Blue Devils Close ACCs with Record-Breaking Night

Saturday, February 27

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Four at Men's ACC Championship

Blue Devils Close ACCs with Record-Breaking Night

2/27/2016 9:01:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Photo Gallery Program Records Full Meet Results Results

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke swimmers continued to rewrite the program record book and all-time performance list Saturday, wrapping up the 2016 Men's ACC Championship on a high note. The Blue Devils featured a pair of top-eight finishers in the 1,650-yard freestyle and placed four swimmers in the 200 breaststroke finals to round out the meet in eighth place.

A pair of Blue Devils kicked off the last evening session in exciting fashion, finishing one-two in heat one of the 1,650-yard freestyle with strong back-half swims. Sophomore Matt Johnson came in fourth overall at 15:08.84 and freshman Riley Hickman followed in sixth at 15:09.94.

“That was amazing,” Johnson said of the one-two finish. “I saw [Riley] pretty much the whole race. I guess he didn't see me until the last 150. But just finishing and seeing that we took one-two in the heat was major. Coming into finals tonight, we were so hyped to see where we would be, and fourth and sixth was so incredible for the both of us. I'm so hyped for him and I know he's so proud of me. We train together, and it's just been awesome.”

Both Johnson and Hickman came in under Johnson's previous school record of 15:17.88, as well as the NCAA 'B' standard in the event. In addition, Hickman moved up to second on Duke's all-time performance list with a 9:10.99 1,000 split.

“They have been working extremely hard all season long,” said head coach Dan Colella. “Matt was here last year, I believe he finished 13th. To come back and move up like he did and to knock another eight, nine seconds off his school record is just absolutely fantastic. Riley, as a freshman, his meet thus far until tonight was definitely a bit of a struggle. And tonight's swim just absolutely was a real reward for the work that he's put in. To finish like he did, to compete in the ACC that's one of the top conferences, and to be a top-eight finisher here is just absolutely incredible.”

Freshman Max St. George continued to impress in his first ACC Championship meet, taking down a seven-year old program record in the 200 backstroke. The Wheaton, Ill., native stopped the clock at 1:44.17 in preliminaries, surpassing Spencer Booth's previous mark of 1:44.40. St. George advanced to the consolation final Saturday evening, where he placed 12th (1:44.42).

In the 100 freestyle, junior James Peek earned a spot in the consolation final, where he dropped time to take fourth in the heat and 12th overall. Peek's finals mark of 43.53 moved him up to second on the Blue Devils' all-time performance list while freshman Sean Tate (44.42) and sophomore Nick Bigot (44.66) notched the seventh and ninth fastest times in program history in the event preliminaries.

Freshman Judd Howard highlighted a quartet of Blue Devils in the 200 breaststroke finals, leading the way in 10th place. After recording a best time of 1:57.94 in preliminaries, he tapped the wall at 1:57.17 – good for fifth on Duke's all-time chart – to finish second in the consolation final. Junior Peter Kropp joined Howard in the consolation final, placing sixth (1:57.75), and senior Victor Chen (1:59.44) and junior Mike Seaberg (2:00.32) were fourth and seventh, respectively, in the bonus final. Seaberg, who along with Kropp reached Friday's 100 breaststroke championship final, posted the sixth-fastest time in school history during preliminaries at 1:59.89.

A third program record changed hands in the 200 butterfly, as junior Michael Miller reset his own benchmark in winning the bonus final. Miller shaved over four seconds off of his preliminaries swim to go 1:44.41, while junior Kaz Takabayashi followed in fourth (1:48.35).

In the final event of the meet, the Blue Devils' 400 freestyle relay of Bigot, Peek, Tate and junior Dylan Payne clocked 2:55.55 to rank second on the program's all-time chart and ninth in the field. Bigot led off the group with a 100 freestyle split of 44.65, good for a best time.

Duke collected additional points from last week's platform diving competition, which saw freshman Evan Moretti place ninth with an award of 319.90. Fellow rookies Josh Owsiany (295.15) and Lee Christensen (267.90) also scored in 14th and 22nd, respectively.

At the conclusion of the four-day conference championship, the Blue Devils were eighth out of 12 teams with 643 points – over 200 more than the team's point total a year ago. Duke swimmers broke eight program records, seven in individual events and one in the 200 medley relay. That relay group of Takabayashi, Kropp, senior David Armstrong and Peek secured its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship after surpassing the 'A' standard in the event with a 1:25.00 showing Wednesday night.

“We feel really good about the progress we've made,” Colella said. “We've moved up just one spot but we scored over 200 more points than last year. I think it's a real testament to all the work they've put in over the year. And we're looking forward to next year, even though this year's not over yet.”

Team Scores:

1) NC State 1402, 2) Louisville 1067.5, 3) North Carolina 897.5, 4) Virginia Tech 892, 5) Georgia Tech 776, 6) Virginia 737, 7) Notre Dame 678, 8) Duke 643, 9) Florida State 606, 10) Pitt 345, 11) Boston College 192, 12) Miami 92

Top Duke Finishers by Event:

Men's Platform Diving: Evan Moretti (9th), 319.90

Men's 1,650-Yard Freestyle: Matt Johnson (4th), 15:08.84

Men's 200-Yard Backstroke: Max St. George (12th), 1:44.42

Men's 100-Yard Freestyle: James Peek (12th), 43.53

Men's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Judd Howard (10th), 1:57.17

Men's 200-Yard Butterfly: Michael Miller (17th), 1:44.41

Men's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Nick Bigot, James Peek, Sean Tate, Dylan Payne (9th), 2:55.55

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