NC State Swimming and Diving Sweeps Duke on Senior Day; Stewart Swims 47.1 100 Fly

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The NC State swimming and diving teams swept their second meet in as many days as they closed out their home slate against Duke on Saturday at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center.

Team Scores:

Men: NC State 191, Duke 104
Women: NC State 181, Duke 116
RESULTS

NC State Swimming and Diving Press Release

The Wolfpack men outscored the Blue Devils 191-104, and the women defeated Duke 181-116. NC State got out to a quick start, capturing first-place honors in the first 12 events of the meet.

The Pack swept a total of nine events on the day: men’s 1000-yard freestyle, women’s 1000-yard freestyle, men’s 200-yard freestyle, men’s 200-yard butterfly, men’s 200-yard backstroke, women’s 200-yard backstroke, men’s 500-yard freestyle, men’s 100-yard butterfly and the women’s 400-yard individual medley.

Individually, NC State had six multi-event winners: James Brady, Makayla Sargent, Julia Poole, Eric Knowles, Coleman Stewart, and Rafal Kusto. Sargent collected three titles on the day.

The NC State men swept both distance freestyle events. Knowles (9:03.91) took top honors in the 1000-yard freestyle, and Ross Dant took the top honor in the 500-yard freestyle (4:27.82). The women joined in the 1,000-yard freestyle sweep as Makayla Sargent (9:50.14) led the way for the Pack. Mackenzie Glover (10:08.37) and Abby Kriegler (10:15.04) rounded out the event for the team.

In the 200-yard backstroke, the men’s and women’s teams were the top-three finishers in both events. Emma Muzzy (1:56.77) and Jacob Johnson (1:47.22) earned first place in the event.

The women concluded the individual events with an impressive sweep of the 400-yard individual medley. Sargent touched the wall in 4:12.10, with teammates Muzzy (4:17.36) and Jessica Horomanski (4:24.53) finishing the sweep.

Madeline Kline and Brady wrapped up their home diving careers with first-place finishes at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center. With a 287.70 mark, Kline claimed the top spot on the three-meter board. Brady swept the diving events, posting scores of 327.23 and 348.53 on the one-meter and three-meter boards respectively.

“Today was a celebration for our seniors and their careers with us, but it’s tough to say goodbye,” said head swimming coach Braden Holloway. “It’s a tough day to know that I’m not going to have them anymore, but I’m proud of them. They are leaving this program better than where they found it, and they are great individuals. It’s happy, but it’s tough.”

“There was some good stuff, there was some ugly, stuff and there was some sneaky stuff, but I supposed at the end of the day a win is a win, no matter how you get it,” said head coach Yahya Radman. “I’m really pleased to see how some of our younger kids stepped up when they needed to, but there is also some more work that needs to be done for this homestretch. We now have four weeks to prepare our lists, and set our mental game right. It was a very emotional day to see the class that I recruited for the first time dive in their final home meet.”

Duke Press Release

The 25th/20th-ranked Duke swimming and diving program came up short in a dual meet at No. 6/6 NC State on Saturday afternoon at the Willis R. Casey Natatorium in Raleigh. The women dropped a 116-181 decision while the men fell 104-191.

“We knew coming in that NC State is a premier program, men and women,” Duke head coach Dan Colella said. “We want to learn from the experience and make sure that it doesn’t happen in the future whether it is this season or next season. There are always takeaways but right now I know that we have done a lot of great work this season and it’s time to start preparing for ACCs and NCAAs.”

Duke garnered a bit of momentum before the first diving break when the Blue Devils swept the 50 free. Alyssa Marsh started it off for Duke topping the women’s side with a time of 22.64. Senior Miles Williams and freshman Charlie Gingrich tag-teamed the men’s event to first (20.24) and second (20.84).

Williams continued the movement after the break, posting his second individual win of the day with a 44.36 in the 100 freestyle.

Later in the meet, Marsh led the Blue Devils to sweep the top three spots in the 100 butterfly. The Davidson, N.C., native topped the side in 53.37. Senior Kylie Jordan and freshman Sarah Snyder completed the sweep with times of 54.23 and 56.01, respectively.

Freshman Kate Mullin led Duke on the boards. Mullin, out of Wellesley, Mass., notched a career-best score of 293.78 in the one-meter event to place first and rise to sixth in Duke’s all-time lists. Redshirt senior Lizzie Fitzpatrick was not far behind, finishing in second (282.23).

“The North Carolina meet will be very exciting,” Colella continued. “I know this group will be up for that. Our seniors have been instrumental in helping this program go to new heights. We would love to have a great celebration and competition that day to send them off in style for what they have contributed to the program over the past four years.”

The Blue Devils return to Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 1, for Duke’s Senior Meet against No. 22/16 North Carolina. The meet will begin at noon.

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