The Atlantic Coast Conference has been one of the toughest conferences in swimming all season. The Blue Devils got their final shot at the rest of the ACC over the weekend, but could manage no better than a last-place finish at the ACCs held in College Park, Md.
The highlight of the meet for Duke was the performance turned in by the four-man relay team of Brendan McGill, Clint McHugh, Jack Newhouse and Matt Lynch. This team earned points for the Blue Devils in both the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relay.
"Overall I think it was a really good meet for our team," McGill said. "We had some guys that turned in some great swims for us."
Duke tallied 113 points for the weekend, 79.5 shy of seventh-place Georgia Tech. Despite not placing in many events, the Blue Devils did not see it as a complete loss.
"I think we had some people that wanted to have some better times than they got," McGill said. "We are not disappointed about not placing, though, because this is a really tough conference. Some of the other teams swam some great times."
Virginia narrowly squeezed out the title, holding off a late charge by Florida State for the victory, 704-697.5. The win by Virginia broke a streak of six straight wins by North Carolina, who finished third overall.
Duke pulled within 31 points of Georgia Tech after six events, due to a strong showing in the 400-yard medley relay. The team of Chris Fleizach, Mark Rotblat, Newhouse and McHugh earned 22 points for the Blue Devils with a time of 3:26.40.
"We had one of our hardest training seasons ever," McGill said. "We may have been a little tired and worn down this weekend, which is possibly why some of our times weren't as fast as we expected."
Although Duke struggled against the stiff competition of the ACC, it will use this experience to prepare for next season.
"This meet gives us an opportunity to see where we are and what we need to do for next season," McGill said. "We will set some goals for ourselves and look to move forward in the upcoming year."
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