USC
2004 NCAA Championships
Mellouli, Hilde Top USC Finishers On NCAA Championships First Day
March 25, 2004 | Men's Swimming & Diving
March 25, 2004
USC sophomore Ous Melloui won the consolation final in the 400m freestyle and USC freshman diver Michael Hilde scored in his first ever NCAA event on the first day of the 2004 Men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday (March 25) at the Nassau Aquatics Center in East Meadow, N.Y.
The meet is being competed in short course meters.
Mellouli just missed qualifying for the finals of the 400m free, his prelim time of 3:45.69 just 0.20 off of eigth place. In the comparable event last year, Mellouli was third in the 500y free championship final.
He took out his frustrations of missing the finals this year with a blistering 400-meter consolation final swim of 4:33.33, winning the race in a time that would have placed second in the championship final race. In fact, the time was less than a second off Erik Vendt's school record in the event of 3:42.81 set in 2000.
Hilde finished 13th overall in the 1-meter springboard with 288.85 points. It was USC's highest finish in the event since 1999. Junior Ray Vincent, who was 16th in the event last year (scoring one point), finished 26th with 263.85.
Senior co-captain Trent Staley finished 17th in the 400m free in 3:47.97, only 0.13 away from 16th place and a berth in the consolation finals. Still, the finish was Staley's highest in his USC career. Sophomore Mike Kauffman was 43rd in the event (3:54.83).
USC's 400m free relay of Staley, freshman Viktor Bodrogi, junior Paul Fahey and Mellouli was 20th in 3:41.78
The meet continues Friday and Saturday with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 7 p.m. (EST) both days. Results can also be found at: www.nliac.com.
Players Mentioned
