ACC Male Swimmer of the Week: Matt McLean (Virginia)
ACC Female Swimmer of the Week: Erika Hajnal (Virginia Tech)
Virginia Wins Big Rivalry Meet Against Virginia Tech, Princeton
The Virginia Cavaliers knocked off their in-state rivals Virginia Tech and the Princeton Tigers in the Virginia Invite, which was essentially a glorified, two-day tri-meet. The men’s final scores were Virginia 939.5, Virginia Tech 718, and Princeton 478.5. The final scores on the women’s side were even more dominant against two top-25 teams from NCAA’s last year: Virginia 968, Virginia Tech 619.5, and Princeton 567.5.
The Virginia Men were led, predictably, by their two stud seniors Matt McLean and Scot Robison, who combined for 6 total wins in 8 races, with the two losses being in the 100 and 200 where they overlapped events.
If, out of the two I had to choose a swimmer of the meet, it would be McLean. He took the longer three freestyle distances, including the nation’s number two time in the 500 (4:24.12) and top mile time (15:12.86). His runner-up mark of 45.04 in the 100 freestyle also showed that he’s got the potential to contribute to the Virginia relays beyond just the 800.
Robison’s best swim was the 100 fly, where his time of 48.58 is top-15 nationally. He also took victories in the 50 (20.44) and 100 (44.63) freestyles.
Virginia Tech’s best swim was a third place performance from sophomore Alex Lutterbein in the 400 IM. He just broke four minutes by touching in 3:59.40, his best time of the season and a top-20 time. Princeton’s Jon Christensen, brother of former Virginia superstar Mei Christensen, was runner-up in the 200 breaststroke in a top-20 time of 2:02.45.
In the women’s meet, Virginia’s Lauren Perdue put up two great, top 10 sprint times of 22.91 and 49.67. She also led Virginia to a great 200 free relay time of 1:32.18, which is second best in the country behind Arizona.
For the Virginia Tech women, Erika Hajnal was a double winner in taking both the mile and the 400 IM. In the mile, Virginia’s Anne Meyers held a solid lead through about the halfway mark of the race before fading badly to finish in third. At that point, Hajnal took the lead and slowly put distance between her and the rest of the field. At the final touch, her time was 16:35.67, which was 8.5 seconds better than the next closest competitor and fourth fastest in the world.
In the 400 IM, she took a commanding lead on a strong breaststroke leg and finished in 4:15.9, which is fifth fastest in the nation.
Full results available here from VirginiaSports.com.
Other ACC News:
Maryland’s junior Ginny Glover won the 200 free in 1:49.54 as the Terrapin women knocked of intrastate rivals UMBC and Towson…UMBC Swept their meet over Maryland and Towson, including a strong swim by Brad Reitz, who took the 200 fly in 1:50.94. The Maryland men also beat Towson to claim their first victory of the season…