The NC State men's and women's swimming and diving teams kicked off the first of two days of competition against North Carolina and Virginia Friday night. The meet, held at the Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, consisted of nine events, with the remainder to be contested at home Saturday morning (10 a.m. dive, 11 a.m. swim) for the Wolfpack's Senior Day.
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS:
500-yard freestyle
Freshman Emma Hastings claimed third, going 4:49.68. Teammates Yara Hierath and Kay Foley were right behind taking the fourth and fifth places, respectively.
The Pack men's distance trio of James Plage (4:21.02), Ross Dant (4:22.71), and Will Gallant (4:24.47) took the podium with their first, second, and third place finishes, marking the first of three Wolfpack sweeps of the night.
200-yard breaststroke
Graduate student Andrea Podmanikova claimed third in the event (2:13.31), with Aubree Brouwer (2:14.26) and Kaylee Hamblin (2:16.29) finishing fifth and sixth.
On the men's side, four Pack men followed one another, taking the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth places. Conall Monahan led the squad (1:59.91), with Arsenio Bustos (2:00.32), Markus Wennborg (2:00.76), and Sam Hoover (2:01.22) behind him.
200-yard butterfly
Following a fifteen-minute break in Chapel Hill, Abby Arens and Grace Sheble took second and third in the event, with Arens going 1:57.34 and Sheble finishing with a time of 1:57.78.
On the men's side, Luke Miller easily took the first heat, going 1:44.97 for second place overall. Noah Bowers snagged a win to lead the 1-2-3 sweep for the Pack (1:44.70). Aiden Hayes claimed third (1:47.58).
50-yard freestyle
Katharine Berkoff stood as the Wolfpack's highest finisher with her fifth place finish (22.57), followed by Kylee Alons just .03 of a second later for sixth (22.60).
The Pack men proved their dominance in the 50-yard freestyle by claiming three of the top four spots. David Curtiss led the effort with his winning time of 19.28 seconds. Noah Henderson took second (19.58), with Nyls Korstanje swimming to fourth (19.73) and Giovanni Izzo taking sixth (20.02).
200-yard backstroke
Emma Muzzy narrowly edged out the second place finisher to win the Wolfpack women's only event of the night in 1:54.54, with Kennedy Noble just .12 behind for third (1:54.66).
Hunter Tapp easily won the event by over a second, going 1:43.33. Senior Zach Cram took the third spot (1:45.71), with Mikey Moore (1:46.01) and Stephen Conrad (1:47.60) taking fifth and sixth, respectively.
400-yard individual medley
Freshman Katherine Helms led the way for the Wolfpack, taking fourth place overall (4:13.85). Yara Hierath went 4:14.87 to finish fifth.
Freshman Kyle Ponsler took the win, going 3:44.23 for the fifteenth-fastest time in the country this year. Owen Lloyd placed 2nd (3:47.82) and Conall Monahan secured third (3:49.54).
RELAYS:
The quartet of Kennedy Noble (52.21), Abby Arens (59.66), Kylee Alons (51.69), and Katharine Berkoff (48.38) combined efforts in the 400-yard medley relay to secure a second place finish at the start of the session (3:31.94).
The men's kicked off the evening with their first win of the day in the 400-yard medley relay, setting a pool record in the process. Leading off was Kacper Stokowski (46.15), followed by Mason Hunter (53.22), Nyls Korstanje (45.62), and Luke Miller (42.28) for a time of 3:07.27.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Berkoff, Alons, Crush, and Arens went 1:29.83 for second, with the fourth place finish going to Moses, Donald, Watson, and Webb (1:31.65).
Between the A, B, and C relays, the Wolfpack men saw ten men break the 20-second barrier in their portion of the sprint freestyle relay. Curtiss led off the 'A' relay, going 19.33, with Henderson (19.05), Miller (19.04), and Korstanje (18.89) rounding out the squad (1:16.31)
Third place went to Izzo (20.12), Hoover (19.62), Piszczorowicz (19.54), and Tapp (19.57) for a time of 1:18.85.
DIVING:
NC State's divers kicked off the weekend of competition on the three-meter board, highlighted by personal best scores by Renato Calderaro (fourth, 388.55), Bayne Bennett (fifth, 372.25), and Patrick O'Brien (sixth, 348.15).
The Wolfpack women were led by Ashton Zuburg's fifth-place finish (309.05), followed by Helene Synnott (sixth, 300.45), Ren Watt (ninth, 262.75), Mary O'Neill (eleventh, 253.95), and Clara Tate (thirteenth, 252.90).
UP NEXT:
Join the Wolfpack at the Casey Aquatic Center in Raleigh Saturday morning (10am diving, 11am swimming) for the remaining events of the tri meet on NC State's Senior Day.
WOMEN'S TOP FINISHERS:
3-meter diving: Zuburg (fifth place - 309.05)
400 medley relay: Noble, Arens, Alons, Berkoff (second place - 3:31.94)
500 freestyle: Hastings (third place - 4:49.68)
200 breaststroke: Podmanikova (third place - 2:13.31)
200 butterfly: Arens (second place - 1:57.34)
50 freestyle: Berkoff (fifth place - 22.57)
200 backstroke: Muzzy (first place - 1:54.54)
400 individual medley: Helms (fourth place - 4:13.85)
200 freestyle relay: Berkoff, Alons, Crush, Arens (second place - 1:29.83)
MEN'S TOP FINISHERS:
3-meter diving: Calderaro (third place - 388.55)
400 medley relay: Stokowski, Hunter, Korstanje, Miller (first place - 3:07.27)
500 freestyle: Plage (first place - 4:21.02)
200 breaststroke: Monahan (third place - 1:59.91)
200 butterfly: Bowers (first place - 1:44.70)
50 freestyle: Curtiss (first place - 19.28)
200 backstroke: Tapp (first place - 1:43.33)
400 individual medley: Ponsler (first place - 3:44.23)
200 freestyle relay: Curtiss, Henderson, Miller, Korstanje (first place - 1:16.31)
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https://gopack.com/news/2023/1/20/swimming-pack-wins-eight-events-in-day-one-of-tri-meet-with-uva-and-unc.aspx