North Carolina State Swimming Leads at All-North Carolina Invitational

Photo Courtesy: NC State Athletics

North Carolina State Swimming looks to be in control after day one of the All-North Carolina Invitational.

NC State Press Release:

Opening its 2015-16 season in #STATEment fashion, the NC State swimming and diving team recorded 10 first-place finishes and six meet records on the first day of the All-North Carolina Invitational inside Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Through 12 events the women’s side sits in first place with 527 points, while East Carolina and Davidson round out the top three spots with 489 and 309 points, in respective order. The Wolfpack men also sit in first place after tallying 542 points, as East Carolina and Gardner-Webb are in second and third with 485 and 364 points, respectively.

Holloway’s Statement
“Today was a great way to kick off our season. It was a lot of fun on the pool deck and our team had a lot of energy,” said head coach Braden Holloway. “Several of our freshmen had an opportunity to have their first collegiate competition experience today and did quite well. We had a few mistakes today that cost us some points that we need to get sharper on, but overall it was a good start.”

“We had six meet records, and anytime you break a meet record that’s always a good indicator that you’re off to a good start. We look forward to tomorrow and capitalizing on what we did today.”

Wolfpack Relays
The men’s and women’s teams took the top two spots in their respective 200 freestyle relay events. The women’s squad of Natalie Labonge, Ashlyn Koletic, Krista Duffield and Christine Kerr finished first with a meet record time of 1:32.17, while the quartet of Lotta Nevalainen, Alexia Zevnik, Riki Bonnema and Courtney Caldwell placed second with a mark of 1:32.76.

On the men’s side, the group of Scott Johnson, Simonas Bilis, Soren Dahl and Justin Ress finished in a tie for first place with the team of Jason Deana, Ryan Held, Joe Bonk and Andreas Schiellerup. Both relay squads stopped the clock at 1:19.72 to notch a meet record.

In the 400 medley relay, the women’s team of Lindsay Morrow, Maddie Witzke, Koletic and Duffield posted a meet record time of 3:47.38 to win the event. The men’s squad of Schiellerup, Derek Hren, Held and Bonk also posted a meet record in the event as they stopped the clock at 3:16.81.

The relay group of Hennessey Stuart, Patrick Schwarzenbach, Bilis and Dahl placed second in the men’s relay event with a mark of 3:17.08.

Freestyle Watch
In the women’s 500 free, senior transfer Michelle Craddock swam a time of 5:01.18 to place first in her debut for the Wolfpack.

Junior Kendall Pena and freshmen Allie Fogleman and Anna Jahns posted the third, fourth and fifth fastest times of the event with marks of 5:04.62, 5:05.33 and 5:07.32, respectively.

On the men’s side Ress, a freshman, also finished first in the men’s 500 free in the first meet of his career. He touched the wall in 4:31.36 to mark a meet record.

Teammates Adam Linker, Austin Snyder and Christian McCurdy followed behind Ress with the second, third and fourth fastest times of the event with marks of 4:31.55, 4:34.49 and 4:38.22, in respective order.

In the women’s 50 free, the Pack posted the top four times of the event. Nevalainen took the top honor with a time of 23.45, while Labonge and Caldwell tied for second place with a mark of 23.70. Kerr followed her teammates with a mark of 24.04.

Scott Johnson tied for second in the men’s 50 free with a time of 20.84, while Deana finished fifth stopping the clock at 21.11.

Individual Medley
In the women’s 200 individual medley, newcomer Morrow took the top honor in her first collegiate competition with a time of 2:05.56. Junior Kayla Brumbaum narrowly finished second with a mark of 2:05.74.

Ryan Wilkinson and Anton Ipsen from the men’s squad earned a one, two finish in the 200 IM. Wilkinson recorded a meet record time of 1:52.13 to win the event while Ipsen posted a time of 1:52.53 to place second.

Springboard Action
Rachel Mumma and Gabrielle McDermott earned the top two spots in the women’s one-meter competition. Mumma recorded a six-dive total of 270.30 while McDermott posted a mark of 225.83.

