University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Finals
Gianino Sets UNC Record, Beals Earns Silver at ACC Meet
February 28, 2014 | Swimming & Diving
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The North Carolina men's swimming and diving team moved up two spots in the team standings Thursday night at the 2014 ACC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatics Center.
The Tar Heels had a solid second day at the championships as freshman Josh Beals took second place in the 500 freestyle, freshman Jack Nyquist captured third in one-meter diving and a pair of UNC seniors - J.T. Stilley and Alex Gianino - claimed fourth place finishes in the 500 freestyle and 200 individual medley, respectively.
"I like where we are at this point of the meet," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "We'd like to be a littler closer to the leaders but I think we're in a good spot. We have a good day tomorrow. We have a lot of swims including some people who weren't even in the meet today."
UNC's 200 freestyle relay also notched a fourth place finish and Alex Gianino broke Carolina's five year-old University standard in the 200 IM. Altogether, UNC swimmers posted nine career best times on the second day of the championships.
NC State, which won two events Thursday night, holds a slim lead over Virginia Tech in the team race, 415 points to 411. Virginia, North Carolina and Notre Dame are locked in a fierce battle for third place after seven of 21 events in the meet. The Wahoos have 338 points, just .5 better than Carolina's 337.5. Notre Dame is fifth with 325.
The Tar Heels opened the night with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Carolina recorded a time of 1:18.43, just eight one-hundredths of a second off the University record. The Tar Heel relay was led off by sophomore Sam Lewis in 19.77, followed by Logan Heck at 19.91, Alex Gianino at 19.44 and Nic Graesser at 19.31.
Carolina had three excellent evening swims in the 500-yard freestyle led by freshman Josh Beals and senior J.T. Stilley. Beals reached the podium for the silver medal with a time of 4:20.09. It was Beals' second career best of the day. He entered the meet with a previous career best of 4:24.88. Beals' time of 4:20.09 move him into eighth place all-time in the event in Carolina history.
A pair of seniors also had excellent performances for the Tar Heels as J.T. Stilley took fourth place with a time of 4:20.47, just a second off his career best, and Brad Dillon went 4:22.70 to place 10th overall and second in the consolation final. Dillon was also just a second off his career best time.
"We had a veteran and a freshman in the 500 free in the A final," said DeSelm. "The heat was packed across the board. It was very tight. About halfway through some people started to separate themselves. Josh came in last year at 4:24 and he got his hand on the wall at 4:20 flat. That was a really good swim and pumped up the team a lot. J.T. was a little off his career best but improved almost a second and a half over his morning swim. We ended up 2-4 which was really good."
In the 200-yard individual medley, senior Alex Gianino had the two fastest swims of his career in the event. In the preliminaries, Gianino went 1:44.23 to break the existing school record set by Tyler Harris in 2009. Harris' record had been 1:44.86. The senior from Yonkers, N.Y., was slightly slower in the evening session at 1:45.11, but that was still the second fastest time of his career. Gianino placed fourth overall.
"This morning Alex Gianino broke Tyler Harris' school record with a great swim. He went 1:44.2 and qualified second," said DeSelm. "Tonight he was a little bit slower but still had his second fastest time ever. All three of our guys in the "C" final went lifetime best times."
Carolina had three competitors in the "C" consolation final of the 200 IM and all three individuals had career best times in the prelims of the event. In the evening session, junior Patrick Myers tied for 19th at 1:46.51 (his second career best of the day) while sophomore Dominick Glavich was 22nd and junior Brian Bollerman took 23rd. Juniors Tyler Hill and David Speese also had career bests in the prelims.
Myers moved into fourth place all-time on UNC's career depth chart with Bollerman now fifth and Glavich sixth.
In the 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Sam Lewis reached the championship final in the event and placed eighth in the evening finals. Lewis went a career best 19.71 seconds in the prelims and was just slightly slower in the evening at 19.83. Sophomore Logan Heck took 14th place for the Tar Heels and sophomore Nic Graesser was 18th in a career best 19.89.
Lewis' time moved him into second place all-time in school history in the event behind only school record holder Steve Cebertowicz (19.34). Graesser's time makes him the fourth fastest performer ever in the 50 free in UNC history.
"Sam Lewis did not swim this event last year but he went 19.71 this morning, 19.77 leading off the relay and 19.8 in the evening. Logan Heck did a good job for us in the "B" final and we got an excellent swim out Nic Graesser in the "C" final," DeSelm said.
In the one-meter diving competition, UNC freshman Jack Nyquist reached the podium in his first ACC Championships event, breaking his own school record in the event with 398.30 points. Nyquist copped third place in the event. UNC's other entry in the event was junior Ryan Fox who finished in 14th place with 334.40 points.
CURRENT TEAM SCORES: N.C. State 415, Virginia Tech 411, Virginia 338, North Carolina 337.5, Notre Dame 325, Florida State 282, Georgia Tech 201, Duke 193.5, Pittsburgh 178, Boston College 123, Miami 74
Players Mentioned
