Feb. 26, 2014
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia Tech’s 800 free relay set a school record and established an NCAA “A” cut with an impressive fourth-place finish as the 2014 ACC Men’s Swimming Championship commenced Wednesday night in Greensboro, N.C.
The Yellow Jackets’ 800 free relay of junior Andrew Kosic, sophomore Mats Westergren, freshman Declan Poorman and junior Nico van Duijn put down a time of 6:23.68 as van Duijn edged Virginia’s relay at the wall for a fourth-place finish.
“Very excited for our guys tonight,” said head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “We got a record out of the way and got an A-cut out of the way, which was fantastic. We’re looking forward to the rest of the week. The guys are excited, they’re fired up and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do.”
The time was good for Tech’s first NCAA “A” cut this season, and broke the Jackets’ five-year-old school record in the event. The previous mark of 6:25.30 was set at the 2009 ACC Championship by Noah Copeland, Travis Wagner, Matt Tang and Gal Nevo.
Tech’s fourth-place finish Wednesday night was the program’s best finish in the 800 free relay since that 2009 relay team claimed the bronze medal.
The night’s first event, the 200 medley relay, saw the Yellow Jackets finish ninth place. The relay of freshman Taylor Wilson, junior Mark Sarman, junior Andrew Chetcuti and senior Jacob Johnson put down a time of 1:28.24.
With 92 points, Georgia Tech sits seventh after the opening night of the men’s championship. NC State, which won both relays Wednesday night, leads the meet with 128 points, followed by Virginia Tech (110), Notre Dame (104), Florida State (102) and Virginia (102) in the top five.
The championship continues Thursday with the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free preliminaries at 11 a.m. Finals in those events, along with the 200 free relay, will begin at 7 p.m.
Live coverage of the finals on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday can be seen theACC.com at 7 p.m.