In the men’s three-meter dive, Harrison Mitchell finished third with a total of 256.60 while freshman Stewart Spanbauer notched a six-dive score of 235.28.

East Carolina Press Release:

The East Carolina men and women’s swimming and diving teams are both in second place after day one of the fourth annual All-North Carolina Invitational being held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

NC State leads the women’s field with 527 points, followed by Pirates (489), Davidson (309), Campbell (307) and UNC Asheville (262) to round out the top-5 of the 10-team field. NC State claimed first-place in all six events with four second-place finishes.

Senior Bailie Monahan recorded the Pirates’ only individual medal swim of the day as she finished third in the 200 IM (2:06.45). She also swam the third leg of the 400 medley relay as Julie Lajoie, Megan Sellers and Bridie Burke joined her to capture second.

Junior Ashley Sams claimed third-place in the women’s 1-meter diving competition.

On the men’s side, the Wolfpack sits atop the leaderboard with 542 points followed by ECU with 485 points. Gardner-Webb (364) is in third-place with Davidson (347) in fourth and Lenoir-Rhyne (207) in fifth.

Taylor Berkey posted the Pirates’ lone first-place finish of the day with 269.93 points in the men’s 3-meter diving event. Matt Mullen scored 257.33 points to finish second to his teammate as ECU swept the top two spots.

Junior Fran Krznaric claimed third-place in the 200 IM (1:54.40) for the Pirates’ only medal swim.

Davidson Press Release:

The Davidson swimming and diving program put together a strong performance on the first day of the season-opening All-NC Invitational Friday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

In a pool of 10 teams, the women sit third, while the men are fourth out of eight squads heading into the final day of competition.

Elise Lankiewicz led the way for Davidson as she posted the top finish for both squads. The junior touched the wall just .76 seconds from first place in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:01.94. Lankiewicz also helped Davidson to third place showings in the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.25) and the 400 medley relay (4:00.16).

In addition to Lankiewicz, Kassie Shannon posted a top-10 performance in the 50 freestyle, coming in with a time of 24.42 that placed her ninth. Shannon was also on the 200 freestyle relay squad.

Freshmen Anabelle Durham, Maggie Farrell and Emily Yang made their first collegiate appearance for the ‘Cats. Farrell placed 14th in the 50 freestyle with a time 24.80, while Durham placed 24th with a 25.42 mark. Yang took an impressive 13th-place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 2:12.00 and was also on the 400 medley relay squad that took fifth (4:00.16).

On the men’s side, Davidson posted solid performances in the two relay events. The quartet of Luke Burton, Cameron Bard, Colin MacKay and Matthew Regan teamed up for the 200 freestyle relay and recorded a time of 1:26.04 to place fourth, while Burton, Grant Smith, Chris Cardwell and Bard swam a time of 3:29.07 to place fifth in the 400 medley relay.

Clay Resweber took the top individual performance as he placed sixth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:43.22.

Four freshmen scored for Davidson in their first collegiate appearance. Regan, who was on the 200 freestyle relay squad, posted a 22.33 in the 50 freestyle to place 18th, Matt Bode took 15th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:55.14 and Wilson Clark placed 24th in the 200 IM with a 2:05.28 mark.

Ryan Knohl recorded the top performance for the rookies as he placed 12th in the 200 IM, touching the wall at the 2:00.83 mark.

Campbell Press Release:

Campbell stands fourth after day one at the All-North Carolina Invitational at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

The Camels trail North Carolina State (527), East Carolina (489) and Davidson (309) in the 10-team event. UNC Asheville (262), Gardner-Webb (255), Lenoir Rhyne (131), St. Andrews (118), North Carolina A&T (105) and Catawba (81) round out day one team standings.

The Camels took fifth in the 200 free relay to start off the day, posting a time of 1:38.43. Karah Sizemore (2:11.35) and Caroline Clark (2:11.37) rounded out the top-10 in the 200 IM, while Alice Rigback took eighth in the 50 free with a time of 24.36.

The Camels rounded out the day with a 4:01.81 in the 400 medley relay, taking seventh.

Saturday’s competition will begin with the 200 medley relay at 10 a.m.

