Tweet

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The H₂Okies completed the final day of the four-day ACC championship meet on Saturday, concluding competition with a fourth-place finish, marking one spot better than their finish in 2009. The men posted season-best times in nearly every event.

Blake Trabuchi-Downey paced Tech with a ninth-place finish in the opening mile freestyle, posting a season-best, NCAA “B” qualifying time of 15:24.35. Philip LaRosa took 13^th, while Bryan Uncur also added a top-20 finish in the 1650 free.

Tom Sheranek was then fabulous in the 200 backstroke, taking fourth in 1:45.01, a four second personal best for the freshman, after posting a top-10 finish in the 400 IM on Friday. Charlie Higgins followed with a ninth postition in 1:45.70. Both Sheranek and Higgins earned “B” qualifying times. Ryne Francis also added a 14^th-place finish in the event.

Jonathan Huss led the H₂Okies in the 100 breaststroke with an 11^th-place finish in 2:00.66, just one second off of his school record time. Gregory Morgan and Richard Ulatowski competed in the 100 freestyle, posting respective 16^th- and 20^th-place finishes of 45.64 and 45.32.

The H₂Okies saved much of their endurance for the 200 butterfly event, placing four finishers in the top 10 spots. Gregory Mahon, who had a stellar championship meet, took fourth with a “B” time of 1:45.32. Trabuchi-Downey earned a preliminary qualifying “B” time and a seventh-place finish, while Ryne Stewart and Matt Baumler took ninth and 10^th, respectively, as Stewart reached the NCAA “B” cut.

In the final relay event of the championships, the 400 free relay, Tech raced to a sixth-place finish in 2:59.09, a “B” qualifying cut. They recorded season-best times in each relay event they competed in at championships.

The H₂Okies finished the championships in fourth place with 417.5 points, bettering their finish from a year ago, when they took fifth. Virginia was crowned the champions with 806 total points, while North Carolina and Florida State rounded out the top-three.

Next up, the Tech divers will compete in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships on March 12-14 in New Brunswick, N.J.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).