March 2, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Georgia Tech men’s swimming and diving team wrapped up its best-ever finish at the ACC Championships Saturday by placing second with 580.5 points at the University of Maryland’s Campus Recreation Center Natatorium. Virginia won its fourth consecutive title with 872 points.
Junior Shilo Ayalon led the way for Tech, placing second in the 1650-yard freestyle and meeting the NCAA automatic qualifying standard with a time of 15:01.14. He earned All-ACC honors in three events at the championships.
Also earning all-conference accolades on Saturday were senior Josh Hersko, who placed second in the 100 free with an NCAA “B” cut time of 44.53, and junior James Salazar, who was third in the 200 back with a school record and NCAA “B” standard of 1:45.72.
Junior Tomonori Tsuji also posted a “B” cut, clocking a time of 2:00.09 and finishing fourth in the 200 breast.
Tech also had a strong showing in the 200 fly, with senior David Laitala placing fifth and sophomore Itai Eden finishing sixth. Salazar was 11th and senior Brady Skaggs was 16th.
Sophomore Paul McCarty was sixth in the three-meter diving.
Other strong finishes came from sophomore Eduardo Oliver, who placed fifth in the 1650 free, meeting the NCAA “B” standard, senior Leo Salinas, who was seventh in the 1650, freshman Matt Figh, who was eighth in the 200 back, and junior Robbie Foster, who placed eighth in the 200 breast. Jorge Oliver was 16th in the 200 back, while sophomore Chris Biedrzycki was 13th in the 200 breast.
Tech’s 400 free relay placed fifth.
This finish marks a continued improvement of the squad under the direction of head coach Seth Baron. Since taking over for the program, he has guided the Jackets from seventh-place in 1998 and 1999 to this year’s runner-up finish.
-GT-
