NC State Divers Lead Wolfpack Against UNC Wilmington

RALEIGH, North Carolina, November 10. THE North Carolina State University women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams continued what has been a very successful season thus far by sweeping the University of North Carolina – Wilmington yesterday afternoon in Raleigh. The Wolfpack divers were especially impressive, sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter on both the men’s and women’s side and posting several personal bests.

North Carolina State Press Release

The NC State swimming & diving team captured a pair of victories against nonconference foe UNC Wilmington on Saturday at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center. The 10th-ranked Wolfpack men’s team defeated the Seahawks, 180-107, while the 13th-ranked State women’s squad downed UNCW, 166-112.

The Wolfpack women’s squad improves to 5-1 for the season, while the men’s squad improves to 3-2.

“I thought overall we were a little better today than yesterday, which is a good sign,” said head coach Braden Holloway. “We finished up a good, productive week of training with two good competitions. UNC Wilmington has some good strengths that really challenged us today.”

Overall, the Wolfpack claimed four relay victories and 16 individual wins throughout the afternoon. In addition, the Pack divers swept the diving events.

“We decided to explore a little today and had some people contribute outside of their main areas,” Holloway stated. “I was excited to see a little more spirit on the pool deck.”

The afternoon started with the Wolfpack men’s and women’s squads claiming first and second place honors in the 200 medley relay. On the women’s side, Ashlyn Koletic, Hannah Freyman, Alexia Zevnik and Lotta Nevalainen teamed up to capture first place with a time of 1:43.19. The men’s competition saw Andreas Schiellerup, Ian Bishop, Barrett Miesfeld and Jonathan Boffa touch the wall first in 1:28.86.

The Wolfpack divers swept the competition on the one meter and three meter springboards. Madeline Keeley captured the women’s one meter (234.15) and three meter springboard (272.85) competition, while freshman Gabrielle McDermott posted a second place finish in the one meter (225.75) and three meter springboard (221.25) competitions, respectively. On the men’s side, freshman Grant Saale captured the one meter (299.70) and the three meter (322.20).

“I thought this weekend went great for the divers,” said head diving coach Josh Karshen. “They dove consistently and dove well. Despite winning or losing, we had personal bests and people just dove the way they were supposed to. I was really happy with our results. I think we had three personal bests. They are just getting better as we progress throughout the season.”

Individually, Freyman led the women’s squad with two victories on the day. The junior captured first-place honors in the women’s 100 freestyle, touching the wall in 50.94. In the 100 backstroke, Freyman cruised to a first-place finish with a time of 55.72.

On the men’s side, Christian McCurdy led the way posting two victories in the 1000 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, respectively. In the 1000 freestyle, McCurdy posted a time of 9:26.24 and a time of 4:31.74 in the 500 freestyle.

The Wolfpack closed the weekend with a victory in the men’s and women’s 200 freestyle relay. Lauren Poli, Nevalainen, Koletic and Riki Bonnema teamed up to set a new pool record with a time of 1:31.74. On the men’s side, Scott Johnson, Jason Deana, Matt Thomas and Jonathan Boffa took first place honors with a time of 1:23.04.

“We did better in executing the things that we needed to focus on for each person,” Holloway said. “The adjustments were good today and I was happy with that.”

Up next, the Pack will travel to nearby Chapel Hill, N.C., to compete in the Nike Cup Invitational Nov. 21-23.

UNC Wilmington Press Release

NC State won the first 20 events combined between the men and women’s meets and coasted to a sweep of UNCW on Saturday in swimming and diving action at the Casey Aquatic Center.

The Seahawks fell 193-97 in the men’s meet and 212-78 in the women’s.

Junior Hannah Stephenson earned UNCW’s first win of the meet with a first-place showing in the 200 Backstroke.

Fellow junior Valtteri Halonen won the 200 Back in the men’s meet to give the Seahawks a sweep of the event.

Reigning CAA Diver-of-the-Week Allen Crosby finished second in both the 1 and 3-meter dives.

The men’s 200 Freestyle Relay of Drew Gaertner, Alex Labonge, Gabe Thran and Joe Gallene placed second with a time of 1:23.04.

The Seahawks next return to the pool as they close out the fall semester schedule at the Patriot Invitational on Nov. 21-23.

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