2025 College Swimming Previews: Versatile Freshman Class Bodes Well for #9 NC State Women

It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2024 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine. 

Note that Ohio State and NC State tied for 9th last season.

#9 NC STATE WOLFPACK

Key Losses: Katharine Berkoff (54 NCAA Points, 4 NCAA Relays), Abby Arens (Texas Transfer – 2 NCAA Points, 4 NCAA Relays), Miriam Sheehan (Arizona State Transfer – 2 NCAA Relays), Bayleigh Cranford (Texas Transfer – 2 NCAA Events)

Key Additions: #2 Erika Pelaez (FL – Free/Back/IM), #3 Leah Shackley (PA – Back/Fly/Free), #13 Lily Christianson (Free/Fly/IM), Bettina Fabian (Hungary – Distance Free), Katya Ivanov (NC – Breast/IM), Lisa Nystrand (Sweden – IM/Breast), Emily Way (Free/Fly/IM), Chase Travis (Virginia Tech Transfer – Distance) Olivia Nel (UNC Transfer – Free/Back)

Returning Fifth Years: None

GRADING CRITERIA

Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.

Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.

• 5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event
• 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event
• 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event
• 1 star (★) –  an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do it

We’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.

Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.

2023-2024 LOOKBACK

Even though NC State fell in the national rankings, they found individual success on both the conference and national stage last season. The Wolfpack women placed third at the 2024 ACCs, finishing behind Louisville and Virginia. They placed at least one swimmer in every ‘A’ final except for the 200 fly and 200 breast, and individually qualified six swimmers and one diver for NCAAs. They lost many individual scorers and relay swimmers from the previous season, including Emma Muzzy, Heather MacCausland, and Kylee Alons, all of whom scored in the double digits in the 2023 season.

Katharine Berkoff, Kennedy Noble, Emma Hastings, and Abby Arens each scored points for the Wolfpack, with Berkoff and Noble contributing a whopping 96 individual points (Berkoff: 54, Noble: 42). Add in Hastings’ (4) and Arens’ (2), and the Wolfpack women scored 102 points individually, which would’ve placed them 15th overall, just behind Texas A&M’s 104 points.

NC State was one of the few top-tier teams to score more points individually than on relays, for two reasons. Their 800 freestyle relay did not swim at NCAAs, and their 200 medley relay was disqualified. Without a false start in the 200 medley relay, NC State would’ve been in a comfortable third place behind Virginia and Ohio State. Their other relays scored in the double digits, with the 400 medley relay placing sixth (26 points), the 200 free relay placing seventh (24 points), and the 400 free relay placing 12th (10 points).

Berkoff and Noble both had phenomenal meets, with Berkoff reclaiming her NCAA title in the 100 back and Noble placing third right behind her. The duo finished in the top three five times, and Noble also won the ‘B’ final of the women’s 200 IM.

SPRINT FREE: ★★★

The first place in which the incoming class of freshmen and transfers will make an immediate impact is in the truest sprint event, the 50 freestyle. It took a 21.93 to score at NCAAs this past year, and freshmen Erika Pelaez, Lily Christianson, as well as senior UNC transfer Olivia Nel all have faster times. Christianson led the class of 2024 in the 50 freestyle, swimming a 21.72 at the Indiana high school state championships in February of this year. Her time is just 0.01 seconds off of what it took to qualify for the ‘A’ final at NCAAs. Pelaez and Nel, with best times of 21.91 and 21.92 (swam in December/November 2022), would have both qualified for the ‘B’ final.

Christianson’s best 100 time is 48.45, and she’ll join the likes of ACC ‘B’ finalists Annabel Crush (48.44 PB) and (48.84 PB) in the event. Nel joins the group holding a PB of 48.42, but she hasn’t broken the 49-second barrier since November 2022. These swimmers will all have to drop some time in order to score at nationals, but even with their current times they will be within scoring range at ACCs.

Pelaez boasts a best time of 47.78, just barely off of the 47.75 it took to return to finals in 2024. However, she’s in a rare situation for an incoming freshman. As a high schooler, she swam three best times (in the 50 and 100/200 backstrokes) that would have scored at NCAAs. It’s unclear which events she’ll swim, but she’s likely to make a considerable impact in whichever ones she does.

The 200 freestyle is a little more elusive for the Wolfpack in terms of NCAA scoring, with no individual qualifiers and the 800 relay missing out on championships last year. Their fastest returners are Crush (1:45.38) and Keelan Cotter (1:47.08), with both swimmers achieving the NCAA B-cut. Pelaez holds a best of 1:44.91, Christianson’s best is 1:48.24, and incoming freshman Emily Way comes in at 1:48.89. It took an individual time of 1:43.78 to score at NCAAs last year, and the Wolfpack will have to see some significant time drops if they’re to score individually.

DISTANCE FREE: ★★ ½

Emma Hastings returns as NC State’s top distance performer, having scored four points for the Wolfpack at NCAAs last year with her 13th-place finish in the 1650. She went best times in both distance events at championships last year, swimming 4:40.67 to place 23rd in the 500 and 15:59.69 to break 16 minutes for the first time in her career.

The Wolfpack women will get a welcome boost from grad transfer Chase Travis, a distance specialist from Virginia Tech. Travis was another NCAA qualifier in both the 500 and 1650, getting 35th and 21st, respectively. She was one of two swimmers to finish ahead of Hastings at ACCs in both the 500 and 1650, as the pair went 4th/5th in the 500 and 2nd/3rd in the 1650.

