Feb. 27, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Behind an ACC record by Gal Nevo in the 400-IM (3:39.33) and a first-place finish by Mickey Malul in the 100-breat (52.86), the Georgia Tech men’s swimming team is in third-place after the third night of the ACC Championships at the University of Maryland.
The Yellow Jackets currently have 346.5 points trailing only Virginia (561) and Florida State (422).
Nevo and Malul each automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships with their times that were both school records as well. Nevo’s time was about a second off the NCAA record for the 400-IM. Travis Wagner (47.22) set a Tech record in the 100-fly, while Ilia Ayzenshtok (47.57) broke the Tech record for the 100-back. The 400-medley relay team of Ayzenshtok, Malul, Wagner and Noah Copeland also broke a school record as they finished fourth in a time of 3:11.88.
The 400 IM began with another ACC record as Gal Nevo broke the previous mark by almost three seconds. Nevo finished in an A-cut time of 3:39.33 automatically qualifying him for the NCAA Championships. This comes one night after setting an ACC record with an A-cut in the 200 IM. North Carolina’s Tyler Harris was a distance second more than four seconds behind Nevo. Nevo’s time met A-cut standard by five and a half seconds.
“This was another great night for us,” head coach Stu Wilson said. “For Gal [Nevo] to break that record by so much in the 400 IM and qualify for NCAA’s in two events now is a tremendous accomplishment, not to mention he came within a second of the NCAA record. Mickey [Malul] also had a great swim to secure his spot in the NCAA meet. This has been such a fast meet and I really think the guys have stepped up to the challenge. There is one night left and we are looking to continue what we have worked so hard at.”
In prelims of the 400 IM, Johnnie Hermes posted a career-high time of 3:55.90.
The 100-fly saw another school record go down as Travis Wagner touched the wall in a NCAA B-cut time of 47.22 during the morning prelims session. In finals, he placed sixth in 49.37.
Sullivan Lynch finished 18th in finals (48.53), but posted his career-high in prelims with a 48.29. Mauricio Sousa also set a new career-high in prelims touching the wall in 48.90. In finals, he finished 23rd with a mark of 49.04.
Matt Tang (49.49), Nigel Plummer (51.33), Kelsey Duffy (50.56) and Greg Tunning (52.21) also set career bests as well.
In the 200-free, Noah Copeland finished third with a NCAA B-cut time of 1:34.75. That was less then two-tenths of a second behind the school record he set Wednesday night in the first leg of the 800-free relay. Ralph Long (1:39.55) and Will Woodworth (1:39.95) also set career-highs in the 200-free.
In the 100-breast, Mickey Malul broke his own school record as he came home victorious in the event. Malul touched the wall in a NCAA A-cut time of 52.86 automatically qualifying him for next month’s NCAA Championships. He was .26 seconds off the eight-year old ACC record.
Andy Miller finished third in the event with a NCAA B-cut time of 53.47. That was a career-best for Miller. Jeremy Jackson was 14th in the event with a 55.68, but set a career-high in prelims as he touched the wall in 55.57. Sam Bendziewicz came in 19th (56.11), while Matt Vaughan was one place behind with a 56.18. Kevin Skenes also set a career-high with a 56.63 in prelims. For Vaughan, this was a career-high, while Bendziewicz’ career-best came in prelims (55.78).
The final individual event of the night was the 100-back and Ilia Ayzenshtok took home a fifth-place finish with a NCAA B-cut time of 47.75. In prelims, he set a school record touching the wall in 47.57.
Johnny Hagaman was right behind Ayzenshtok as he secured a sixth-place finish with a NCAA B-cut time of 48.28. He set his career high in prelims with a 48.16. Garrett Robberson finished 11th with a new career-high mark of 49.06, while Matt Tang placed 16th in 49.34. In prelims, he established a career-high time of 49.20. Way Joe Lee also set a career-high in the 100-back as he touched the wall in 50.05.
The 2009 ACC Men’s Championships run through Saturday on the campus of the University of Maryland. Prelims begin each morning at 11 a.m. while the finals get going at 7 p.m. each evening. ACC Select will provide free streaming video of the finals each night, while live stats are available throughout the meet. Links can be found at www.ramblinwreck.com.
