ACC Day Two Prelims: NC State Rolls, Ryan Held Posts #3 50 Free With 18.77

Day two prelims at the 2017 Men's ACC Swimming Championship featured the 500 freestyle, the 200 IM, and the 50 freestyle, led by N.C. State star Ryan Held.

Feb 28, 2017 by Maclin Simpson

ACC Day Two Prelims: NC State Rolls, Ryan Held Posts #3 50 Free With 18.77

Day two prelims from the 2017 Men's ACC Championship in Atlanta are officially in the books. While no points are scored in prelims, North Carolina State has set itself up very well for tonight's finals by placing two guys in the top three of every event, led by Andreas Vazaios in the 200-yard IM and Ryan Held in the 50 free. Look for ACC records to go down tonight and to see if anybody can challenge the Wolfpack.

500 FREESTYLE

ACC Conference Record: 4:10.00 (Matt McLean - Virginia, 2009)
ACC Meet Record: 4:10.00 (Matt McLean - Virginia, 2009)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 4:13.22
2016 Invited: 4:17.73

Tonight's 500 is going to be one to watch. The top four seeds all threw down 4:14s this morning, led by Henry Campbell of North Carolina, who dropped over seven seconds off his season best to snag the No. 1 spot for the Tar Heels. Not too far behind him was Wolfpack duo Adam Linker and Anton Ipsen, who placed second and third in 4:14.52 and 4:14.83, respectively. Rounding out that tightly bunched pack was Marcelo Acosta of Louisville in 4:14.93. Ipsen is the defending champion in this event, so he will certainly be the man to beat. In an interesting move, Louisville took senior Trevor Carroll out of the 500 and placed him into the 50. Carroll has some serious range, so he can be dangerous in the 50. But he certainly would have been up in the top pack of guys in the 500 as well.

1.) Henry Campbell (UNC): 4:14.20
2.) Adam Linker (NC State): 4:14.52
3.) Anton Ipsen (NC State): 4:14.83
4.) Marcelo Acosta (Louisville): 4:14.93
5.) Samuel Magnan (Virginia): 4:17.94
6.) Zach Harting (Louisville): 4:18.28
7.) Aaron Sett (Pitt): 4:18.29
8.) Jorden Merrilees (UNC): 4:18.47
16th: 4:23.44
24th: 4:24.86

200 IM

ACC Conference Record: 1:41.92 (Pavel Sankovich - Florida State, 2014)
ACC Meet Record: 1:41.92 (Pavel Sankovich - Florida State, 2014)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 1:42.15
2016 Invited: 1:44.41

This morning's 200 IM was loaded, with the top nine guys all eclipsing the 1:44.41 required to qualify for last year's NCAA Championships. N.C. State took three of the top four spots led by Andreas Vazaios in 1:41.94, just two-100ths of a second off the conference and meet record. Touching second was his teammate and last year's runner-up, Soeren Dahl in 1:42.32. Brandon Fiala, the defending champion from Virginia Tech, snagged the third seed with a 1:42.59. Vazaios, a 2012 and 2016 Olympian for Greece, has been tearing it up for the Wolfpack and will look to challenge Chase Kalisz's nation-leading time of 1:41.28 from SECs.

1.) Andreas Vazaios (NC State): 1:41.94 (NCAA 'A')
2.) Soeren Dahl (NC State): 1:42.32
3.) Brandon Fiala (Virginia Tech): 1:42.59
4.) Justin Ress (NC State): 1:43.23
5.) Michael Meyer (UNC): 1:43.88
6.) Jason Coombs (FSU): 1:44.03
7.) Robert Owen (Virginia Tech): 1:44.30
8.) Norbert Szabo (Virginia Tech): 1:44.34
16th: 1:45.72
24th: 1:46.65

50 FREESTYLE

ACC Conference Record: 18.76 (Simonas Bilis - NC State, 2016)
ACC Meet Record: 18.92 (Ryan Held - NC State, 2016)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 19.09
2016 Invited: 19.53

All eyes will be on lane four tonight as Ryan Held dives in for the 50 freestyle. The N.C. State junior threw down an 18.77 this morning, good for the third-fastest time in the country this season and just one-100th off the ACC record of 18.76 from his old teammate Simonas Bilis. Look for Held to get down into the 18.5 range tonight and potentially challenge Caeleb Dressel's 18.46 from SECs. The race for silver is a toss-up as the second through eighth seeds are only separated by 17-100ths of a second. This could be a 1-2 punch for the Wolfpack as Andreas Schiellerup is the second seed, but don't be surprised to see any of these guys sneak in there.

1.) Ryan Held (NC State): 18.77 (ACC MEET RECORD)
2.) Andreas Schiellerup (NC State): 19.44
3.) Daniel Spears (Notre Dame): 19.45
4.) Chad Mylin (Florida State): 19.46
5.) Justin Plaschka (Notre Dame): 19.54
6.) Ian Ho (Virginia Tech): 19.58
7.) Jason McCormick (Florida State): 19.59
8.) Trevor Carroll (Louisville): 19.61
16th: 19.98
24th: 20.15