CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Lady H₂Okies opened the 2010 ACC Championships by competing in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relay events and setting a new school record on Wednesday evening at the Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The women, who have dominated in the relay events all season, put forth an impressive performance to earn second-place in the 800 freestyle relay. Katarina Filova, Kelly deMarrais, Erika Hajnal and Lauren Ritter teamed up for a second-place finish in 7:06.93, an NCAA “B” qualifying cut and a Virginia Tech school record. They smothered their former school record of 7:15.10, and beat the third-place finisher by nearly four seconds. Virginia took first in 7:04.74, while Florida State and North Carolina took third and fourth.

In the 200 medley relay, Steffi Drechsel, Jessica Earl, Abby Barney and Emily Ferguson teamed together to post the Hokies’ quickest finish of the season in 1:42.59, finishing in eighth-place with an NCAA "B" mark. Virginia took the gold with an NCAA “A” qualifying time of 1:37.33, while North Carolina and Maryland rounded out the top three, respectively.

After day one and just two events, the Lady H₂Okies sit in fifth with 56 points. Virginia is in first with 80 points, followed by North Carolina with 64 points.

The women will return for day two tomorrow to compete in the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay and the one-meter diving, while the men’s three-meter diving will occur throughout the afternoon.