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Virginia men's swimming and diving takes sixth straight ACC Championship

Cavaliers win program's 16th title

The No. 9 Virginia men’s swimming and diving team took home its sixth consecutive ACC Championship Saturday evening, winning five individual championships along the way. The title was the 16th all-time for the program and the 14th in the last 15 years.

“To win six times in a row is obviously a proud moment for our program,” senior Tom Barrett said. “We couldn’t have done it without all the hard work put in from the guys and our great coaching staff.”

Virginia finished with a total of 759.5 points, edging out second place Virginia Tech (597) by 162.5 points. Last year the Hokies finished second to the Cavaliers by just 32 points. North Carolina (549) finished third, followed by Florida State (534), North Carolina State (481), Georgia Tech (269.5), Duke (268), Boston College (120) and Miami (13), who only competed in diving.

“Going into the meet we knew it would be one of the closest in recent memory,” junior Brad Phillips said. “We had to be up and at ‘em every morning and every night, firing on all cylinders. Our brotherhood and the bonds we have really helped our performance. That’s what really drove us to victory.”

With the win, Virginia became the first school in ACC history to win both men’s and women’s championships in six consecutive seasons. Coach Mark Bernardino also set ACC coaching records for the most men’s titles all-time with 16 and most combined men’s and women’s titles with 27.

“The first thing I would like to say is that these are not my titles,” Bernardino said. “They belong to the athletes, not to me. We also couldn’t have done this without great assistant coaches. I’m glad to be a very small part of what has happened during my time here.”

The Cavaliers opened the meet Wednesday evening by winning the 800 free relay with a team consisting of Barrett, freshman Nick Alexiou, sophomore David Ingraham and junior Parker Camp. Virginia also placed fifth in the 200 medley relay, but finished the day in second place behind Florida State.

Virginia quickly took the lead in the meet on Thursday, however, and never looked back. The second day of competition was highlighted by a strong showing in the 500 free, where Phillips and fellow junior Jan Daniec placed first and second, respectively, while Alexiou and Camp finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Also on Thursday, Barrett placed fifth in the 50 free and junior Taylor Grey touched fourth in the 200 IM.

“We came right out on fire on Thursday morning,” Bernardino said. “We seized the momentum and didn’t let go. Day two was the most questionable day we had, and we came out with a dominating performance. We swam one of the best day twos we’ve ever had at U.Va.”

The Cavaliers fortified their lead Friday, building a 128-point advantage over second place Virginia Tech. Barrett claimed the gold medal in the 200 free, while Alexiou took bronze in the event. Barrett’s victory marked the sixth straight year that a Virginia swimmer has won the 200 free.

“I was just thinking about coming in second last year [in the 200 free] everyday,” Barrett said. “I’ve been working toward that championship and just picturing that number one next to my name. I just wanted that night to be over with a victory after an entire year of emotions.”

Ingraham and Phillips went second and third in the 400 IM Friday, while Daniec touched fifth in that race. Grey finished second in the 100 breast and junior Jack Murfee finished third in the 100 back to round out the day’s individual events. Murfee set a new Virginia school record with his time of 46.69.

“I always say that championships are won on Friday mornings,” Bernardino said. “There was no more evidence of that than here. We had 14 swimmers swimming in the finals that night.”

On the final day of competition, two more Cavaliers claimed individual ACC Championships — Daniec in the 1650 free and Grey in the 200 breast. Another pair of Virginia men earned silver medals — Barrett and freshman Luke Papendick in the 100 free and 200 back, respectively. Papendick became the second Cavalier to break a Virginia backstroke record on the weekend with his time of 1:41.90 in the 200. Along with Grey, freshman Yannick Kaeser reached the podium in the 200 breast with his third place finish.

“The mindset we have is that the score is always zero-zero,” Phillips said. “Even going into Saturday night when we were ahead on the score card, we just had to think that no one has any advantage.”

Next up for the Cavaliers will be the NCAA Championships in late March in Indianapolis, Ind.

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