University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
ACC Men's Finals
UNC Divers Excel As Tar Heels Stands Third At ACC Meet
February 24, 2005 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 24, 2005
ATLANTA, GA. - Led by a stellar performance by its diving contingent, the North Carolina men's swimming and diving team moved into sole possession of third place after the second day of the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Carolina divers Ben Herboth, Jon Fox and Ryan Matuszak all placed in the top seven of the one-meter diving event and they recorded the Tar Heels' top individual placings Thursday.
Virginia, seeking it seventh straight ACC title, took a commanding lead Thursday night in the team race. The Cavaliers have 250 points and they are 44 points ahead of second-place Florida State, the runnerup the past two years, which has 204. UNC, which has placed third the past three years, has 180.5 points while host Georgia Tech has 158 points and Clemson 146. NC State is sixth with 130 points, Virginia Tech seventh with 95.5, Maryland eighth with 92, Duke ninth with 71 and Miami 10th with 37 points.
North Carolina's diving corps highlighted the evening's activity for the Tar Heels as UNC placed three divers in the top seven finishers of the one-meter diving competition. Carolina was the only school to qualify a threesome of divers for the eight-member championship final in the event. Freshman Ben Herboth (Charlotte, N.C.) garnered Carolina's top individual finish of the evening as he took fourth place with a score of 331.50 points, which was also his season-best score on the one-meter board. Sophomore Jon Fox (Neenah, Wis.) qualified for his first-ever ACC final and made the most of the chance, placing sixth with 303.05 points. Junior Ryan Matuszak (Rochester Hills, Mich.) repeated as a one-meter finalist from a year ago and improved one spot to seventh place this year with 279.95 points.
The Tar Heels clocked a season best time of 1:20.75 to finish in fourth place in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Freshman John Sands (Granville, Ohio) led off the relay in a season-best time of 20.53 seconds for the 50. He was followed by junior Jon Albrecht (Akron, Ohio) who split 20.32 and then the Tar Heels got a pair of superb splits from sophomore Casey Kott (Morrisville, N.C.) at 19.73 and junior Jon Van Assen (Matawan, N.J.) at 20.17.
Senior Reid Owen (Knoxville, Tenn.) was Carolina's top finisher in the 500-yard freestyle as the tri-captain placed eighth in a time of 4:26.29. Freshman Philip Owen (Scottsdale, Ariz.) won the consolation heat of the event and placed ninth overall as he went a career best 4:26.39.
UNC junior Chad Ames (Crawfordsville, Ind.) was a championship finalist in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing eighth in 1:52.00. Senior Eric Mohr (Mequon, Wis.) was 14th in 1:52.10, sophomore Ben Grafchik (Prospect, Ky.) was 15th in 1:52.95 and senior John Hartmann (Williamsburg, Va.) was 16th in 1:53.45.
In the 50-yard freestyle, Tar Heel freshman John Sands (Granville, Ohio) was Carolina's top finisher in 10th place with a time of 20.65 seconds. Sophomore Casey Kott (Morrisville, N.C.) tied for 12th place with a time of 20.70 seconds.
Highlights from Thursday's preliminaries for UNC swimmers:
*Freshman Philip Owen (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had a career best time of 4:28.73 in the preliminaries of the 500-yard freestyle.
*Junior Chad Ames (Crawfordsville, Ind.) posted a career best time of 1:50.05 in the preliminaries of the 200-yard individual medley as did sophomore Ben Grafchik (Prospect, Ky.) with a time of 1:52.08 and freshman Keith Laabs (Memphis, Tenn.) at 1:57.41.
*Sophomore Casey Kott (Morrisville, N.C.) achieved his career best time in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.60 seconds. Sophomore Aaron Burns (Sinking Spring, Pa.) also had his personal best at 21.16 seconds.
*Swimming as exhibition entries, the following Tar Heels had their career best times in various events in the preliminaries on Thursday: Brandon Suddreth, Fr., 500-yard freestyle, 4:33.56; Jared Kleber, So., 50-yard freestyle, 21.14; Adam Schauer, Fr., 50-yard freestyle, 21.22. Suddreth later went another career best in the 500 in a time trial after the evening session, clocking 4:32.86.
*Freshman Ryan Funderburk (Summerfield, N.C.) competed as an exhibition entry in one-meter diving and had a score of 260.20 points. He would have finished 15th had he been a scoring participant.
Players Mentioned
