Dune Coetzee, Georgia Women Edge Out NC State & Duke; Luke Miller Shines for Victorious Wolfpack Men

Dune Coetzee -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Dune Coetzee, Georgia Women Edge Out NC State & Duke; Luke Miller Shines for Victorious Wolfpack Men

Three of the top college swimming programs in the southeast faced off Friday afternoon in Raleigh, with the Georgia Bulldogs in town to face the NC State Wolfpack and the Duke Blue Devils making the 30-minute drive east on I-40 to join them, with new Duke head coach Brian Barnes returning to the pool deck where he spent the last several years as associate head coach.

The three programs were split by tiny margins on the women’s side, but it was Georgia emerging victorious thanks to wins in four out of five individual freestyle events plus the 400 free relay. Georgia beat NC State 161-137 and earned a 155-143 triumph over Duke while a tight contest between the Triangle Area rivals came down to the final relay, with NC State emerging ahead 151-149.

Georgia’s women got started with a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1000 free, as Dune Coetzee won in 9:42.19 while teammates Abby McCulloh (9:43.71) and Rachel Stege (9:47.15) came in behind her. Immediately after, Coetzee won again in the 200 free, touching in 1:47.70. Helena Jones took first in the 100 free (49.00), with teammate Bri Roberson second (49.92). When distance action returned for the 500 free, it was Stege taking the win in 4:44.86 while Coetzee (4:45.90), McCulloh (4:47.92) and Jillian Barcyzk (4:50.68) made it a sweep of the top-four positions.

Later on, Georgia’s Zoie Hartman won the most exciting race of the day as she jumped from third to first over the final 50 yards of the 200 IM. NC State’s Kennedy Noble led for most of the race before Duke’s Sarah Foley came up alongside her in the breaststroke leg. But it was Hartman coming from off the pace to pull ahead and touch out Foley by three hundredths at the finish, 1:57.79 to 1:57.82, with Noble ending up third (1:58.52).

The Bulldogs secured their wins with a two-second win in the 400 free relay, with Jones, Sloane Reinstein, Coetzee and Roberson coming in at 3:17.96.

The Wolfpack women were led by Katharine Berkoff, the fifth-year star capturing the 100 backstroke in 51.84 before going 22.56 to win the 50 free. NC State also dominated in diving, with Bayleigh Crawford securing wins on both 1-meter (316.85) and 3-meter (327.40).

The Duke women came out on top in the 200 medley relay, with the team of Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley, Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall clocking 1:38.75 to beat the top Wolfpack squad by four tenths. Gridley then won the 100 breast in 1:00.56, touching out NC State’s Abby Arens (1:00.61) by five hundredths. Gridley would win again in the 200 breast, clocking 2:11.05, with Foley making it a 1-2 finish for the Blue Devils (2:11.66). Martina Peroni got to the wall first for Duke in the 200 butterfly (1:58.30) while the 100 fly saw Duke go 1-2 with Ozkan (52.94) and Peroni (54.13). Pfaff won the 200 back (1:56.57).

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Men’s Meet

In yet another nail-biting matchup, NC State defeated Georgia by three points, 151.5 to 148.5, while both teams cruised over Duke, NC State winning 246-53 and Georgia 243-56. The Wolfpack got an enormous performance out of senior Luke Miller, who took two individual wins while contributing to two relay triumphs.

Miller’s second win of the day, in the 100 fly, was a stunning effort as as he threw down a massive time of 44.17. That moved him into a tie with former NC State star Nyls Korstanje for 10th all-time in the event, and only three swimmers swam quicker at last year’s NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, Henderson got second in 45.57.

NC State dominated the 200 medley relay to open the competition, with Quintin McCarty, Sam Hoover, Miller and Drew Salls clocking 1:23.61. Miller went sub-20 on the butterfly leg before Salls flew home with a 18.75 closing split. Hoover claimed NC State’s first individual win in the 100 breast (53.62). In the 50 free, Miller and Noah Henderson tied for the win at 19.18, with Salls placing third in 19.46 for the Wolfpack sweep. The Wolfpack made a huge move toward winning the meet as Lance Norris swam away with the win in the 1000 free, clocking 8:51.60, and teammates Owen Lloyd (8:53.42) and Ross Dant (8:55.17) went 2-3. Bayne Bennett won 3-meter diving (408.15).

NC State needed every bit of a 1-3 finish in the 400 free relay to nail down the win. The team of Henderson, Salls, McCarthy and Miller got the job done for the win in 2:49.40, with Miller concluding his monster day with a 41.46 anchor split.

Georgia veteran Jake Magahey out-swam the NC State duo of James Plage and Dant in the 500 free, with Magahey winning in 4:15.07 ahead of Plage’s 4:15.74 and Dant’s 4:18.28. Magahey won again in the 200 fly (1:43.88), with Ian Grum taking second (1:44.50). Tomas Koski then swam a strong time of 1:33.71 to win the 200 free, with teammate Zach Hils second (1:35.30), and the Bulldogs went 1-2-3 in the 100 back as Ruard Van Renen blazed a time of 45.19 and veteran teammates Bradley Dunham (46.29) and Wesley Ng (46.47) rounded out the top three.

Reese Branzell dominated the 100 free with a time of 42.55 before the 200 back saw another Bulldog 1-2 finish from Grum (1:40.27) and Sam Powe (1:41.40). Connor Haigh topped the 200 breast in 1:58.23. Hils won the 200 IM in 1:44.85, and Matthew Bray topped 1-meter diving (346.75).

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