Cardinal Men Take Second at ACC Championships; Post Fastest Time in Nation in Final Relay

Saturday, March 2

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

University of Louisville

ACC Men's Championships

Zach Harting hugs his teammates after the relay

Cardinal Men Take Second at ACC Championships; Post Fastest Time in Nation in Final Relay

March 02, 2019 | Swimming & Diving

2019 Men's ACC Saturday Finals Results 2019 Men's ACC Championship Full Results

Louisville won three silver and two golds on the final night

By: Nancy Worley

The University of Louisville Cardinals finished the 2019 ACC Men's Championship on a thrilling note, posting the fastest time in the nation in their 400 Free Relay gold medal Saturday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

With three silver and two golds on the final night, UofL fought off a hard-charging Virginia team to claim the runners-up slot with 1135.5 points. NC State took top honors with 1,396. The Cavaliers took third with 1108 ahead of Virginia Tech (820.5), Florida State (819), Notre Dame (687), Duke (624), Georgia Tech (550), Pitt (508), North Carolina (388.5), Miami (161) and Boston College (159).

In the final event of the four day meet, the Cardinals topped off a stellar showing, throwing down a 2:48.35 in the 400 free relay for the fastest time in the country to date. Nick Albiero led off with a split of 42.84, followed by Andrej Barna (41.93) and Bartosz Piszczorowicz (42.08), then Zach Harting, fresh off the 200 fly, anchored in 41.50, giving the Cardinals a 0.16s margin of victory. Harting had to duel the 100 freestyle individual gold (FSU's Kanoa Kalealoha) and bronze medallist (NC State's Justin Ress) for the win that ESPN analyst Rowdy Gaines called the upset of the meet.

In the first event of the evening, senior Marcelo Acosta took silver in the 1650 with a 14:40.19 just behind Virginia's Brendan Casey, who clocked in a 14:37.50. Also in the A-final, T.C. Smith posted a 15:09.38 with teammate Graham Barrett going 15:12.61 and Hayden Curley checking in with a 15:03.54. Freshman Colton Paulson posted a time of 15:15.88.

Freshman Mitchell Whyte turned in a silver medal performance in the 200 backstroke with a 1:40.39 (an invited time from 2018). Nikkos Sofianidis posted a 1:45.11 in the B-final for the Cards. Coleman Stewart successfully his backstroke sweep for the second straight year as the junior led from wire to wire with the winning time of 1:39.10.

In the 100 freestyle, Andrej Barna stopped the clock at 42.63 in the B-final which was an invited time from 2018. Matyi Kovacs turns in a 44.24 in the C-final. Bartosz Piszczorowicz touched fifth in the B-final with a 43.0. The gold medalist was Kanoa Kaleoaloha, who win the 100 free A-final in 42.34.

Evgenii Somov was back on the podium when he touched second in the A-final of the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:53.26. Teammate Keegan Foulke carved more time off his 200 breast with a 1:56.61 in the B-final for fourth. Georgia Tech's Caio Pumputis took home the gold with a time of 1:51.46, breaking the meet and ACC record by almost a second.

Louisville's own Nick Albiero won gold in the 200 butterfly chasing down Andreas Vaszios of NC State, who won the NCAA Championship in the event in 2018, Albiero reset his own Meet Record and making can NCAA A-cut. Zach Harting touched fifth in the 200 fly with a 1:42.10 (an invited time from 2018). Cardinal Jarrett Jones turned in a 1:44.32 and Daniel Sos posted a 1:45.68 in the C-final of the 200 butterfly.