Peek Paces Blue Devils on Day 2 of ACC Championship

Thursday, February 25

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two at Men's ACC Championship

Peek Paces Blue Devils on Day 2 of ACC Championship

2/25/2016 10:58:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Live Results Watch Friday's Finals on ESPN3 Results

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Junior James Peek broke the program record in the 50-yard freestyle twice and finished fifth overall in the event to lead Duke on the second day of the Men's ACC Swimming and Diving Championship, held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

In the 50 freestyle preliminaries, Peek surpassed Nick Garvy's program record of 19.67 with a 19.57 swim to earn a spot in the championship final. Thursday evening's session saw Peek drop more time, breaking his own record at 19. 54. That clocking was good for fifth overall in the conference.

“I'm really happy,” Peek said. “It's my first time being in a championship final, so to get there and come fifth, I'm pretty excited.”

Senior David Armstrong advanced to the bonus final in the same event, taking 20th at 20.18. That time marked the sixth-fastest in Duke history.

The opening event of the evening saw sophomore Matt Johnson place 21st in the 500 freestyle, as he covered the distance in 4:25.75. Juniors Bradley Cline (1:48.09) and Michael Miller (1:50.92) followed in the 200 IM, finishing 23rd and 24th, respectively. In the 200 IM preliminaries, freshmen Judd Howard (1:48.44) and Max St. George (1:50.48) both went best times to move into sixth and ninth on the Blue Devils' all-time performance list.

Peek and Armstrong were later joined by juniors Dylan Payne and Mike Seaberg on Duke's 200 freestyle relay. The quartet stopped the clock at 1:18.58 to come in sixth place.

“This has been something that's been coming for the last three years, so it's great to see James finally break into that [50 freestyle] A final tonight,” said head coach Dan Colella. “I know he's extremely excited with his performance. He went his three best times today. He was a little bit slower on the relay but it was his third-best and I know it will set him up for a great rest of the weekend here.”

Duke also added to its point total with results from last week's 3-meter diving competition. Freshman Evan Moretti advanced to the championship final in the event, where he scored over 65 points on each of his first three dives. The Scarsdale, N.Y., native closed out his list with an award of 354.15 to take fifth.

The Blue Devil men rounded out Thursday's action ranked eighth in the team standings with 263 points.

Friday's preliminaries begin at 10 a.m., followed by finals at 6 p.m. on ESPN3. Individual events include the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke, while teams will also compete in the 400 medley relay.

Team Scores:

1) NC State 491, 2) Virginia Tech 487, 3) Louisville 383, 4) North Carolina 373, 5) Georgia Tech 357, 6) Virginia 342, 7) Florida State 319, 8) Duke 263, 9) Notre Dame 257, 10) Pitt 210, 11) Boston College 126, 12) Miami 92

Top Duke Finishers by Event:

Men's 500-Yard Freestyle: Matt Johnson (21st), 4:25.75

Men's 200-Yard Individual Medley: Brad Cline (23rd), 1:48.09

Men's 3-Meter Diving: Evan Moretti (5th), 354.15

Men's 50-Yard Freestyle: James Peek (5th), 19.54

#GoDuke