Vahle Leads Clemson Swimming and Diving Into Sixth Place After Day Two

Feb. 23, 2006

College Park, MD- The finals session ended with a bang Thursday night. Clemson touched the wall in third place in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:20.75. The team of Mark Vahle, Stephen Russell, Matt Balderston, and Brian Regone recorded the second fastest time in Clemson history in the event. N.C. State and Florida State took the top two spots.

In the first heat of the night, sophomore Sean Geary (4:30.89) recorded a season fastest time in the 500 freestyle. Senior Jonathan Mengering won the consolation finals heat of the 500 freestyle. Mengering posted a season fastest time of 4:24.79, which was an NCAA Provisional Qualifying time.

Next, Attila Ruszka competed in the finals of the 200 IM. He swam a time of 1:50.75 on his way to a seventh place finish. In the consolation finals, Andy Bergren (1:50.72) finished 11th, and senior Jordan Raynovich (1:50.87) swam a career fastest time to finish 13th.

In the 50 freestyle, Mark Vahle fought his way into a tie for second place. He shared the silver medal with Daniel Gray (Maryland), both posting a time of 19.91. They finished behind Cullen Jones from N.C. State who broke the conference record with a time of 19.08. Vahle broke the school record during the preliminary heats with a time of 19.66. Teammate Stephen Russell swam a career best time of 20.76 to finish second in the bonus consolation heat, 18th overall. Matt Balderston also competed in the bonus consolation heat, finishing 22nd with a time of 21.03.

Clemson stands in sixth place overall after two days. The Tigers, with 141.5 points trail the leader Florida State (237) by 95.5 points. Virginia (217) stands in second, ahead of North Carolina (164.5) who is in third. Georgia Tech (158.5) occupies the fourth spot, and the Wolfpack from N.C. State stand in fifth. Then come the Tigers, and Virginia Tech (126) in seventh. Maryland (118.5), Duke (54), Boston College (42), and Miami (20) round out the standings.

Clemson has a big chance to move up in the standings tomorrow. They will compete in the preliminary heats of the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke. The fourth session of the ACC Championships will start at 11 am from the Campus Recreation Center in College Park, MD.