2008 All-Met Swimmer of the Year Eric Friedland won two Big 12 titles this weekend for Texas. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The University of Virginia’s men’s team won its third consecutive ACC championship this weekend, totaling 806 points behind top performances from several local products — ahead of second-place UNC (656.5) and Florida State (566.5).

Virginia Tech finished fourth with 417.5 points, while Maryland took eighth with 197 points.

Potomac Falls product Matt McLean took home titles in the 500 freestyle (NCAA ‘B’ standard 4:17.21) and was second in the 200 freestyle with an NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 1:34.76.

McLean took third in the 1650 freestyle with a NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 14:56.91.

Former All-Met Swimmer of the Year Josh Hafkin (Georgetown Prep) finished 20th in the 50 freestyle (20.65), sixth in the 100 backstroke (48.39) and 18th in the 200 backstroke (1:47.87).

Maryland’s Andrew Relihan (Georgetown Prep) finished seventh in the 200 IM (NCAA ‘B’ standard 1:47.69), ninth in the 400 IM (NCAA ‘B’ standard 3:52.88) and 10th in 200 backstroke (1:46.67).

North Carolina’s Andy Brake (Lake Braddock) took 20th in the 200 IM (1:51.05), fourth in the 400 IM (NCAA ‘B’ standard 3:50.75) and 17th in the 200 butterfly (1:49.26).

Among other locals (of which there were many): Boston College’s Sean Heffernan (Gonzaga), N.C. State’s Kevin Vallario (Good Counsel), Maryland’s Sean Stewart (Wootton), North Carolina’s Brock Park (Landon) and Robert Grimmett-Norris (Georgetown Prep), Virginia Tech’s Mikey McDonald (W.T. Woodson), Phil LaRosa (Osbourn) and Logan Shinholser (Paint Branch), U.-Va.’s Briggy Imbriglia (Ireton) and Duke’s Ben Tuben (Jefferson).

Local Longhorns perform well at Big 12s

Several area alums had strong weeks at the Big 12 championships for Texas.

Former Yorktown standout and two-time All-Met Maren Taylor finished fourth in one-meter and three-meter diving and third in platform diving in her first collegiate championships, as the No. 3 Longhorns took second at the meet.

Diving teammate and Whitman alum Matt Cooper finished second in three-meter diving and took the platform diving title with a score of 434.60.

2008 All-Met Swimmer of the Year Eric Friedland (Walter Johnson) also had a standout meet. The sophomore won Big 12 titles in the 100 breaststroke with a NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 53.44 and the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:54.32. He also finished fifth in the 200 IM with a NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 1:46.72.

Friedland’s time in the 200 breast set a new meet record and was the fastest time registered in college swimming this year. The mark broke the previous meet record of 1:54.41 set last season by Texas’ Agustin Magruder.

The two titles were the first of Friedland’s career, as No. 1 Texas claimed its 31st consecutive conference title.

Danner, Knight named CAA’s top championship swimmers

Both 2008 All-Met Swimmer of the Year Ashley Danner (Lake Braddock) and Westfield grad Eric Knight earned CAA Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Championships honors for the second time in their respective careers.

Danner, in addition to her titles in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, also earned an automatic bid to the NCAA championships with a record-breaking time of 2:08.66 in the 200 breaststroke.

Knight, who took a medical redshirt last season after winning the top honor in 2007-08, finished fourth in the 50 freestyle (20.13) and won titles in the 100 freestyle (record and NCAA ‘B’ standard 44.06), 200 freestyle (record and NCAA ‘B’ standard 1:35.85).

George Mason’s men’s team took second place while the women finished fifth.

Towson’s Meredith Budner (Walter Johnson) equaled Danner’s leading point total on the weekend, while Yorktown grad Katie Radloff was third with 57 points. O’Connell grad Maggie Macedonia was tied for 19th with 34 points.

Mason freshman David Kiss, a two-time All-Met at Edison, finished seventh with 50 points, while Mount Vernon grad Bryan Bahr was 15th with 36.

Oakton’s Pawlowicz up for USA Swimming Race of the Week honors

All-Met Oakton junior Kaitlin Pawlowicz‘s national high-school-record-breaking 200-meter individual medley is up for USA Swimming’s race for the week honors.

You can vote for Pawlowicz here.

Local clubs earn national honors

North Baltimore Aquatic Club, the home of Olympic legend Michael Phelps, was named the 2010 Club Excellence Title by USA Swimming by scoring 56,155 points – just 2,420 points ahead of Swim Atlanta.

Curl-Burke finished sixth with 32,685 points, while Rockville Montgomery Swim Club took 14th with 25,984 points. It was the first time RMSC achieved Gold level.

According to the USA Swimming release, the “2010 program results are based on performances in the 2009 calendar year. Clubs have been selected as Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal clubs according to the following parameters: Gold Level: The top 16 point-scoring clubs eligible for the Gold level. Silver Level: The remaining clubs ranked through #100 and/or not achieving Gold status. Bronze Level: Clubs ranked #101 through #200 and/or not achieving Gold or Silver status.”

The Fish qualified for gold medal status for 2009-10 by having an athlete on the 2008 Olympic team.

QDD Swim Team finished with silver medal status, while Machine Aquatics, Arlington Aquatic Club and Naval Academy Aquatic Club earned bronze medal status.