{"id":627561,"date":"2025-11-22T23:58:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=627561"},"modified":"2025-11-22T23:58:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:58:41","slug":"erika-pelaez-blasts-200-back-as-nc-state-pulls-away-to-complete-invitational-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/erika-pelaez-blasts-200-back-as-nc-state-pulls-away-to-complete-invitational-sweep\/","title":{"rendered":"Erika Pelaez Blasts 200 Back as NC State Pulls Away to Complete Invitational Sweep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erika Pelaez Blasts 200 Back as NC State Pulls Away to Complete Invitational Sweep<\/strong><\/p>\n

The North Carolina State Wolfpack continued to wrack up wins at the team’s invitational in Greensboro Saturday, finishing off a dominant performance across the three days of racing. The women’s team won the meet with 1781.5 points, almost 200 clear of Auburn (1579.5) with Duke in third (1038). The men’s performance was more dominant, scoring 1765 points to surpass Auburn (1367) and Arizona (1037).<\/p>\n

Star Wolfpack sophomores\u00a0Erika Pelaez<\/strong> and\u00a0Leah Shackley<\/strong> delivered standout efforts in the 200 backstroke, with both going under the 1:50-barrier. Pelaez was the surprise winner in 1:49.18, about a half-second clear of Shackley’s 1:49.67. Duke’s Ali Pfaff\u00a0<\/strong>placed third (1:51.99). Pelaez also contributed to a dominant NC State win in the 400 freestyle relay, notching a 47.37 anchor split following legs from Cassie Moses<\/strong>,\u00a0Lily Christianson<\/strong> and\u00a0Lily King<\/strong>. The team clocked 3:11.45 to beat out Duke (3:15.30) and Auburn (3:15.36).<\/p>\n

Moses came out on top in a tight 100 free final, clocking 47.81 to beat Auburn’s Lisa Klevanovich<\/strong> (47.82) by one hundredth. Duke’s\u00a0Tatum Wall<\/strong> also broke 48 (47.98). NC State’s\u00a0Teia Salvino<\/strong> placed first in the 200 IM in 1:58.15. Auburn’s\u00a0Zoey Zeller<\/strong> was also under 2:00 with a second-place time of 1:58.70, and BYU’s\u00a0Lucy Warnick<\/strong> took third (2:00.52).<\/p>\n

The fastest time in the women’s 1650 free belonged to George Washington’s\u00a0Ava Topolewski<\/strong> at 16:18.61 ahead Virginia Tech’s Bengisu Caymaz<\/strong> (16:22.78) and NC State’s\u00a0Katherine Helms<\/strong> (16:26.72). Auburn pulled off a 1-2 finish in the 200 butterfly as\u00a0Taylor Bacher<\/strong> won in 1:56.13 while\u00a0Carissa Rinard<\/strong> edged Duke’s\u00a0Martina Peroni<\/strong> for second, 1:57.91 to 1:57.95.<\/p>\n