Day four prelims at the 2017 Men's ACC Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta are in the books. NC State solidified its position at the top of the team standings today by taking the top seed in three of the four events contested, including 1-2 in the 200 back and 1-2-3 in the 100 free. However, the most exciting moment of the morning came in a 200 back swim-off between ​Aaron Greene​ of Louisville and ​Sean Workman​ of Virginia Tech for the eighth and final spot in tonight's final. As both of these guys fought for valuable team points, they crushed their 1:42.03 prelims effort to drop a 1:41.39 and 1:41.74, respectively. Not only did Greene, a senior, get into the A-final, but he also went from being on the outside looking in to likely securing a spot at the NCAA Championships. Stay tuned tonight for the final session of the meet, including the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 free relay.

200 BACKSTROKE 

ACC Conference Record: 1:38.56 (Hennessey Stuart - NC State, 2016)
ACC Meet Record: 1:39.28 (Grigory Tarasevich - Louisville, 2016)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 1:39.87
2016 Invited: 1:41.92

History tends to repeat itself, and tonight's 200 back A-final is no exception. Last year's top three finishers in this event are the top three seeds out of the preliminary heats this morning, led by ​Hennessey Stuart​ of NC State with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:39.59 and followed by his teammate ​Justin Ress​ (1:40.26) and ​Grigory Tarasevich​ of Louisville (1:40.28). ​Robert Owen​ of Virginia Tech, Wednesday night's champion in the 400 IM, is the fourth seed by a very slim margin in 1:40.29. This is truly a toss-up. Tarasevich and Stuart have traded titles in this race the past two years, with Stuart taking the crown in 2015 and Tarasevich claiming it in 2016. Stuart was the only one under the 1:40 barrier this morning, but Tarasevich was Wednesday night's champion in the 100 back and showed off tremendous closing speed in the 400 medley relay, so he will certainly be dangerous. Let's not forget about Ress and Owen, though. Ress grabbed the bronze last year, and Owen looked great on the backstroke leg of his 3:38 400 IM on Wednesday. ​Robert Whitacre​ of Notre Dame will be in the picture as well, posting a 1:40.60 this morning.

​1.) Hennessey Stuart (NC State): 1:39.59 (NCAA 'A')
2.) Justin Ress (NC State): 1:40.26
3.) Grigory Tarasevich (Louisville): 1:40.28
4.) Robert Owen (Virginia Tech): 1:40.29
5.) Robert Whitacre (Notre Dame): 1:40.60
6.) Jorden Merrilees (UNC): 1:41.35
7.) Joseph Clark (Virginia): 1:41.86
8.) Aaron Greene (Louisville): 1:42.03 (won swim-off in 1:41.39)
16th: 1:44.11
24th: 1:46.14

100 FREESTYLE

ACC Conference Record: 41.18 (Simonas Bilis - NC State, 2016)
ACC Meet Record: 41.69 (Ryan Held - NC State, 2016)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 42.25
2016 Invited: 43.05

To nobody's surprise, ​Ryan Held ​takes the top seed in the 100 free with the easiest 42.33 imaginable. Held got off to a great start by popping off a 20.00 at the 50 and then went into cruise mode, basically warming down the last five yards. The bigger story here is that his NC State teammates ​Soren Dahl​, Wednesday night's 200 free champion, and ​Joseph Bonk​ took the second and third seeds, respectively. ​Scott Johnson​ of NC State has a huge swim as well, taking seventh in a 43.10. By snagging four of the eight spots, the Wolfpack have all but claimed the title. Louisville's ​Matthias Lindenbauer​ is the lone Cardinal in the field in fourth with a 42.95, as ​Trevor Carroll​ finished in ninth, just four-hundredths out of the A-final with a 43.15. Outside of Held, this was a ​very tight​​ prelim with second through 11th only separated by three-tenths of a second. 

1.) Ryan Held (NC State): 42.33
2.) Soren Dahl (NC State): 42.89
3.) Joseph Bonk (NC State): 42.92
4.) Matthias Lindenbauer (Louisville): 42.95
5.) Tabahn Afrik (Notre Dame): 42.96
6.) Daniel Speers (Notre Dame): 43.09
7.) Scott Johnson (NC State): 43.10
8.) John Whiteside (Virginia): 43.11
16th: 43.54
24th: 43.90

200 BREASTSTROKE

ACC Conference Record: 1:52.68 (Thomas Dahlia - Louisville, 2015)
ACC Meet Record: 1:52.87 (Brandon Fiala - Virginia Tech, 2016)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 1:52.99
2016 Invited: 1:55.31

​Just like the 200 back, the 200 breaststroke is also looking like a toss-up, with the top three seeds separated by only three-tenths of a second. ​Brandon Fiala​ still has to be the favorite, though, as he is the top seed with a 1:53.36 and the defending champion in this event. The veteran showed off great speed Wednesday night in the 100 by dropping a 51.5, so you know he can get out ahead of the field. ​Moises Loschi​ of Georgia Tech is the second seed with a 1:53.47, and ​Trent Jackson​ of Notre Dame snagged third in a time of 1:53.68. Watch out for ​Carlos Claverie ​of Louisville. The 2016 Venezuelan Olympian is certainly going to be a threat to take the title tonight, as he was the only swimmer in this field to join Fiala in the A-final at NCAAs last year.

​1.) Brandon Fiala (Virginia Tech): 1:53.36​
2.) Moises Loschi (Georgia Tech): 1:53.47
3.) Trent Jackson (Notre Dame): 1:53.68
4.) Carlos Claverie (Louisville): 1:54.33
5.) Peter Kropp (Duke): 1:54.54
6.) Michael McBryan (UNC): 1:54.86
7.) Zachary Switzer (Virginia Tech): 1:55.40
8.) Craig Emslie (UNC): 1:55.43
16th: 1:57.98
24th: 2:00.12

200 BUTTERFLY 

ACC Conference Record: 1:41.06 (Christian McCurdy - NC State, 2016)
ACC Meet Record: 1:41.42 (Christian McCurdy - NC State, 2016)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 1:41.86
2016 Invited: 1:43.65

To say ​​​Andreas Vazaios​ has been a tremendous asset for NC State so far would be an understatement. After finishing third Wednesday night in the 100 butterfly, he took the top seed in the 200 this morning with a swift 1:41.93. Having already been 45.8 in the 100, look for Vazaios to get out ahead of this field and potentially challenge former Wolfpack ​Christian McCurdy's​ ACC record of 1:41.06. He was out in 48.5 this morning, and in order to dip below that record he will need to be out 47 high tonight. ​Zach Harting​ of Louisville will be dangerous as well. He is the 2016 ACC runner-up in this event and has developed a lot of confidence since his top eight finish at Olympic Trials this past summer. ​Benjamin Southern​ of Georgia Tech is the third seed with a solid 1:43.35.

1.) Andreas Vazaios (NC State): 1:41.93
2.) Zach Harting (Louisville): 1:43.15
3.) Benjamin Southern (Georgia Tech): 1:43.35
4.) Kevin Bradley (Notre Dame): 1:43.81
5.) Zachary Fong (Virginia): 1:43.90
6.) Josh Quallen (Louisville): 1:43.96
7.) Tim Slanschek (Georgia Tech): 1:44.00
8.) Frederick Schubert (Virginia): 1:44.35
16th: 1:45.53
24th: 1:47.34