2019 ACC Men’s Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recaps

2019 ACC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 27th to Saturday, March 2nd | Prelims 10:00am | Finals 6:00pm
• Where: Greensboro Aquatics Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: NC State Wolfpack (results)
• Live Results: here
• Streaming: WatchESPN (subscription required)
• Psych Sheet
• Championship Central

And just like that, it’s the final day of the 2019 ACC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships. NC State has all but secured its 5th-straight team title, but there are still tight team battles for almost every other spot, so this morning’s swims could have a huge impact on how those team battles shape up.

The first event of the morning will be the 200 back, where defending champion Coleman Stewart will be looking for his 2nd title of the meet after winning the 100 back yesterday.

The 100 free will feature last year’s 2nd-4th place finishers — Justin Ress, Jacob Molacek, and Giovanni Izzo, all of NC State.

Two Louisville Cardinals also return to defend their titles in the 200 breast and the 200 fly — Evgenii Somov and Nick Albiero.

We’ll also have the heats of the 1650 this afternoon, and the 400 free relay tonight.

200 Back Prelims

• Meet Record – Grigory Tarasevich, Louisville, 1:39.05 – 2017
• ACC Record – Hennessey Stuart, NC State, 1:38.56 – 2016
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time – 1:41.01

Top Eight

1. Joe Clark (Virginia) – 1:40.96
2. Coleman Stewart (NC State) – 1:41.13
3. Mitchell Whyte (Louisville) – 1:41.22
4. Noah Hensley (NC State) – 1:41.30
5. Cooper Wozencraft (Virginia) – 1:41.76
6. Griffin Alainz (Florida State) – 1:41.85
7. Rodrigo Correia (Georgia Tech) – 1:41.89
8. Samuel Tornqvist (Virginia Tech) – 1:42.06

While all eyes might’ve been on NC State’s Coleman Stewart in lane 4 of the final heat, UVA’s Joe Clark used some outside smoke to put up the fastest time of the morning out of lane 8. The Cavalier junior was the only man to get under 1:41 (and our estimated NCAA invite time of 1:41.08) this morning, touching in 1:40.96. Stewart took 2nd in 1:41.13, and should still be considered the favorite to win tonight.

Each of those schools would get one more man into the A-final: Noah Henlsey for NC State, and Cooper Wozencraft of Virginia.

Louisville freshman Mitchell Whyte made his 2nd A-final of the week, putting up the 3rd-fastest time this morning with a 1:41.22.

Florida State and Virginia Tech, vying for 4th place right now, each got one A-finalist, as did Georgia Tech.

100 Free

• Meet Record – Ryan Held, NC State, 41.41 – 2018
• ACC Record – Ryan Held, NC State, 41.05 – 2018
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time – 42.63

Top Eight

1. Blaise Vera (Pitt) – 42.04
2. Justin Ress (NC State) – 42.25
3. Miles Williams (Duke) 42.41
4. Kanoa Kaleoaloha (Florida State) – 42.43
5. Emir Muratovic (Florida State) – 42.46
6. Jacob Molacek (NC State) – 42.56
7. Ryan Baker (Virginia) – 42.64
8. Nyls Korstanje (NC State) – 42.65

Blaise Vera was blazing this morning (sorry, but it had to be done). While swimming in lane 3 of the final heat, the Pitt sophomore knocked over a second off his seed time and the school record to pop a 42.04 and take the top seed heading into tonight’s finals. Vera, and the entire Pitt team, had been setting school records all season, but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing to get faster here at ACCs.

NC State won’t quite be able to repeat its 1st-4th sweep of this event last year, and will have to “settle” for only having three men in the A-final, with Justin Ress (42.24), Jacob Molacek (42.56), and Nyls Korsanje (42.65), taking the 2nd, 6th, and 8th seeds.

