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ATLANTA – In the first full day of competition, the Virginia Tech women fell behind Miami into fifth place, just half a point ahead of the sixth-place Terrapins. Erika Hajnal earned a spot in the top finals heat in the first race of the day, the 500 freestyle, and earned a sixth-place finish for the H₂Okies. Virginia overtook North Carolina to move into first place with 263.5 points, while the Tar Heels have 236. Florida State remains in third with 195, followed by Miami with 159. The H₂Okies hold 113.5 points, followed very closely by Maryland with 113. Duke sits in seventh with 107 points, while Clemson and NC State are tied for eighth with 73 points apiece. Championship host Georgia Tech sits in 10^th with 61 points and Boston College brings up the rear with 30.

Erika Hajnal started off the individual competition with a seventh-place finish in the preliminary round of the 500 freestyle, earning a spot in the A-group final heat. She then shaved over a second off her time, finishing in sixth with a time of 4:43.15 to pick up 13 points for the H₂Okies. Lauren Ritter, who missed the A heat by one spot, finished in 11^th with an NCAA “B” cut time of 4:47.33. North Carolina’s Stephanie Peacock won the race, breaking her own conference record with an “A” cut time of 4:36.86.

Addie Carne was Tech’s lone qualifier for the 200 IM finals, finishing 24^th with a time of 2:05.48 after swimming a team-season-best time of 2:03.21 in the prelims. Layne Brodie took home the title for the Tar Heels, swimming a “B” cut time of 1:57.56.

Heather Savage and Katarina Filova then represented the H₂Okies in the finals of the 50 freestyle, finishing 12^th and 16^th, respectively. Savage tied with Virginia’s Kelly Flynn with a “B” cut time of 23.01, while Filova swam a 23.16. Maryland’s Annie Fittin and Megan Lafferty finished in the top two spots, swimming “B” cut times of 22.11 and 22.35, respectively.

Tech’s Sarah Milton missed the finals of the 1-meter dive by one spot, finishing ninth in the preliminary round with a score of 265.90, to earn nine points for the H₂Okies. Sara Mokhtari finished 15^th with a 255.80, followed by Carissa Santora in 19^th (243.90) and Cara Murnan in 23^rd (223.75). Duke’s Abby Johnston won the event, earning an ACC meet-record score of 361.85 in the finals.

In the men's 3-meter event, underclassmen Logan Shinholser and Ryan Hawkins represented the H₂Okies in the finals. After placing second in the preliminary round with a 407.80, Shinholser dropped down to fifth in the finals with a score of 401.80. Freshman Ryan Hawkins, who was sixth in the prelims (372.90), overtook his teammate in the finals, scoring a personal-best 402.95 and finishing in fourth place, one spot away from the podium.

Savage, Filova, Kaleigh Gomes and Steffi Drechsel finished off the night with a seventh-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, swimming a 1:23.89. Virginia earned 40 big points to pull into the lead, as Lauren Perdue, Hannah Davis, Kelly Flynn and Emily Lloyd swam a “B” cut time of 1:29.21 to win the final event of the night.

The ACC Championships will continue tomorrow morning with the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke. The preliminary round will begin at 11 a.m. and the finals will start at 7 p.m. The men’s and women’s diving competitions will occur between swimming rounds, with the men’s 1-meter springboard at 1 p.m. and the women’s 3-meter at 2:45 p.m. The night will then conclude with the 400 medley relay.

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