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CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech men’s swimming team closed the 2012 ACC Men’s Swimming Championships with the highest program finish Saturday evening at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The H2Okies brought in 594.5 points to place second overall, as Virginia were named the 2012 ACC Champions.
“Moving from fourth to second is very gratifying,” commented head coach Ned Skinner. “Especially in light of the complete team effort, whether it was from diving, our sprinters, our distance or our strokers. The senior leadership has been outstanding this year and the staff has been magnificent, so I am just really proud of our team. Of course you want to win titles but I am really proud of what we have done and where we are headed.”
Virginia took first place with a total of 626.5 points, while the H2Okies placed second with 594.5. North Carolina placed third with 564 points, followed by Florida State with 542 points. NC State finished fifth with a total of 334.5 points, while Georgia Tech is sixth with 190.5. Rounding out the pack is Duke (271.5), Clemson (252.5), Maryland (207.5), Boston College (78) and Miami (27).
In addition to the 109 points that the H2Okies gathered from men’s diving competition a week ago, the 200 butterfly competition helped Tech secure second place as five H2Okies brought in at least nine points. Gregory Mahon brought in the most points for Tech as he was the top finisher, coming in third place with a ‘B’ standard time of 1:45.21, which was good for 16 points.
Following Mahon in the 200 butterfly was Nick Tremols, as he touched the wall .07 seconds after to place fourth, gathering 15 points. Karl Botha added 12 points placing seventh, while Blake Trabuchi-Downey came in eighth good for 11 points. Rounding out the pack was Matt Baumler, touching the wall ninth to bring in nine points for the H2Okies.
Freshman Jake Ores took fifth in the 1650 freestyle as he swam a ‘B’ standard time of 15:23.54 to bring in 14 points for Tech. Trabuchi-Downey followed Ores in sixth place with a ‘B’ standard time of 15:25.02, which was good for 13 points.
Senior Charlie Higgins brought the most points (11) in for the H2Okies in the 200 backstroke as he placed eighth with a time 1:46.93. Zach McGinnis took ninth and added nine points to the Tech total, while Collin Higgins followed in 13th place to add four points.
Swimming in the consolation heat of the 200 breaststroke, Emmett Dignan placed ninth overall with a time of 2:00.29 to bring in nine points, while Nathan Hoisington contributed five points as he touched the wall 12th with a time of 2:00.96.
Closing out the night was the 400 freestyle relay, as the team of Mahon, Greg Morgan, Dignan and McGinnis placed sixth with a time of 2:59.25. All four swimmers raced in a previous event before the relay.
Charlie Higgins was the top qualifier for the H2Okies in the preliminaries of the 200 backstroke. The senior touched the wall at the 1:44.05 mark to place fifth overall. McGinnis, Michael Hallock and Collin Higgins all advanced to the consolation heat. McGinnis placed 12th overall with a time of 1:45.88, while Hallock and Higgins took 15th and 16th, respectively.
In Tech’s weakest event of the day, the 100 freestyle, Morgan was the only H2Okie to compete as he advanced to the bonus round with a time of 44.71 to take 20th place overall.
In the 200 backstroke, Hoisington was the top qualifier for Tech as he swam a 2:01.71 time to place 12th overall and advance to the consolation heat. Dignan joins Hoisington in the consolation, as he placed 15th overall touching the wall at the 2:02.14 mark. Nevin Cook swam a time of 2:03.76 to come in 21st and advance to the bonus heat.
In the final event of the morning, Tech’s strongest race of the day, the 200 butterfly, Mahon was the highest finisher of today’s prelims as he came in at the 1:45.50 mark to place third overall and qualify for a ‘B’ standard time.
Joining Mahon in the championship heat of the 200 butterfly is Tremols, Botha and Trabuchi-Downey. Tremols placed right behind Mahon as he came in fourth with a ‘B’ standard time of 1:45.53. Placing fifth was Botha as he swam a ‘B’ standard time of 1:46.20, while Trabuchi-Downey touched the wall eighth with a ‘B’ cut time of 1:46.87.
Baumler placed 12th overall in the 200 butterfly to advance to the consolation round, swimming a ‘B’ standard time of 1:47.69 to close out the morning.
For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).
