2015 ACC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS – Day 1 Finals
- Dates: Wednesday, Feb. 25 – Saturday, Feb. 28; Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
- Location: Georgia Tech – Atlanta, GA
- Defending Champion: Virginia Tech (results)
- Live Results
- Live Video (ESPN 3)
- Psych Sheet
- Championship Central
- SwimSwam’s Fan Guide
Day 1 of the Men’s ACC Championships kicks off with the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. On paper, the Louisville Cardinals look to be the favorite to win both events, with NCAA “A” cuts in both relays. The fun part about relays at college championship meets, however, is that the psych sheet doesn’t need much. Relays are all about momentum and being the best in the moment.
Virginia Tech has a substantial lead with 247 points from diving, but with the ACC’s A, B, and C scoring finals, VT can definitely be reeled in. Diving will give the Hokies a bit of a cushion, but it will be up to NC State an Louisville to run them down in the pool. With 64 points available for a relay win, all of the teams will be putting it on the line to grab early points.
200 Medley Relay
- Defending Champion – NC State, 1:23.78
- NCAA “A” Standard – 1:25.63
- ACC Record – 1:23.78 – NC State, 2014
NC State wins the first event of the meet with the second fastest time in the country this year and an NCAA “A” cut time of 1:24.07. The team of Andreas Schiellerup, Derek Hren, Soeren Dahl, and David Williams combined to win the event, finishing about a second ahead of the field. Texas is the only other team that has been faster than them this year at 1:23.88. David Williams appears to back in form with an electric 18.55 anchor split, and Schiellerup led of with a 21.30 backstroke split.
Splits:
- Schiellerup – 21.30 Back
- Hren – 23.72 Breast
- Dahl – 20.50 Fly
- Williams – 18.55 Free
Four teams in the field reached the NCAA “A” standard time of 1:25.63. Duke finished second with the help of Peter Kropp‘s 22.94 breaststroke split at 1:25.03. Louisville finished third at 1:25.06 and North Carolina was fourth at 1:25.36.
800 Freestyle Relay
- Defending Champion – NC State, 6:15.58
- NCAA “A” Standard – 6:22.81
ACC Record – 6:15.02, Virginia, 2009
NC State claims their second victory of the meet with a new ACC record and the second fastest time in the country this year of 6:13.14! The team of Soeren Dahl, Simonas Bilis, Ryan Held, and David Williams combined to run away from the rest of the field, winning by close to 7 seconds ahead of Louisville in second place. Dahl should be locked in for NCAA’s with his lead off time of 1:34.02, which will tie as the seventh fastest time in the country this year. Bilis really stepped up for NC State, however, with a 1:32.05 split. Held added 1:33.63 split and Williams anchored in 1:33.43. They are second in the country to Florida, who was 6:12.85 last week at the SEC Championships.
Five teams finished under the NCAA A standard time of 6:22.81. Louisville touched in second with a time of 6:20.02, and moves up to sixth in the country for the year. Trevor Carroll led off for Louisville with the 6th fastest time in the country this year in the 200 freestyle of 1:33.99. That time will lock him into the NCAA Championships in March. Virginia Tech finsihed third at 6:21.48, Notre Dame was fourth at 6:21.51, and North Carolina was fifth at 6:22.7 for the final “A” cut of the session.
Scoring Update
NC State swam lights out despite being seeded lower in the psych sheet. Like I said earlier and in this post and the fan guide, they are one of the teams that hasn’t had as many opportunites to rest or put up big times this year. Relay seeds do not mean too much, it is all about who shows up. Today, NC State showed up. They earned 18 more points than anyone else in the field, despite sitting in 9th place overall with diving scores added in. Below is scoring with and without diving after day 1.
Diving + Day 1
- Virginia Tech – 351
- North Carolina – 296
- Virginia – 228
- Florida State – 213
- Notre Dame – 186
- Georgia Tech – 160
- Pitt – 157
- Louisville – 130
- NC State – 128
- Miami (Diving Only) – 105
- Duke – 102
- Boston College – 70
Day 1 (Swimming Only)
1. NC State – 128
2. Louisville – 110
3. Virginia Tech – 104
4. North Carolina – 102
4. Duke – 102
6. Notre Dame – 98
7. Florida State – 92
8. Georgia Tech – 88
9. Virginia – 84
10. Pitt – 68
11. Boston College – 64
I love this talk about NCSU being a sprint school. They had 3 in the top 7 in the MILE last year.
Yes, they are good in sprint…. They are good in a lot of things. The 50/500/200im today will show how powerful that team is.
NC State does not have any swimmers from Earth, they are all out of this world!!!
Huge for Duke….non Scholarship Programme, does it matter???
Peter Kropp 22.9!
NC State have any men from the US?
Swim-Machine – I think you ask this question on about every other article about the ACC, and you always get the same answer. “Yes.”
Held, Williams, Snyder, Linker, O’Donnell, Hren, Johnson, Deana, Cono, Newell. (this is just based on their ACC roster)
I would also count Coetzer as American because he grew up in Wilmington, NC and was not recruited by anyone in HS 51, 1:51 in BK). So, you need to do a little research before asking that question. What’s wrong with having foreigners? How many does Louisville have? Or Auburn? Or USC? or Arizona? or Queens?
My point is, every school has the option to recruit international student-athletes. If you choose not to recruit them (or aren’t able to get them), then too bad.
Kudos to Braden Holloway and the staff to put a great team together!
Agreed, props to Holloway!
Does NC State have any swimmers from the US?
Williams and Held are for sure…
Only 5 guys are foriegn asmall far as i know… bilis, dahl, schiellerup, ipsen, coetzer
Even though he is South African, he went to grade school, middle school, and high school in the U.S. I have a question, other then maybe Texas, what top D I swimming program doesn’t have internationals?
Texas has at least a few. Joseph Schooling is from Singapore for example, although he attended high school in the US.
They have also recruited some stud freestyle swimmers from Shelby, NC for next year who will replace the graduating foreign studs.
I don’t think any of the foreign swimmers are seniors.
NC State has about an “average” number of International student-athletes compared to other top NCAA teams. If you want to talk about a team with more than the average number of foreign student athletes, look no further than Louisville. Frankly, it is a great job in recruiting by these colleges as recruiting a foreign student takes twice the work.
It looks as though the wolfpack is letting people know they can do more than just sprint.
Surprisingly for those who’ve viewed them as just a sprint program, the 1650 projects as NCSU’s 2nd highest scoring event (and more points that any other team) (based on psych sheet – and yes I know actual swims may vary – sound like an SEC lawyer writing that disclaimer for a financial pro forma release). based on the psych sheet – they project at just one less point in the 1650 than in the 50 free. [and though based on today, David Williams certainly looks to improve on his 7th place 50 seed and his 20th place 100 seed).
im predicting that this year is the year we have the most sub 19 50 freestylers in the NCAA. Bills, Williams potentially, Tandy, Stubblefield, Powers? Gkolomeev and Dressel already, there will be way more to come.
Second that. NC State, WOW.
Duke with an A cut. Bravo, that program looking up.