Aqua Jackets finish strong at ACCs
By Scott Medway / Student Publications
Stephanie England dives at the Men's and Women's ACC Championships that took place over the past two weeks. The men finished third, while the women earned sixth, the best in their four-year history.
Tech junior Sam Morgan became just the second Yellow Jacket, and the first since Shilo Ayalon set the meet record in 2003, to win the ACC conference title in the 1650-yard freestyle when he recorded an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 14:54.71 in the Men's ACC Championships, which concluded last Saturday.
The men's team improved on a fifth-place finish a year ago and finished third for just the second time in school history. A week ago Tech's women achieved a strong sixth-place finish in the Women's ACC Swimming and Diving Championships.
"We are very pleased with our finish at the ACC Championships. Both the men's and women's teams did an excellent job and it looks like we will have two women qualifiers for the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history," said Head Coach Seth Baron.
Sophomore Vesna Stojanovska became the first women's swimmer to win an ACC title with a school record NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:59.27 in the 200-yard butterfly.
Stojanovska earned All-ACC honors for two consecutive days. She finished second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.67 prior to her win in the 200-yard butterfly.
Freshman Elizabeth Stowe broke her own school record in the 1650-yard freestyle with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 16:28.08 to earn All-ACC honors. "It was a huge drop in time of [Stowe's] personal best and it's the time that should qualify her for the NCAA Championships. It was great to have the first ACC Champion, [Stojanovska], at home. Those two ladies did a remarkable job," Baron said.
Tech's 400-yard freestyle relay team of Natanya Harper, Liz Foster, Moeko Wallis and Stojanovska set a new school record with a time of 3:26.47 to finish in sixth place. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Stojanovska, Foster, Stowe and Meghan DeVinney broke the school record by five seconds with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 7:24.06 to finish fifth.
In the Men's ACC Championships, Morgan won his first ACC title and will compete at the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive season. Another junior, Jason Howard, posted a career best time of 44.57 to notch an NCAA 'B' standard in the 100-yard freestyle and finish the race in fifth place.
Though Morgan dominated all of the headlines for men's swimming this week, Baron was particularly impressed by the courageous efforts of sophomore Tony Burkhardt, who, despite suffering an injury from hitting the board on his first dive, pushed through and tallied an eighth-place finish on the three-meter board with a score of 400.85.
"Tony Burkhardt last night was probably one of the most inspirational performances we have seen. You cannot say enough for that kind of gutsy performance and that kind of commitment to the program. For someone like Tony to step up and finish that event to get the points for the program even though he was bleeding was the boost needed for the men's team," Baron said.
In the same event Tech freshman Evan Stowers broke the school record with an 11-dive score of 537.20 to finish fourth.
The University of Virginia captured its seventh consecutive Men's ACC title while the University of Maryland won their first-ever Women's ACC title.
It was the first time Tech hosted the ACC Championships, and Baron noted that things went very smoothly. "We received nothing but praise and compliments from my peers and their coaching staffs, administrators, ACC administration and spectators. It makes us feel good to know that all of our hard work has paid off to make it a successful Championship," he said.
"Tech has a great facility, probably one of the top three in the country. Other coaches are excited to be here because they know that this is the kind of environment that will produce fast swimming. That's proven," Baron said.
Tech will have the chance to display its outstanding facilities next year on a national level. The Jackets will host the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in March 2006, and there is a good chance of the ACC Championships returning within three years.
Tech's swimming programs are relatively young. The women's program is only in its fourth year, and while the men's team started in 1919, the modern era dates to 1989, when the team reemerged after a one year hiatus.
When asked about the impact of hosting this championship to gain recognition, Baron was quick to point out the importance of hosting non-collegiate meets as well.
"We need to get some non-collegiate meets here of high caliber to attract promising recruits. We are talking about hosting the U.S. Open Swimming Championship in December 2007, which will bring great exposure. The word is slowly getting out about these facilities," he said.
"Last fall we saw an increase in the number of recruits as well as in the talent level of recruits. We know that only the facility is not the magic button. We have got to sell the program, and there is a lot of responsibility on the coaching staff and on myself to get this done. But I honestly believe that we will move the program forward," Baron said.
With significant improvements in team performances and with school records falling left and right at the ACC Championships, Tech's program is surely making noise.
