GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Virginia Tech men's swim team set several program top-10s, led by Thomas Hallock's school record, during the second day of the 2020 ACC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
Hallock set the school record during the morning prelims of the 50 freestyle with a 19.32 to qualify for the evening's championship finals in the event. He finished the day placing fifth-place overall with a mark of 19.49. His prelim time bested the 2019 NCAA invite cut mark.
The Hokies placed four in the finals of the 500 free with Antani Ivanov in the championship heat. The sophomore, placed seventh overall with an NCAA B cut of 4:17.52 to record the second-fastest time in program history. Filippo Dal Maso and Lane Stone were in the consolation heat finishing 11th (4:18.23) and 12th (4:18.31), respectively. Brennen Doss rounded out the 500 free with a 21st, 4:21.26. His time moved him into eighth on the Hokies' top time list. All three were NCAA B cuts.
Sam Tornqvist qualified for the championship finals in the 200 IM where he finished seventh with a time of 1:45.02. Sophomore Dylan Eichberg won the C heat, finishing 17th overall with a Virginia Tech top-10 time of 1:45.69(B) while freshman AJ Pouch was 19th with a 1:46.52(B).
The Hokies rounded out Thursday with a fourth-place finish in the 200 free relay. Blake Manoff, Hallock, Henry Claesson and Ivanov posted a NCAA provisional time of 1:18.84. The quartet moved into third on the Tech top-times list. Manoff's leadoff 50 free time of 19.66 tied him with recent alum Jake Lamparella for fifth in the Tech record book.
Virginia Tech will be back in the pool on Friday at 10 a.m. for the prelims of the 100 butterfly.
HEAD COACH SERGIO LOPEZ MIRO
"It was a pretty good second day. We had a lot of best times and some pretty good swims. I think some key people, like Lane Stone in the 500. It probably has been my mistake. I took him out of training the mile, like he did in the past and maybe he needed to go a little more, but he's in good spirits which is good. I think probably with a little more rest he could be a little faster, so I'm excited about him."
"Sam [Tornqvist], his 200 IM was very good even though he was 1.3 seconds off his best time. But he's been very sick and then he had an MCL sprain, so he couldn't do breaststroke until three weeks ago. I am very happy with the way he swam to be top-eight and seventh at only 1.3 off his best time. I think his backstroke is going to be excellent."
"Breakout swim today was Dylan [Eichberg]; 1:45 in 200 IM was awesome. He has been training very well and you could see it. In the last two years, he's just done a really good job working and I think he just took ownership of the race. He swam very well."
"The distance kids Filippo [Dal Maso], Brennen [Doss] and Antani [Ivanov] did awesome. Brennen had some best times today at 4:22 and 4:25. I think that will make him very confident for the mile and that's probably his best shot for making NCAAs. Filippo had a very good swim, just missed his best time by a 10th of a second. The last month and a half has been a little bit rough, but we're very happy with the way he has performed."
"In the 200 IM, AJ [Pouch] dropped three seconds off his best time. I think it's a very good sign for him because [as a freshman] he's never been to meets like these. Racing so hard and so consistently was a new thing for him. I think at the beginning of the season, he was a bit unsure, so coming into this meet and just racing the way he can race is very good."
"Tommy [Hallock] was excellent this morning. This afternoon he made a total rookie mistake. He tried a new suit that he has never used. He was first at the turn, but when he made the turn the suit rode up and got water up underneath it. You use the suit you used in the morning."
"Blake, this morning [in the 50 free], was not good. He didn't realize how slippery the blocks and things were. His hand went up at the start and he came into the water the wrong way, but tonight leading off the relay he went 19.6 and that would have probably put him in the top-ten."
"Hank [Henry Claesson] went 20.1 and that was his best time, so that was very exciting. Someone I should give a shout out to is Antani who split 19.5. I think next year our sprint relay is going to be very good. With the people who are coming in and we have David Herbert coming back after his elbow injury he got at last year's ACCs. But he has been swimming very fast. I'm very excited for what we can do."
"We are very young and I cannot understand how some of these mistakes are made, but I have to look at the long-term and know that we are in the right place. There were a lot of learning moments today, but overall it was a good day. An interesting, but good day."
