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CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE | SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | LIVE RESULTS

ATLANTA ­- The Virginia Tech swimming & diving team finished the third day of the ACC Men’s Championships in second place behind a gold medal from Robert Owen and seven top-ten finishes at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Friday.

Tech has 850 team points after three days of competition, trailing NC State (896) by 46 points. They are ahead of UNC (821.5) and Louisville (771.5).

“I can’t say enough about Robert Owen as an ACC champion,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “That’s a national junior team swimmer out of high school, and he’s now coming into his own as an elite NCAA swimmer and a factor for United States swimming in general. Owen Burns also is not only an incredible swimmer but a magnificent captain, and he truly is the epitome of what this men’s team is all about and what we want to be tomorrow.”

Owen got things started for the H₂Okies in the evening finals, winning Tech’s second gold medal of the championships in a thrilling battle with second-place finisher Christian McCurdy that was dead even through the final 100 yards before Owen stretched to take gold by 0.13 seconds with an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 3:41.78. After breaking the school record in the morning prelims, Owen’s evening swim broke that record by two seconds in the finals.

Zach Switzer had a great morning swim to earn himself an A-final appearance in the 400 IM where he took eighth with a time of 3:51.45.

In the 100 fly, Morgan Latimer took fourth in the B-final for a 12th-place overall finish. Behind him, Harrison Pierce took 23rd with a time of 48.37.

Owen Burns finished just short of the podium in the 200 free when he earned fourth-place after clocking a time of 1:34.54. Lucas Bureau took the eighth spot with a time of 1:35.50. Michal Szuba took fifth in the B-final for 13th overall with a time of 1:36.78. Adam Stacklin was one behind him for 14th with 1:37.22.

Brandon Fiala took fifth in the 100 breast with a time of 53.23 to set a new school record. After winning the B-final, Harrison Cefalo finished ninth overall with a time of 53.78. C.J. Fiala picked up 21st with a time of 54.74.

Tech had three in the B-final for the 100 back where Morgan Latimer took 11th after hitting the wall in 47.42. Higgins was behind him in 13th after 47.65, and Owen took 15th with a time of 48.55.

Both the 3-meter and the platform diving scores have been added into Friday’s team scores. In the 3-meter last week, Logan Stevens won the silver medal, Jared Butts took ninth, Thomas Shinholser took 10th and Mauro Castro-Silva took 12th. In the platform, Tech earned an incredible 99 team points after finishing all dour divers in the top eight. Shinholser won the bronze, Stevens took fourth, Castro-Silva took sixth and Butts took eighth.

Saturday’s action will begin at 10 a.m. with the 200 back, the 100 free, the 200 breast and the 200 fly. Finals will begin at 6 p.m. and will include the 1650 free. Finals action can be watched live on ESPN3. A full schedule of events can be foundhere and live results can be found here.

There is no charge for admission to the 2015 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. Parking is available for $10 for a single day or for $36 for a four-day pass. Details on parking can be found here.

Please visit the official championship website for all championship information including a full event schedule and live results.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_SwimDive