters Bilis and Kosic Lead with Record-Breaking Swims

Men’s NCAA DI Championships

Standings

11. NC State – 53.5
16. UNC – 18.5
18. Georgia Tech – 14
23. Louisville – 9
26. Virginia Tech – 2
29. Florida St – 1

Sprinters Are Bright Spot for ACC on Day One in Iowa

NC State junior Simonas Bilis and Georgia Tech senior Andrew Kosic were the top performers for the ACC on opening day of the men’s NCAA championships, with each one breaking his respective school’s record in the 50 free.

Bilis was the top performer, coming in at third with a time of 18.91. Not only did he lower his own NC State school record in the event, but he also broke the ACC conference record by .07. Bilis showed consistency in being able to get under 19 for the second time this season; he achieved his first sub-19 leading off the Wolfpack’s 200 free relay at the conference championship meet in February.

It marked a nice comeback for the junior, who was able to mask his disappointment after the NC State 200 free relay was disqualified in finals after posting the fastest time of the meet by 7/10. They were also DQd in the morning, but that decision was reversed and they were allowed to swim in finals.

Kosic also put up a record-breaking performance in the 50 free. In fact, he lowered his own Tech record twice on Thursday: once when he led off the Yellow Jackets’ 200 free relay in 19.11, then again in prelims of the 50 free when he went 19.10 to qualify sixth for finals. While his evening swim was a tick slower (19.18), Kosic moved up a place and finished fifth.

Quick Hits

  • Another Wolfpack record went down when Anton Ipsen swam to a 4:13.58 tenth-place finish in the 500 free. The freshman had been 4:13.87 when he won the ACC conference championship title last month. On Thursday morning he qualified 13th in 4:15.47 to make his first NCAA final, then came back and had an even better evening swim.
  • North Carolina freshman Henry Campbell was also a finalist in the 500 free; he qualified 16th in the morning session with 4:16.27. That lowered the school record he had set at last month’s ACC Championships by .40, and gave him a second swim by a margin of just .20. In finals, Campbell moved up to 13th, touching in 4:17.09.
  • Miami divers were another real bright spot for the ACC on Thursday. Senior Sam Dorman had strong showings in both prelims and finals and wound up second on the 1-meter board with 457.30 points. Freshman Briadam Herrera got his NCAA career off to a great start by placing seventh with a score of 397.85 points, earning his first All-America designation.
  • Two more NC State sprinters added points to the Wolfpack’s total when senior David Williams and freshman Ryan Held finished 11th and 14th in the consolation final with times if 19.37 and 19.54, respectively.
  • UNC saw a lot of success with their relays, both of which scored. The Tarheels’ 200 free relay (Sam Lewis 19.63, Nic Graesser 19.19, Ben Colley 19.61, and Logan Heck 19.66) placed 15th with 1:18.09, while their 400 medley relay (Graesser 46.65, Kurt Wohlrab 52.82, Lewis 45.32, and Colley 43.23) finished 14th with a school record-time of 3:08.02.
  • In the 200 free relay, the Louisville quartet of Thomas Dahlia (19.82), Trevor Carroll (19.18), Matthias Lindenbauer (19.37) and Rudy Edelen (19.50) combined for a 1:17.87 to tie for 12th place.
  • Sophomore Jack Nyquist became the first UNC diver since 1948 to earn All-America honors two seasons in a row when he placed 12th in 1-meter diving with 383.30 points.
  • After NC State’s huge disappointment in the 200 free relay, their 400 medley relay swam an ultra-conservative race and finished 8th in 3:11.63. Andreas Schiellerup (47.38), Derek Hren (53.31), John Newell (46.77), and Jason Deana (44.17) took no chances, guaranteeing 22 Wolfpack points with reaction times of between .40 and .47 per swimmer. Without belaboring the obvious for too long, the 40 points NC State would have earned with the meet’s fastest 200 free relay would have had them at fourth at the end of Day One, instead of their current 11th.
  • Virginia Tech’s 400 medley relay team (Collin Higgins 46.69, Brandon Fiala 53.24, Morgan Latimer 45.81, and Owen Burns 42.76) earned the H2Okies All-American honors with their 16th place finish in a time of 3:08.50.
  • Florida State freshman Tyler Roberge made his NCAA debut by placing 16th in 1-meter diving with a total score of 323.93.
  • Although he didn’t make finals, Notre Dame’s Zach Stephens set a school record in the 200 IM with 1:44.00 in prelims.

Photo Gallery

Photo from Louisville's Twitter feed

Photo from Louisville’s Twitter feed

_Bilis_ Simonas, Bilis, JR, NC State, Simonas Bilis_TBX_6493

Simonas Bilis, NC State (courtesy of Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com)

Andrew Kosic at the start of the 50 free final. Photo from Georgia Tech's Twitter feed.

Andrew Kosic at the start of the 50 free final. Photo from Georgia Tech’s Twitter feed.

200 Free Relay Final, NC State (courtesy of Tim Binning, theswimpictures.com)

200 Free Relay Final, NC State (courtesy of Tim Binning, theswimpictures.com)

 

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About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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