UNC-Asheville Press Release:

The UNC Asheville women’s swimming team opened competition at the All-North Carolina Invitational on Friday afternoon, compiling 262 team points to sit fifth overall through the first day of action.

NOTABLES
-The 200 Free Relay team finished in eighth place overall with a time of 1:40.28 (Sanchez 25.61, Jackson 25.29, Woolfe 25.13, Rulevich 24.25).

-In the 500 Free, Galen Broido turned in a time of 5:09.31 and Ale Sanchez finished with a time of 5:15.89.

-Morgan Rulevich finished with a time of 24.83 in the 50 Free race.

-The Bulldogs’ ‘A’ squad finished sixth overall in the 400 Medley Relay (Woolfe – Back, 101.06, Rulevich – Breast, 106.77, Sanchez – Fly, 59.25, van Dorsten – Free, 53.55).

QUOTABLES
“I am impressed with the ability of our freshmen to come in and adjust to collegiate swimming and the team environment so quickly. I am excited to see the team adapting to the training and hard work that we have been doing in the weight room and in the pool and am looking forward to tomorrow as we continue to get better.” – Head Coach Elizabeth Lykins

Gardner-Webb Press Release:

Both Gardner-Webb swim teams got off to a strong early start Friday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, hitting the pool for the first time this season for the 2015 All-North Carolina Invitational.

The GWU men sit in third place after the first day’s 12 events, just off the pace of host NC State and East Carolina. The GWU women are in sixth after the initial day’s action.

The final day of action will begin on Saturday morning at 10:30 am.

Standout senior Nathan Lile picked up where he left off last season, winning the men’s 100 free with a time of 20.83 – less than one second off his best time last season. Lile also helped the GWU “A” relay squad to third-place finishes in the 200 Free Relay (1:24.95) and 400 Medley Relay (3:28.96).

Connor Bos joined Lile in both the 200 free and 400 medley relay finishes and took eighth place himself in the 50 free with a time of 21.56. Luke Denman also had a top-10 finish with a time of 4:46.98 in the men’s 500 free.

Gardner-Webb’s women posted top-10 relay finishes in the 200 free and 400 Medley, with both “A” and “B” relay squads taking top-10 spots in the 400 Medley.

The quartet of Kelsey Williams, Georgie Graves, Lili Toth and Christina Clayton finished the 200 free relay in seventh place with a time of 1:39.00 and Williams, Toth and Graves joined Taylor Schwartz to finish 8th in the 400 medley relay (4:02.16).

Lauren Oglesby earned a top-10 finish in the women’s 500 free, touching the wall in ninth with a time of 5:12.19 – just in front of East Carolina’s Alex Kreager.

London Schumacher was fifth in the women’s 200 IM individually (2:08.65), with Toth close behind in seventh (2:10.71).

Gardner-Webb will get back to action in Greensboro on Saturday morning.

Catawba Press Release:

Catawba opened its 2015-16 swim season on Friday on the first night of the All-NC Invite being held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The field of up to 10 teams is mainly comprised of NCAA Division I squads. The Catawba men earned 129 points and stand seventh, while the women garnered 81 points and are 10th.

Catawba fielded two men’s 200 freestyle relay teams and finished 10th and 11th. The team of Aly Hegazi, Dominic Brus, Robert McCue and Arnold Blohme had a time of 1:30.85, while Jevgenij Gamper, Rafal Baran, Michael King and Ethan Davis were right behind with a time of 1:32.12.

Hegazi came back to finish 12th in the 500 free, the top individual finish for a Catawba swimmer. He swam a time of 4:47.33. Gamper went 15th in the 200 IM (2:01.37) and Blohme was 27th in the 50 free (23.40).

The women got the meet started in the 200 free relay and placed ninth. Amy Cujas, Nadine Brockmann, Palmer Benson and Marcia-Mariel Erhart posted a time of 1:42.03 which was the 10th best time in school history.

Individually, Cujas swam a time of 24.98 in the 50 free, finishing 17th in a time that placed 16th on the all-time chart. Erhart claimed a 17th place finish in the 500 free (5:19.83) and Benson was 31st in the 200 IM (2:22.97).

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