2015 Men’s NCAAs ACC Roundup – Huge Day 3 Gives NC State Its Best Finish in 37 Years

Men’s NCAA DI Championships

Standings

8. NC State – 199.5
15. Louisville – 105.5
18. UNC – 52.5
20. Miami – 49
26. Florida St – 20
28. Georgia Tech – 19
31. Virginia Tech – 17
33. Notre Dame – 8

The Wolfpack’s Strength at Both Ends of Freestyle Distance Spectrum Leads to Top 8 Finish

North Carolina State nearly doubled its previous days’ point haul on the final day of competition in Iowa City, and finished in the top 8 for the first time since 1976.

First, freshman Anton Ipsen lowered his own school record by another 5 seconds, coming in fifth in the 1650 free with 14:43.16. Next, junior Simonas Bilis re-set his own school and ACC conference record by .16 in the 100 free with 41.78. Bilis took second in the event, while freshman Ryan Held racked up more points for the Wolfpack with his 14th-place finish.

Held also led off NC State’s 400 free relay, which came within .08 of claiming the NCAA title, just getting out-touched by USC, 2:47.06 to 2:47.14. Held led off in 42.45, and was followed by Bilis (41.11), Soren Dahl (42.03), and David Williams (41.55). The quartet broke the school record, as well as the conference record, with their effort.

The Wolfpack showed just how versatile they have become by scoring in two more events on Saturday. Freshman Hennessey Stuart picked up a seventh in the 200 back with 1:40.39, and junior Christian McCurdy earned a fourth-place finish in the 200 fly for the second year in a row, coming to the wall in 1:42.00.

Quick Hits

  • Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich tied for 11th in the 200 back with 1:40.96. The sophomore’s prelims swim of 1:40.66 broke the school record.
  • Senior Thomas Dahlia also scored an 11th for the Cardinals, this time in the 200 breast. Dahlia wrapped up his Louisville career with a program-best 1:52.68 in prelims.
  • Louisville’s 400 free relay earned All-American honors by finishing eighth in 2:51.26. The quartet consisted of Matthias Lindenbauer (43.50), Trevor Carroll (42.83), Dahlia (42.35), and Rudy Edelen (42.58).
  • Florida State senior Connor Knight won a very tight consolation final of the 200 fly with 1:42.57. Knight was out with a very fast first 50, and barely out-touched Cal’s Will Hamilton (1:42.69) and Michigan’s Evan White (1:42.76) for the win.
  • Virginia Tech sophomore Robert Owen went 1:41.40 to finish 14th in the 200 back (1:41.40). Teammate Morgan Latimer finished his H2Okie career with a 16th in the 200 fly (1:44.15).
  • UNC’s Ben Colley also scored in the 200 fly; his 1:43.53 was good enough for 14th place.
  • Georgia Tech senior Andrew Kosic earned his final All-American honor with a 12th in the 100 free in 42.66.
  • Notre Dame senior Zach Stephens scored for the Irish at 16th in the 200 breast (1:54.69).

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Porkchop
8 years ago

With regards to UVA I don’t know how many times this needs to be said but the biggest difference between the men’s and women’s is that 8-9 guys have transferred or quit the men’s team and almost all were ncaa qualifiers. None have left the women’s team I believe.

The men’s swimmers who are there have all improved I believe

Now, the question still needs to be asked though, why have so many men left and not women

Wahoo
8 years ago

Virginia was lucky to get any swimming points at all. They got a total of one point from Kaiser. One….sad.

samuel huntington
8 years ago

Virginia not even mentioned – the program has definitely hit rock bottom

liswimfan
Reply to  samuel huntington
8 years ago

It is very possible that they have hit rock bottom. The coaching change there must have brought in an entirely different culture than the regime that just left. I have no inside knowledge of this but it just seems that way with swimmers leaving the team or transferring. It looks like the coaching staff there wants to get it done with “their guys” and is willing to take this tumble down the rankings for a while in order to do so. There is another article just today from Durden at Cal talking about culture of his team. If the staff there wants to establish their own culture and have to loose some to make it work, so be it. UVA… Read more »

dmswim
Reply to  samuel huntington
8 years ago

It’s odd that Virginia’s women had their best season ever and their men had one of their worst. I wonder why the women are responding to the culture change better.

Porkchop2244
8 years ago

In 4 short years: NC State>>>>>>UNC. The programs are not even in the same tier anymore.

No better example of the importance of coaching in this sport.

2 schools, 2 new coaches. 1 with better facility/ resources. The coach without the facility and resources does what the other has yet to do in half the time.

Hats off to NC State and the staff. One wishes athletic departments would see this example and understand the importance of coaching at this level

8 years ago

Left out is McCurdy’s event: 200 Fly.

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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