North Carolina
ACC Men's Championships Prelims
Carolina Puts Nine Into Finals On Thursday
February 28, 2008 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 28, 2008
ATLANTA, GA. - The North Carolina men's swimming and diving team placed nine swimmers and divers into the Thursday night finals during the preliminary session of the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
Junior Y-Khy Saw, freshman Tyler Harris and senior Ryan Funderburk all earned No. 5 seeds for the Tar Heels, UNC's top placing in the preliminary session.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Saw, a junior from Penany, Malaysia, was UNC's top qualifier in fifth place at 4:24.27, an NCAA "B" cut and over three seconds faster than his previous personal best which was 4:27.63. Kinderwater, a freshman from Lancaster, Pa., was the No. 6 qualifier in 4:24.83, his career best as well and an NCAA "B" time. Kinderwater's previous career best was 4:26.04.
Senior Philip Owen was the No. 12 finisher in 4:26.87 and sophomore Jason McLaughlin qualified 13th in 4:27.03. Both are NCAA "B" times. McLaughlin's time was 3.58 seconds faster than his pervious personal best of 4:30.61. Freshman Robert Grimmett-Norris was 19th in a career best 4:32.25, topping his previous personal top time of 4:34.25. Senior Mark Mohr swam as an exhibition entry and was clocked in 4:57.83.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Harris was UNC's top qualifier in fifth place at 1:49.26, topping his personal best which had been 1:50.95. Harris' time moved him into ninth place all-time on the UNC's all-time performers list in the 200 IM. Sophomore Jeff James qualified 10th in 1:50.15 and freshman Andy Brake was 15th in 1:51.28. Other finishers for UNC were freshman Vinny Pryor in 19th at 1:52.46, Brad Mitchell in 37th at 1:56.02 and freshman Flynn Jones in 42nd at 1:58.50. Jones' previous career best was 2:00.97 so the Raleigh, N.C., native knocked 2.47 seconds off his personal best.
Seniors Robby Swendiman and Zach Swartz tied for 17th place in the 50-yard freestyle at 20.59 while freshman Tommy Wyher was 20th in a career best 20.63, topping his previous best of 20.87. Freshman Tyler Smith finished 31st in a career best 20.96 (previous was 21.57), freshman Josh Hafkin was 34th in 21.01 and senior Keith Laabs was 48th in 21.32. Freshmen David Zolno and Alex Ismail were exhibition entries, finishing in 21.20 and 21.25, respectively. That was a career best for Ismail, a Zionsville, Ind., native who was 21.67 coming into the meet.
In one-meter diving, senior Ryan Funderburk was the No. 5 qualifier with 301.40 points and sophomore David Solarz was No. 12 with 259.75 points. Sophomores Mike Kelly and Austin Bradyhouse were exhibition entries, scoring 234.05 and 213.60 points, respectively. Kelly's score was a career best mark for a one-meter championship event. His previous best was 196.10 points.
Players Mentioned
