GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomores Blake Manoff and Antani Ivanov, freshman AJ Pouch and junior Sam Tornqvist claimed medals for Virginia Tech during the final day of competition to lead the Hokies to a fourth-place finish at the 2020 ACC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships.
Manoff led the way, taking silver in the 200 butterfly after turning in a school record setting 1:40.48 in the event. It also gave him an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships. Ivanov took the bronze medal in the same event, posting a personal best 1:41.01 which beats the invite time from last year's NCAAs.
Tornqvist secured the bronze in the 200 backstroke with a school record tying 1:40.10, matching Collin Higgins mark set in 2014. His time also beat the invite mark from last season's NCAAs. His teammate Lane Stone was fifth in the championship finals with a personal best time of 1:41.88, moving him to fifth on the Tech record list.
Pouch had the top qualifying time in the 200 breaststroke, and improved upon that to secure the bronze with a 1:53.69. His mark his faster than last season's NCAA cut line and gave him the second fastest time in Tech history.
The evening session started with the 1650 freestyle where sophomore Brennen Doss finished ninth in the timed final with an NCAA B cut of 15:04.87.
Freshman Forest Webb also had a strong 200 backstroke for the Hokies, he claimed the win in the consolation final to finish ninth overall with a time of 1:42.18 to move to seventh in the Tech record book. His fellow freshman Will Koeppen was 22nd overall in 1:45.94.
In the 100 freestyle, junior Thomas Hallock was eighth in the championship final with a time of 43.14.
Sophomore Keith Myburgh turned in a strong performance in the 200 breaststroke, claiming 10th with a personal and NCAA B cut of 1:55.34. His mark places him third on the Hokie record list. Senior Simon Shi won the C heat, going out in his last event with a best time and B cut of 1:57.90.
Dylan Eichberg had a solid 200 fly for the Hokies as the sophomore had a 1:44.85. With the time he hit a B cut and moved to ninth in the Tech record list.
The Hokies wrapped up the evening with a sixth-place finish in the 400 freestyle with Manoff, Hallock, Ivanov and Stone swimming a 1:52.58 to record the second fastest time in Tech history.
FINAL STANDINGS
NC State – 1250 | Virginia – 1089 | Louisville – 1066.5 | Virginia Tech – 898
Florida State – 812.5 | Notre Dame – 803.5 | North Carolina – 630.5 | Pitt – 520
Georgia Tech – 506 | Duke – 421 | Miami (Diving Only) – 197 | Boston College – 134
Gallery: (2/29/2020) 2020 MEN'S ACC SWIMMING FINAL
HEAD COACH SERGIO LOPEZ MIRO
"Today was our best day by far. We knew that today our events were very good with the 200s and the 100 freestyle. We didn't have a lot of people in the 100 freestyle, but Tommy [Hallock] swam his best time by almost .4 and was very close to breaking the school record. That was a very good swim. Henry [Claesson] had his best time too and just missed the top-24 and the finals."
"The 200 back with Forest [Webb], Will [Koeppen], Sam [Tornqvist] and Lane [Stone] in the finals was awesome. [Alex] McMurry this morning did a great job after being out of the pool for five days with the flu and was just back in the water Monday and Tuesday. So it was very good, he was very close to his best time. Then Forest, a freshman, was tearing it up. This morning he got 10th in the prelims, but tonight he won the B final. He came in, beat some really good people and went even faster by like .8 which was awesome. Will Koeppen was very good too. He dropped a lot of time, it was very exciting to watch him do that. Both of them are freshmen which is very good. Sam swam his best time and tonight he tied the school record. He's really close to breaking the 1:40 barrier in the 200 back. And as we've said this week he's had some injury issues this season, so I am very proud of him for staying the course. Lane also had his best time and that is very good."
"I think the breaststrokers were very good. Cobi [Lopez Miro] did a best time. He came in at 2:09.5 and dropped to 2:01. He missed the final but it was awesome. Keith [Myburgh] did an amazing job. We were debating between him swimming the 200 breast or the mile and I am very happy we chose the breaststroke. I think this is going to give him confidence. He dropped like three seconds from his best time from high school. He came back and won that B final, and just did an awesome job. I am very happy for him. AJ is a freshman and did a great job. We still need to work on some details, but he knows it. I am very proud of him for being a freshman and stepping up. The one I would like to mention is Simon. He is a senior and is the heart of this team in many ways. I am so happy that he was able to win his heat and get his best time. He came from behind to win it. It means a lot to him, a lot to the team and for me as a coach that's what you want to see. You want to walk away from your last event in college with a best time and score points for your team."
"I think Tommy [Hallock] in the 100 freestyle tonight was a little bit cautious. This evening he went out in the middle of a lot of waves. He was still was very close to his best time, but was about a second off his best time. So it was still good."
"The 200 fly was awesome; to be able to have second and third. Blake [Manoff] just took it out in a 46 and he broke the school record by .6 of a second to finish second. Antani [Ivanov] did a good job. I'll have to go back and see what we've done because the last few weeks he was saying he didn't have enough power. But he had his best time and had held the school record so that's awesome. We have four weeks before NCAAs, so hopefully we can fix it and he can get 1:40 low. The one that did an excellent job was Dylan [Eichberg], he fought very well. In the 400 IM this week, he took a couple breaths and we were upset with him. But today he came in, he stayed the course, put his head down and went 1:44 in the 200 fly. It's very good for him with best times and got a lot of points for his team."
"The relay was great. We got the second fastest time in school history even after losing the speed of Ian Ho and Jake Lamparella. Two guys that were 42 last year, so we were a second time off the school record. However, we had Antani and Blake that just came out of the 200 fly, and then you have Lane who is not a 100 freestyler by any means. They did an awesome job to get the second fastest in team history."
"I think what I'm most impressed is that we were the best team with energy on the pool deck. That is something we have to be proud of as a team and with the parents in the stands. I think on the last day of a meet like this it is a very tough one. We stayed the course and we performed very well. Notre Dame and Florida State really had a good meet. Last year we didn't expect to be fourth and we got it by one and a half points. This year we got fourth by a lot more points. We're not that far away from the top. I'm not saying that we're near that level yet, but the spread of the points has really gone to every team. Every team now has some good swimmers. For us to have 76.5 more points than last year is really good with the way the points have been spread out among all the teams. Like I always say the future is bright and we're going to keep taking baby steps."
