Duke sits in the eighth place after the first day of the 2007 ACC Championships at the North Carolina's Koury Natatorium. The Blue Devils finished Wednesday with 40 points after completing two relays.
"There were some real fine performances for everybody," head coach Dan Colella said. "It was a good indicator of the days to come when we get into the individual events. Our team did a great job, and I'm proud of the way they started this tournament."
In the 200-yard medley, senior Kevin Arthofer and freshmen Eric Ness, David Hahn and David Carlson touched in ninth, posting a time of 1:32.86 for 18 points.
"I was hoping I was going to do a little bit better," Carlson said. "But there are a lot of chances coming up the next few days, so hopefully I can improve on my time."
Freshman Sean Smith, junior Scott Champagne and seniors Jay Ashenfelter and Jacob McCafferty finished eighth in the 800 free relay with a time of 6:50.98, adding 22 points to Duke's total.
Carlson said the atmosphere buzzed during the first day of action.
"Everybody was excited to be there," Carlson said. "I had fun doing it tonight. It was nice to get to swim against everybody-there was some really good competition."
Florida State and Virginia are tied for first in the tournament, which runs through Saturday. Today's events include the 50 free, 500 free, 200 individual medley and 200 free relay as well as the one-meter dive.
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