Florida State’s sprinters have been on point all week, and the Seminoles will have two in tonight’s A-final, thanks to Kanoa Kaleoaloha (42.43), who won the 100 fly last night, and Emir Muratovic (42.56).

Duke’s Miles Williams (42.41) earned his first A-final swim of the week after making consol finals in both the 50 free and the 200 free.

Virginia’s Ryan Baker won the penultimate heat with a 42.64, finishing ahead of both Will Pisani and Andrej Barna, who ended up 9th and 10th overall, respectively.

It’s worth noting that it took a 42.65 to make the A-final this morning, compared to a 42.77 at SECs last week.

200 Breast

• Meet Record – Brandon Fiala, Virginia Tech, 1:52.39 – 2017
• ACC Record – Brandon Fiala, Virginia Tech, 1:52.39 – 2017
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time – 1:54.28

Top Eight

1. Matthew Otto (Virginia) – 1:53.46
2. Joshua Bottelberghe (Notre Dame) – 1:54.54
3. Evgenii Somov (Louisville) – 1:54.90
4. Judd Howard (Duke) – 1:55.01
5. Keefer Barnum (Virginia) – 1:55.03
6. Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech) – 1:55.26
7. Casey Storch (Virginia) – 1:55.43
8. Daniel Graber (NC State) – 1:55.52

Virginia’s Matthew Otto put up the fastest time of the morning by over a second, winning the 4th heat in 1:53.46. The Cavaliers got a total of three men up, as Keefer Barnum (1:55.03) and Casey Storch (1:55.43) will join him in tonight’s A-final.

Defending champion Evengii Somov of Louisville will be back tonight, as well, taking the 3rd seed in 1:54.90, but right now, Virginia has a 6-2 advantage over Louisville in terms of A-finalists this morning, which may be enough for the Cavaliers to close the gap on the Cardinals in the race for 2nd place.

Notre Dame freshman Joshua Bottleberghe had a big swim, as he won a tight race in the final heat to put up the 2nd-fastest time of the morning with a 1:54.54, a 2.63s drop off of his seed time.

Also swimming in the A-final tonight will be Duke’s Judd Howard (1:55.01), this week’s 200 IM champion Caio Pumputis of Georgia Tech (1:55.26), and NC State’s Daniel Graber (1:55.52)

200 Fly

• Meet Record – Nick Albiero, Louisville, 1:41.08 – 2018
• ACC Record – Andreas Vazaois, NC State, 1:38.60 – 2018
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time – 1:42.37

Top Eight

1. Nick Albiero (Louisville) – 1:41.56
2. James Bretscher (NC State) – 1:41.69
3. Andreas Vazaois (NC State) – 1:41.74
4. Zach Fong (Virginia) – 1:41.79
5. Zach Harting (Louisville) – 1:42.00
6. Antani Ivonov (Virginia Tech) – 1:42.51
7. Ted Schubert (Virginia) – 1:43.23
8. Zach Brown (NC State) – 1:43.39

We had a couple tight heats here, but the final one was the closest and the most decisive. Four men came off the final wall nearly simultaneously, and it was defending champion Nick Albiero of Louisville who emerged victorious, putting up the fastest time of the morning with a 1:41.56. Right behind him was NC State’s James Bretscher (1:41.69), then Virginia’s Zach Fong (1:41.79) and Louisville’s Zach Harting (1:42.00).

NC State put a total of three men into the A-final. Andreas Vazaois won heat 4 in 1:41.74, and Zach Brown took 3rd in that same heat in 1:43.39, good for 8th overall. Finishing in between those two in that heat was the capless Antani Ivonov of Virginia Tech (1:42.51).

UVA got a 2nd A-finalist from Ted Schubert, who won the 5th heat in 1:43.23, the only swimmer from that heat to make the top eight.

If our math is correct, that gives Virginia 8 A-finalists today and Louisville 4, meaning that the battle for 2nd place could very well come down to the wire tonight. We’ll have our full up/mid/down report shortly.