The journey continues for the No. 21 Florida State men’s swimming and diving team as the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships resume in Atlanta, Ga. with men’s swimming. The competition will take place at the McAuley Aquatics Center from Feb. 27-March 2.
The 200 medley will start at 4 p.m. with the Seminoles as the third-seeded squad at 1:25.63 behind NC State and Louisville. The 800 free relay to follow at 5 p.m. Individual events will begin on Tuesday.
“The ACC just keeps getting better and better,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “We have some highly ranked relays and I’m excited to see if our guys can be in the top three. In any event this week it would be great to get anyone on that podium to show that FSU is back.”
Florida State heads into this week with 152 points on the board behind diving, which took place Feb. 13-16. It was the second highest total behind Virginia Tech (193) and highest tally under head coach John Proctor since his arrival in 2014. Senior Dylan Grisell was awarded All-ACC accolades for the first time in his career after taking silver on platform with a score of 391.95.
The Seminoles are one of five teams that finished the season ranked in the CSCAA poll, joining NC State (No. 3), Louisville (No. 10), Virginia (No. 14) and Notre Dame (No. 19) on the list.
Florida State will also be looking to improve on its ninth place finish from the 2016 meet.
Tuesday’s finals will be live streamed via the ACC Network Extra with Sam Gore and the legendary Rowdy Gaines on the call at 6 p.m.
UF Last Chance Invite Concludes
Members of the Florida State swimming and diving teams closed out their season at the UF Last Chance Invite on Sunday.
Newcomer Keagan Finley finished seventh in the mile with a time of 15:58.54, while freshman Connor Thorne followed in eighth at 16:22.70.
Rookie Griffin Alaniz continued his career-best outing, placing second in the 200 back with a time of 1:43.17. His time was a personal best by over two seconds and ranks fifth in FSU history. Sophomore Kunmi Ogunfeibo finished sixth at 1:47.58 after posting a time of 1:47.10 in the morning.
Freshman Paige Schendeelar-Kemp placed sixth in the 100 free with a time of 50.93 after clocking 50.69 in prelims. Sophomore Christi DiPaolo was eighth (51.57).
The Seminoles finished third and fourth in the men’s 100 free as sophomore John Vann led with a time of 44.58 and senior Jemal LeGrand touching at 45.17.
Sophomore Natalie Purnell clocked a 2:14.66 in the 200 breast for the win and freshman Giorgio DelGrosso was third in the men’s event, at 2:05.22.
Both freshman Macie Bearisto (2:01.62) and sophomore Jonathan Ratliff (1:50.43) placed second in their 200 fly races to close out the meet.
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News courtesy of Florida State Athletics.