Tweet

ATLANTA ­- The Virginia Tech men’s swimming & diving team finished third in the 2015 ACC Men’s Championships Saturday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center after earning 13 top-five finishes and six medals and setting six school records.

“I’m very proud of our men and I’m very proud of our seniors leading us through a great week,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “It was a hard-fought weekend with NC State, Louisville and UNC all in the hunt. We were certainly proud to have a podium finish, and hopefully we can build off this heading into NCAAs. We have a lot of guys on the rise as we move forward in the future.”

For the second day in a row, Tech started off the evening with a medal when Jake Ores won the silver medal in the 1650 free with a school-record time of 14:57.58. It was his second career medal in this event (bronze, 2014) and his second top-five finish this week.

Only a few spots behind Ores in the 1650 free, Michal Szuba finished sixth with a time of 15:06.74. To round out a great event for the H₂Okies, Chris Grimmett-Norris took 21st after a time of 15:26.31 in the afternoon heat.

Robert Owen barely missed the podium in the 200 back, taking fourth-place after a school-record time of 1:41.45. The fourth-place finish sealed a great week for Owen who took home a gold medal in the 400 IM and set two school records in his second ACC Championship meet.

Collin Higgins took fourth in the 200 back B-final for a 12th-place overall finish with a time of 1:44.20. Zach Switzer finished 16th overall with a time of 1:46.16 in the same event.

Owen Burns continued the streak of top-five finishes when he took fifth in the 100 free while setting a new school record at 42.82. It was the senior’s second school record and third top-six finish this week.

“I can’t say enough about Owen Burns and what he means to our program as a leader and a captain,” Skinner commented.

Also in the 100 free, Lucas Bureau earned 19th with a time of 44.03, and C.J. Fiala earned 20th with a time of 44.36.

In the last individual event of the championships, Morgan Latimer scored fourth place with a time of 1:43.16. With the fourth-place finish, Latimer closes out an ACC career that includes two individual silver medals, two relay silver medals and two relay bronze medals, as well as the school record in the 200 fly, which he set at last year’s championships.

Swimming in the 200 fly B-final, Chris Grimmet-Norris earned 16th with a time of 1:48.67

In the final relay of the championships, Burns, Bureau and the Fiala brothers finished fifth, setting a new school record at 2:54.13.

Tech finished with a final team score of 1123 ahead of fourth-place UNC who had 1062.5. NC State won the league championship, scoring 1331, and Louisville finished second with 1178.5.

With the H₂Okies third-place finish, Tech became the only program in the conference to finish with both the women’s and the men’s teams in the top three. The men’s squad also became the only team to have finished in the top three each of the least four years.

The ACC Championships serves as the point in the Commonwealth Clash, presented by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of Virginia Tech Athletics. With a higher finish today from Tech, they have added a point for their school to the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash. The score for the Clash is now, University of Virginia 7.5 and Virginia Tech 5.5. Learn more about Virginia529 and this new competition at www.thecommonwealthclash.com

On March 9-11, Tech’s divers will return to the pool to compete in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships in Buffalo, New York. On March 19-21, Tech will compete in the NCAA Women’s Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, and on March 26-28, Tech will compete in the NCAA Men’s Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.

Medals:
Gold - Brandon Fiala, 200 IM
Gold - Robert Owen, 400 IM
Silver - Jake Ores, 1650 free
Silver - Logan Stevens, 3-meter
Bronze - Thomas Shinholser, platform
Bronze - Burns, Bureau, Latimer, Szuba; 800 free relay

School Records:
100 free - Owen Burns (42.82)
1650 free - Jake Ores (14:57.58)
100 breast - Brandon Fiala (53.23)
200 IM - Brandon Fiala (1:43.97)
400 IM - Robert Owen (3:41.79)
400 free relay - Burns, Bureau, Brandon Fiala, C.J. Fiala (2:54.13)

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