GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomore Blake Manoff set the Virginia Tech 100 butterfly record twice on Friday during the third day of the 2020 ACC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Manoff posted a 45.61 during the prelims to qualify for the championship finals of the event where he reset the record book with a 45.60 to finish fourth overall in the 100 fly. He broke teammate and fellow sophomore Antani Ivanov's record set last season at the conference meet. Ivanov joined Manoff in the championship finals, recording a 46.13 to improve his best time and finish seventh for the Hokies.
In the 400 IM, sophomore Filippo Dal Maso reached the A final for the Hokies, posting a fifth-place 3:45.75 in the event. He moved to second in the Virginia Tech record book. Keith Myburgh added a ninth-place finish with 3:46.05 while Dylan Eichberg moved into eighth on the records list with a 3:51.55 to finish 21st.
Junior Lane Stone claimed sixth in the 200 free with a time of 1:34.61. In the 100 breaststroke, freshman AJ Pouch led the way, finishing ninth with a 52.93 and moving into second on the Tech top-10 list. Senior Simon Shi was 21st with a 54.68 while freshman Cobi Lopez Miro turned in a 54.73 to score in 22nd.
The 100 backstroke wrapped up the individual events for the Hokies tonight where junior Sam Tornqvist claimed 10th with a 46.46. Freshman Forest Webb was 12th with 46.91 while his fellow freshman Will Koeppen took 20th in 47.43. Junior Thomas Hallock rounded out the scoring for the Hokies with 48.42 to place 24th. Koeppen made his way onto the Hokies top-10 list with his time.
Tech rounded out the evening session with the 400 medley relay, finishing fifth with a time of 308.03 from Tornqvist., Pouch, Ivanov and Hallock. The time is the second fastest in Tech history.
The Hokies will wrap up the ACC Championships on Saturday. Prelims are set to begin at 10 a.m. with the 200 backstroke.
CURRENT STANDINGS: NC State – 829 | Virginia – 724 | Louisville – 702 | Virginia Tech – 577 | Florida State – 552.5 | Notre Dame – 535.5 | North Carolina – 466 | Pitt – 384 | Georgia Tech – 365 | Duke – 315 | Boston College – 102 | Miami (Diving Only) – 84
HEAD COACH SERGIO LOPEZ MIRO
"Today was a very good day for us. From the morning to the afternoon there was a lot of good energy. Blake broke the school record twice in the 100 fly, that is very good."
"We had a lot of good times in the top-10, the top-2. I think what has been impressive is someone like Filippo [Dal Maso] in the 400 IM. Over the last month and a half, he was having a very hard time with illness and stuff. I want to say we've had over 20 people sick with flus and such over the last few weeks. And with whatever he had, he was having a hard time finishing races. So for him to drop over two seconds in his 400 IM and to swim the way he swum was very impressive. I should mention Keith [Myburgh], until the first of December he could barely train because of his shoulders and then he got sick with the flu. It's been a very hard year for him, but he came back and was only .5 off his best 400 IM time. So I am very proud of both of them."
"Dylan [Eichberg] also had a good 400 IM and got in the top 10 for Virginia Tech. He dropped several seconds off of his time so that was very good."
"Our breaststrokers did their job, AJ [Pouch] and Cobi [Lopez Miro] and Simon [Shi]. Having two freshmen score is a good thing and AJ had the second fastest time in school history twice today. He was also really good on the relay that was the second fastest. That relay was a second faster than it was last year, and I think we could do better. We didn't have our best swims, but like every other team there are ups and downs. Simon and Cobi did a good job. Cobi swam a best time by over a second. Simon didn't swim his best time by a 10th, but scored higher than he did last year. Simon is the dream swimmer that you want, he's a great captain, always motivating people, always helping people. I am very proud of him; it's been a privilege to have a swimmer like him. I think tomorrow in the 200 he will be better."
"In the 200 freestyle, Lane [Stone] was a little bit off. He has been a bit off, but his training has been very consistent and he has trained very well. I am not sure what we need to adjust; maybe he needs a little more rest. Because he has trained really, really well and he competes really well. So maybe I haven't been resting him to 100 percent. Brennen Doss had a great 200 freestyle, dropped over a second off his best times, got in the Tech top-10. Unfortunately, he missed the finals by 1/100 of a second. It was a little bit heartbreaking. The mile is his event."
"The 100 fliers were pretty good. Antani [Ivanov] swam his best time. He has been telling me over the past couple weeks he hasn't had power, so I'm not sure we have done everything with him. But he still has the 200 fly and will be at NCAAs, so we have time, but it was still under his school record best time from last season."
"Our backstrokers were pretty good. Will Koeppen dropped two seconds as a freshman from when he got here. I think his 200 time will be better. Forest [Webb] has been swimming very well all year and still dropped to 46.9, so breaking that barrier of 47 is very good. Sam [Tornqvist] was a little bit off; l I thought he would be a little faster. We still have the 200 and he has been doing very well. He had an accident with his MCL over Christmas so he's still coming back from that. He has been very good, but has been on and off. I am very proud of him for staying the course."
"Our 400 medley relay was very good at 3:08, over a second faster than last year. We got fifth tonight and I think last year we were ninth or eighth so that's good. All-in-all it was a very good day."Gallery: (2/28/2020) 2020 MEN'S SWIMMING ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS
