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The Daily Tar Heel

Tar Heels finish 26th at NCAA Championship

CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, the original version of this story's headline misrepresented the Tar Heels' place in the NCAA Championship. UNC placed 26th in the championship.


On Saturday, the No. 18 North Carolina men’s swimming and diving team wrapped up its season with a 26th place finish in the 2016 NCAA Division I Championships. 

Eight swimmers and two divers represented UNC in the four-day meet in Atlanta. The Tar Heels have relied all season on their consistent senior core to deliver strong performances. 

“This one’s a little challenging because we didn’t do that well,” Coach Rich DeSelm said. “The highlight was definitely the production of our seniors.” 

The 800-yard freestyle relay team opened up competition with a 20th place finish on Wednesday night. The Tar Heels looked to improve in the following days of competition. 

On Thursday, the 400-yard medley relay team of seniors Nic Graesser, Kurt Wohlrab, Sam Lewis, and Logan Heck finished 16th overall in the consolation finals with a time that matched the school record they set last month at the ACC Championships. 

On the individual side, Lewis finished 25th in the 50-yard freestyle, and sophomore Henry Campbell posted a 27th place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. 

Friday saw the Tar Heels move into a tie with Air Force for 24th place. 

Diving was the highlight of the Tar Heels’ performance during the meet. Junior Jack Nyquist took sixth place in the three-meter diving with a score of 409.55, earning first-team All-America honors. 

Also on Friday, senior Sam Lewis placed 16th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 46.01, earning honorable mention All-America honors in the event for the third straight year. 

The Tar Heels finished with 16 points overall in the meet. 

Quotable

“Overall we didn’t achieve our goals, and yet my staff and I are extremely proud of the team. As much as we wish we could’ve achieved more at the NCAAs, to me, it doesn’t diminish the incredible contribution that, especially the seniors, to our program.” –DeSelm on his team’s performance.

Notable

The Tar Heels finished the meet with All-Americas in three events. Jack Nyquist earned first-team honors in the three-meter diving. Sam Lewis received honorable mention All-America honors in the 100-yard butterfly, as did the 400-yard medley relay team. 

Three numbers that matter

5: All five of the Tar Heels’ relay teams qualified to swim at the NCAA Championships.

18: UNC’s finish at the NCAA Championships a year ago. 

59: years since another UNC diver has received All-America honors. Nyquist is also the only diver in UNC history to become an All-America three years in a row. 

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What's next?

This is the final meet of the 2015-2016 season for the team. 

sports@dailytarheel.com