NC State
NC State GAC Invite
Swimming And Diving Wins NC State GAC Invite
11/19/2016 9:05:00 PM | Swimming
Pack dominates in final day of competition
GREENSBORO, N.C.- The No. 1 and 6 NC State swimming and diving teams made a dominant effort on Saturday to earn team wins on Saturday at the GAC Invitational inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
The Wolfpack collectively earned nine more event wins on the final day of competition as the men's squad dominated the eight team field with 2,133 points. No. 20 Notre Dame (1,593) and Duke (1,361) rounded out the top three of the team standings.
Despite sitting in second place through two days of competition, the women's team cruised through Saturday's events to finish with 1,938 points. No. 20 UNC-Chapel Hill (1,845.5) and No. 15 Duke (1,561.5) placed second and third in team scoring.Â
NC State saw another 32 performances on day three that bettered the NCAA 'B' standard time, as well as three 'A' cuts to automatically qualify for the national championship. Throughout the weekend the program racked up 92 'B' cuts and five 'A' cuts as well as 26 event wins.Â
Quoting The Coaches
Swimming
"It was two great team wins for us this weekend at our first-ever GAC Invite. The ladies came from behind to pull ahead on the last day and the guys started off strong and never let up," said head coach Braden Holloway. "We had some great performances by people that always give us great swims, but the best part about this weekend was that we had some great performances by people that took advantage of some opportunities to move up within our conference standings.
"Hats off to our overall team effort. Our distance crew did a great job this weekend and capped it off with some big mile swims. Anton (Ipsen) getting his A cut this weekend to ensure he's at NCAAs is a huge accomplishment. The backstroke crew also had a great weekend and finished up with some great 200 back wins. Alexia (Zevnik) had a big day and won the 200 back and 100 free which were back-to back-events today, and was very impressive to watch. Kayla (Brumbaum) also wrapped up a great weekend with swimming some times that will make NCAAs in the breaststroke events.
"We still have areas that we need to get better in, but I was really proud of our relays. This weekend was one of the best outings we've had in relay events and we really showed our depth all three days. There was a lot of energy on the deck and in the stands all weekend, and owe that to our parent group. They added a lot of support in order for us to be able to host this meet, and we're very grateful for that."
Diving
"Today was a really good day for the divers on platform. Every diver that competed set a personal record," said head diving coach Yahya Radman. "Harrison (Mitchell) broke his personal record twice while making it into the finals with James (Brady). Harrison really stepped it up when he needed to showed a lot of maturity and poise in the finals tonight. I'm very impressed with his progress.
"James also had a tremendous day. He had a lot of prosper, stepping into an interesting situation where he had a simple list. We were focused on mechanics and execution and he did it like a champ. I'm excited to see what he can do when we beef up his listing a little.
"On the women's side we're young and we're still working to build on this program where Rachel Mumma left off."
Wolfpack Relays
NC State capped off a strong weekend in Greensboro with two more relay wins on Saturday, giving the Pack nine first-place finishes out of the 10 relay events swum throughout the weekend. The team's performances on Saturday were both NCAA 'A' cuts.Â
The women's 400 freestyle relay of Alexia Zevnik, Ky-Lee Perry, Krista Duffield and Courtney Caldwell posted a time of 3:13.35, while the men's 400 free relay squad of Justin Ress, Soren Dahl, Scott Johnson and Ryan Held cruised its way to a win in 2:52.28. Ress's leadoff split of 43.54 stands as an NCAA 'B' cut.Â
Top Individual Performances
Hannah Moore and Rachel Muller earned a one-two finish in the women's 1,650 freestyle, as Moore touched the wall at 16:09.65 (B cut) and Muller stopped the clock at 16:25.08 (B cut).
In the men's 1,650 Anton Ipsen tabbed his second event win of the weekend with a NCAA 'A' cut performance of 14:39.63, while Jack McIntyre and Adam Linker completed a sweep for the Pack with times of 15:00.52 (B cut) and 15:04.78 (B cut), in respective order. McIntyre's swim marks the third-fastest time recorded in program history.Â
Zevnik and Mackenzie Glover clinched the top two spots in the women's 200 back, finishing only .80 seconds apart. Zevnik posted a time of 1:53.05 while Glover notched a mark of 1:53.85, as both bettered their NCAA 'B' cuts in the event. Zevnik additionally pulled out a win in the women's 100 free with a mark of 48.08 (B cut), while Glover's 200 back performance stands as the second-fastest time in program history.Â
The men additionally had a dominating performance in the 200 back, as Hennessey Stuart, Coleman Stewart and Ress swept the podium in NCAA 'B' cut times of 1:41.31, 1:42.91 and 1:43.04, respectively. Stewart and Ress's showings stand as the No. 5 and 6 times in NC State's record book.Â
Held completed an impressive weekend with a win in the men's 100 free with a time of 42.40 (B cut), finishing .64 seconds faster than the rest of the field. He remains undefeated through four meets this season.
Kayla Brumbaum won the 200 breast in 2:09.89 (B cut) to sweep the women's breaststroke events this weekend.
Diving
The diving team had two men advance to the finals in its first platform competition of the season. James Brady placed second with a NCAA zone qualifying score of 321.00 while Harrison Mitchell took sixth overall with a personal-best mark of 295.15.
On the women's side Madeline Kline was the top performer as she finished 13th with a score of 182.60.
NC State Event Winners
Women's 1650 Free: Hannah Moore - 16:09.65#
Men's 1650 Free: Anton Ipsen -14:39.63!
Women's 200 Back: Alexia Zevnik - 1:53.05#
Men's 200 Back: Hennessey Stuart - 1:41.31#
Women's 100 Free: Alexia Zevnik - 48.08#
Men's 100 Free: Ryan Held - 42.40#
Women's 200 Breast: Kayla Brumbaum - 2:09.89#
Women's 400 Free Relay: Zevnik, Perry, Duffield, Caldwell - 3:13.35!
Men's 400 Free Relay: Ress, Dahl, Johnson, Held - 2:52.28!
# denotes NCAA B cut
! denotes NCAA A cut
Up Next
NC State will return to action when select members of the team travel to Atlanta, Ga., for the USA Swimming Winter National Championships Nov. 30-Dec. 3.
Players Mentioned
