Finishes 10th at NCAA Men Swimming Championships
The Cavaliers edged Virginia Tech in the final team standings to earn the point for the Commonwealth Clash. Virginia set eight new school records and finished 10th at the 2022 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships this week at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. Importantly, UVA's 10th place finish in the final team standings edged Virginia Tech's 11th-place finish to earn the Cavaliers a point in the Commonwealth Clash.
Here's a day-by-day recap of Virginia's best performances at the 2022 NCAA Championships:
Wednesday
On the first night of competition, UVA's team of Matt Brownstead, Noah Nichols, Matt King, and August Lamb set a UVA record in the 200-yard medley, finishing 11th in a time of 1:22.97. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Virginia's team of Jack Aikins, Connor Boyle, Justin Grender, and Jack Wright swam the third-fastest time in program history, finishing 12th in 6:14.32.
Thursday
In the 50-yard freestyle, Matt Brownstead broke the UVA record in the prelims with a time of 18.85. Brownstead then broke that record again in the finals, finishing third and earning All-American honors with a time of 18.60. Matt King swam a 19.02 in the same event, finishing 12th and recording the second-fastest time in UVA history.
Matt Brownstead, Matt King, Connor Boyle, and August Lamb swam a 1:14.70 in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the second-fastest time in school history and good for a fifth-place finish.
Friday
UVA's team of Jack Aikins, Noah Nichols, Josh Fong, and Matt King finished 14th in the 400-yard medley relay. Their time of 3:04.39 set a new UVA record in the event.
Senior Casey Storch swam the third-fastest time in UVA history in the prelims of the 400-yard individual medley. In the consolation final, Storch swam a 3:41.34 to finish 16th and earn an All-American honorable mention.
Saturday
On the final night of competition, senior Justin Grender swam a 1:39.49 in the prelims of the 200-yard backstroke, breaking a school record. Grender finished eighth in the finals with a time of 1:40.72. Freshman Jack Aikins broke Grender's new UVA record in the event with a 1:39.26 to win the consolation final of the 200-yard backstroke.
Matt King swam a 41.48 in the prelims of the 100-yard freestyle to set a new UVA record. Then, Matt Brownstead broke that record again in the finals with a time of 41.22. Matt King Swam a 41.34 in the finals to finish seventh in the 100-yard freestyle.
Finally, Virginia's team of Matt Brownstead, Matt King, Jack Aikins, and Connor Boyle finished fourth in the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 2:46.80, the second-fastest time in program history. The fourth place finish was also the best relay finish for UVA since 2012.
Jacksonville University to 1970 NCAA title game against UCLA
His team, led by Artis Gilmore, was one of the most memorable Cinderella stories in NCAA tournament history, Joe Williams, who coached the men's basketball team at tiny Jacksonville University to its greatest glory — the 1970 NCAA championship game against John Wooden's UCLA dynasty — died Saturday. He was 88.
Williams died in Enterprise, Mississippi, while in hospice care following a lengthy battle with cancer, his son Joe Williams Jr. said.
Williams was best known and will be forever remembered as the leader of one of the most memorable Cinderella stories in NCAA tournament history. His 1970 JU Dolphins squad, led by Artis Gilmore, made a stunning run to the NCAA finals, losing to UCLA and coach Wooden in the championship game, 80-69.
"Joe had this dream, in my opinion, to make us as good as we could be," said Tom Wasdin, who succeeded Williams as head coach following the 1970 season, according to the Florida Times-Union. "We were trying to outcoach everybody and found out talent was more important than coaching. We didn’t have guys good enough to play against the big schools."
Williams was an assistant coach at Furman before arriving at JU in 1964. The Dolphins competed in the NAIA for one more season before moving up to Division I.
In Williams' sixth and final season with the team, it made its impressive run, beating Western Kentucky, Iowa, Kentucky and St. Bonaventure before losing to UCLA. The victory gave UCLA its fourth consecutive national championship and sixth in seven years.
Gilmore and Rex Morgan were both All-American players for the Dolphins, which started the season unranked. Gilmore played his first two seasons in junior college before signing with Williams and Jacksonville.
"So we went out and got some very fine gentlemen in [Pembrook] Burrows, Gilmore, Morgan, Chip Dublin, and the rest is history. He turned JU from an NAIA school into a Division I power. Joe never got the credit for being as good a coach as he was. He won every place he went," Wasdin added.
Over 22 seasons, Williams compiled an overall record of 336-231 as head coach at JU (1964-1970), Furman and Florida State University. Williams left Jacksonville after the title game appearance to return to Furman, where he coached until 1978 before heading to Florida State.
What made Williams different was his willingness to recruit Black players to Southern colleges at a time when many coaches still refused to do so, his son said.
"He was one of the first coaches in the South to do that. When Dad would travel with the team, if there was a restaurant that wouldn't let the whole team eat together, Dad just packed the whole team up, and they went to a restaurant where they could," Joe Williams Jr. said.
"Dad was never one to get on a soap box and talk about stuff like that. It was more that he just always did the right thing. ... He went through a lot. He got death threats in the mail. But he just realized all his players were equal and wanted to treat them equally. It was about teaching his players how to be a good human being," his son added.
Williams got into coaching by accident, his son said. Williams was a high school English teacher in Jacksonville until someone realized he played basketball in college and asked if he wanted to help coach.
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