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ATLANTA – The Virginia Tech men’s swimmers kicked off the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships tonight, hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga., with two relay events. The H₂Okies picked up a fourth and seventh place finish, putting them in fifth place with 54 points after the first round of competition. Virginia and Clemson sit in a tie for first with 72 points apiece, followed by North Carolina in third (68) and Florida State in fourth (56).

Virginia Tech opened the competition with a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Charlie Higgins led off for the H₂Okies, followed by Nevin Cook and Greg Mahon, with senior Rich Ulatowski holding down the anchor position. The squad picked up 30 points for Tech with a season-best time of 1:27.67. Clemson’s Chris Dart, Mark Schindler, Seth Broster and Eric Bruck took first in the race, finishing in 1:26.34.

The H₂Okies then participated in the 800 freestyle relay, taking seventh. Zach McGinnis started it off, followed by Nick Tremols, Blake Trabuchi-Downey and Matt Baumler. The squad earned 24 points, swimming a “B” cut time of 6:33.70. Virginia captured the title in the event, as Matt McLean, Taylor Smith, David Karasek and Scot Robison earned an NCAA “A” cut time of 6:16.75.

The first full day of competition kicks off tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. with the preliminary rounds of the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back. The finals for those five events will then begin at 7 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).