Three Records Fall in First Day of ACC Men’s Championships

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina, February 21. THE first day of the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Championships concluded Wednesday evening with three pool records falling. Florida State and defending league champion Virginia went head-to-head in both relay events and enter the second day of the ACC Championships tied for the lead with 74 points apiece.

Three teams are tied for third as North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Clemson tallied 60 points on the day. Maryland and NC State each totaled 50 points to tie for sixth in the team standings, while Duke stands in eighth with 40. Georgia Tech and Boston College complete the field with 22 and 18 points, respectively.

Virginia carried on its tradition, dominating the 800-yard freestyle relay for the eighth consecutive year. Pat Mellors, Rich Hutton, Stefan Hirniak and John Millen combined to set a new ACC meet and a Koury Natatorium pool record in the event, as the group recorded an NCAA "B" cut time of 6:27.08.

Four other teams posted NCAA "B" marks in the 800 free relay, as Florida State's Kyle Young, Alex Kennon, Ed Denton and Steve Roof turned in a 6:29.10 for a runner-up finish. North Carolina came in third at 6:30.18 with Hank Browning, Jeff James, Chip Peterson and Philip Owen making up the foursome.

The squad of Scott Beard, Zac Czaplicki, Kaan Tayla and Gus Calado from Virginia Tech finished fourth (6:32.83), while Clemson's quartet of Brett MacLennan, Dan Mengering, Brian Regone and Bryce Herrington (6:37.60) rounded out the top five in the 800 relay.

In the final event of the day, the top three finishers registered NCAA "B" cut times in the 200-yard medley relay. Florida State took the gold as the foursome of Ian Powell, Billy Jamerson, Corey Swanson and Jarryd Botha touched in at 1:27.71 for the school's fourth title in the last six years and eighth overall. That time also broke the UNC pool record, set in 2000 by NC State.

Bryan Stahl, Vanja Rogulj, Lee Robertson and Greg Imboden from Virginia posted a 1:27.91 to place second in the race, while Clemson's squad of Joel Johnson, Attila Ruszka, Adam Farnham and Mark Vahle came in third at 1:28.45.

Virginia Tech and North Carolina finished in fourth and fifth, respectively. Gus Calado, Jake Bova, Scott Beard and Kaan Tayla swam a 1:29.34 for the Hokies, and UNC's Keith Laabs, Brad Mitchell, Jared Kleber and Rob Swendiman recorded a 1:29.43.

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