North Carolina State University Athletics
Four Wolfpack Men's Swimmers Qualify for NCAA Championships
3/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
March 13, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State men's swimming and diving is sending four swimmers to the NCAA Championships after a record-setting ACC Championships. The 200 medley relay team of Kevin Velleca, Dan Velez, Kevin Devine and Cullen Jones set an ACC and NCSU team record with a 1:27.46 to win the ACC title. The impressive swim qualified the four swimmers for the NCAA Championship, set to take place Mar. 24-26 in Minneapolis, Minn., with three of the four swimming in individual events as well.
NC State is one of only two ACC teams to qualify a relay, and they will swim in the 200 medley relay in addition to the 400 medley and the 200 and 400 free relays.
"Historically, getting a relay qualified for this meet establishes your program as one of the elite teams in the country," head coach Brooks Teal said. "Relay's score double points, so we are excited at the potential that these four men have to score for us. Qualifying both relay and individual swimmers really shows the direction of our program and should help us continue to build our team into champions."
Individually, Jones will swim in the 50 free and 100 free, while Velleca will compete in the 100 back and Velez will try his hand at the 100 breast.
Velez swam a 55.15 in the 100 breast at the ACC Championship, while Velleca turned in an impressive 48.84 in the 100 back.
Jones won the ACC Championship for the second straight year, swimming a 19.47 in the 50 free, and placing second in the 100 free with a 43.88. He split the 200 medley relay, the freestyle leg, in an 18.69 split, one of the fastest times in NCAA swimming history.
"Dan just missed the team record in the 100 breast at ACC's and Velleca has established himself as one of the top backstrokers in the history of our program," assistant coach Chad Onken remarked. "Cullen will be going up against some of the top ranked swimmers in the world in the sprint freestyle events. It will be a very exciting meet."
"We are very excited to be taking a team to the NCAA Championships," Teal said. "This is the biggest meet of the season and a chance to show the nation how bright the future of Wolfpack swimming and diving is. We have all worked hard to get to this point and are excited to see what this team can do at the NCAA Championships."
