University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Tuesday Finals
Campbell & Meyer Notch School Records At ACCs
March 1, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
ATLANTA, GA. - Henry Campbell twice broke his own school record in the 500-yard freestyle and Michael Meyer swam the two fastest 200-yard individual medleys in Tar Heel history as the University of North Carolina men's swimming and diving team continued competition Tuesday in the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championships at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatics Center.
The Tar Heels are in sixth place in the team standings after the second day of competition, moving up one spot in the team standings after today's five events.
500-Yard Freestyle
Henry Campbell twice took down his own school record in the event during the course of the day. The junior from Manassas, Va., earned All-ACC honors in the event for the third straight year after finishing second in the finals while senior Jorden Merrilees moved up four spots in the "A" final to finish fourth after taking eighth in the preliminaries. Campbell placed third in the 500-yard freestyle at the ACC meet in both 2015 & 2016.
Campbell came into the day with a school record time of 4:16.27 established in 2015. He broke that record with a clocking of 4:14.20 in the preliminaries and earned the top seed in the finals after four swimmers were within .73 of a second spanning slots 1-4 in the prelims. Campbell battled NC State's Anton Ipsen stroke-for-stroke in the final and fell just short of the title but touched in an NCAA "A" automatic qualifying time of 4:12.11. Altogether, he took 4.16 seconds off his previous best time coming into this week's meet during the course of the day.
In the "A" final, senior Jorden Merrilees rallied over the final 50 yards to surge to a fourth-place finish in the event. He swam a career best time of 4:16.15 in the final, shaving 2.32 seconds off his prelim time. He also broke his previous career best time of 4:16.72 in the final heat. Campbell and Merrilees now rank as the two fastest Tar Heels ever in the event at 4:12.11 and 4:16.15, respectively.
“Henry Campbell's swims today, especially in finals tonight, were stellar," said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. "This year, Henry made a new commitment to excellence and it is showing up this weekend. He trusts the work he has done and his swims so far this week -- his 200 split of 1:32 last night in the 800 free relay and today's 500s, are a great testament to his hard work and passion to be his best. Also in the 500 free final, Jorden Merrilees came from an eighth-place qualifying seed to finish fourth with his lifetime best time as well. Jorden's was another inspiring swim for the team.”
Two other Tar Heels recorded career best times in the 500-yard freestyle in the preliminaries as Eugene Tee went 4:25.22 (previous was 4:26.83) and Collier Cobb went 4:28.68 (previous was 4:29.59).
200-Yard Individual Medley
UNC senior Michael Meyer placed fifth in both the preliminaries and finals of this event, swimming the two fastest times ever at Carolina in the process. In the morning heats, Meyer swam a 1:43.88, eclipsing the previous UNC record of 1:44.23 set by Alex Gianino in 2014. Meyer was almost equally good at night as he touched in 1:44.00, just off the career best he set in the AM session.
Two other Tar Heels set career best times in the prelims as Michael McBryan went 1:47.95 (previous was 1:48.47) and Austin Sellers touched in 1:50.16 (previous best was 1:50.86).
“Michael Meyer also provided a great spark for our team by shattering both his best time and the UNC school record in the 200 IM today and we are looking forward to a terrific 400 IM tomorrow," said DeSelm.
50-Yard Freestyle
Carolina's Lucas Popp and Craig Emslie earned the last two spots in the "C" final of this event but moved up several places in the evening swim. Emslie finished 19th overall and Popp 21st overall by taking third and fifth in the "C" final, respectively. Emslie swam a 19.97 and Popp a 20.08 in the "C" final. Emslie's time was his career best (previous was 20.00) and he moved into sixth place on the list of all-time performers in the event at UNC. Popp matched his career best time of 20.08 and remains in the Top 10 of all-time Tar Heels at #10.
Junior J.T. Casey swam a career best time of 20.34 seconds (previous was 20.42) in the preliminaries.
One-Meter Diving
The diving competition was held in conjunction with the women's championships two weeks ago but the results were added to the men's team scores tonight. Senior Jack Nyquist earned his second Top 3 finish of the meet as he won the bronze medal with a point total of 385.35. Sean Burston was 12th with a score of 285.95 points and freshman Bryan Allen was also in a scoring position by placing 22nd with 263.30 points.
200-Yard Freestyle Relay
The Tar Heels placed ninth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:19.80. The UNC relay included Lucas Popp (20.14), Craig Emslie (19.62), J.T. Casey (19.91) and Philip Perdue (20.13).
“Overall, we are swimming well as indicated by lifetime best times in the 500 free from Henry (Campbell), Jorden (Merrilees), Eugene Tee and Collier Cobb; in the 200 IM by Michael Meyer, Michael McBryan, Austin Sellers; and in the 50 free by Lucas Popp, Craig Emslie, and JT Casey," concluded Coach DeSelm.
TEAM SCORES
1. NC State 471; 2. Louisville 402.5; 3. Virginia Tech 384; 4. Notre Dame 365.5; 5. Florida State 337; 6. North Carolina 291; 7. Virginia 250; 8. Duke 234; 9. Pittsburgh 224; 10. Georgia Tech 205; 11. Boston College 98; 12. Miami 76.
The Championships continue on Wednesday with preliminaries in the 400-yard individual medley, the 100-yard butterfly, the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard backstroke. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. Finals tomorrow are at 6 p.m. and will also include a timed final in the 400-yard medley relay.
Players Mentioned