Bettina Fabian, a Hungarian Olympic team member, will join Hastings and Travis this season to round out their distance crew. She brings a set of 1:59.78/4:07.81/8:37.33/16:29.68 (200/400/800/1500) LCM best times to the table, and she’s coming off of a fifth-place finish in the 10km marathon swim at the Paris Olympics. If she can find her stride and adjust well to yards, she has the potential to score points in the postseason.

BACKSTROKE: ★★★★★

The five-star designation doesn’t get thrown around lightly, but the addition of Erika Pelaez and Leah Shackley in addition to Kennedy Noble places the NC State women in a seriously strong position going into this upcoming season, even without the D1 NCAA champion and recent 100 backstroke Olympic bronze medalist, Katharine Berkoff.

Noble placed third in the 100 back in a very tight field at NCAAs, swimming a 50.54 to earn 16 points for the Wolfpack. It took a 50.99 to qualify for the ‘A’ final, and Noble placed behind Berkoff and Cal senior Isabelle Stadden. Stadden will be taking a fifth year, per her Instagram, but Berkoff has used up her NCAA eligibility. Enter Shackley, the rising freshman who owns a best time of 50.43, a time that would’ve placed second at the collegiate national championships last year. Pelaez will also contribute heavily to this program, with her own best time of 51.12 which would’ve placed near the top of the ‘B’ final. If all goes to plan, NC State will have three near-locks for finals at NCAAs in the 100 backstroke alone.

On paper, the 200 backstroke is somehow even more impressive. Noble placed second at NCAAs last year in 1:48.43, only 0.20 behind Wisconsin’s two-time Olympian Phoebe Bacon (who will be back for a fifth year). Re-enter Shackley and Pelaez. It took 1:51.99 to make the ‘A’ final last year, and the freshman duo have a pair of best times under that mark, with Shackley’s 1:50.21 and Pelaez’s 1:51.54. Suspending reality for a moment, if they had swam these times at NCAA finals instead of their respective meets, they would have scored 14 and 12 points on top of Noble’s 17. That’s 43 points from one event alone, and around 80 points between the two backstroke events.

If Noble continues to ride her momentum from last season and Shackley and Pelaez continue to progress and develop well under Braden Holloway’s coaching, we could see something truly special out of the NC State backstroke group this year.

BREASTSTROKE: ★ ½

Without Abby Arens, the NC State women’s only qualifier in a breaststroke event from last year, the team will look for both returning swimmers Grace Sheble and Aubree Brouwer or rising freshman Lisa Nystrand to fill the spot. Sheble is the fastest returning swimmer in both distances, with a 100 breast of 1:00.78 and a 200 of 2:13.33. While she did hit the NCAA B-Standard in the breaststrokes, her stronger suits lie in the IM and distance butterfly events. Brouwer scored seven points for the Wolfpack at ACCs last year with a pair of C-Final finishes. Her best times from last season stand at 1:01.40 and 2:14.78, so she’ll likely score more points at ACCs but she’ll need to drop some time in order to make the NCAA championships.

Nystrand, an incoming freshman from Sweden, has not yet had any experience swimming short course yards, but shows a lot of potential through her SCM times. She’s been as fast as 1:06.55/2:22.69 in the world of short course meters, times that loosely convert to a 59-high and a 2:08 in yards. Both of which are just off the time needed to qualify for finals at NCAAs. Both Nystrand and fellow freshman Katya Ivanov (1:02.33/2:13.97 SCY) are IM/Breaststroke specialists.

BUTTERFLY: ★★★

Another area where Leah Shackley has the potential to shine is in the butterfly events. Like Pelaez, Shackley is in a very unique situation where she’s posted four times (in both the 100/200 backstroke and butterfly events) that would have scored points at the NCAA finals, but she’s limited individually to three. Shackley’s best time of 50.29 in the 100 would’ve been well under the threshold needed to qualify for the ‘A’ final last year, and she would’ve been around a comfortable third place.

Rising senior Grace Sheble did make an appearance at NCAAs in the 200 butterfly, but was off her best time of 1:54.43 (swam in 2021). Since coming to NC State, Sheble has been as fast as 1:54.75, which she swam at her freshman year NCAAs. Both Sheble and Shackley have best times that would have scored last year, with Shackley’s time of 1:54.07 being within the 1:54.83 that it took to earn a second swim last year. Judging based on scoring possibilities, it’s likely that Shackley will stick to the 100s of both strokes and the 200 backstroke, to maximize her point potential.

IM: ★★★

Kennedy Noble started off her individual NCAA campaign last year with a ‘B’ final win in the 200 IM, swimming a 1:53.72 to score nine points for the Wolfpack women. Three fifth-year swimmers placed ahead of her in the ‘A’ final last year, which bodes well for the rising junior.

Grace Sheble competed in the 200/400 IM double at NCAAs, placing 40th and 22nd, respectively. The senior was just under a second off of qualifying for the ‘B’ final in the 400, and her best time from NC State of 4:04.65 would have placed her comfortably in scoring range.

As seen in the other event breakdowns, the incoming class of recruits has a lot of versatile swimmers, many of which have prominent IM times. It took 1:56.90/4:11.36 to earn an invite to NCAAs last year in the IM events, and while many swimmers are close to these times, we could see some time drops that push a few into ACC scoring and NCAA qualification territory. Erika Pelaez owns a 1:58.63/4:11.53 double (though it’s unlikely she’ll primarily swim these events), Lily Christianson has a 2:00.01 200 IM, and Katya Ivanov lays claim to a 2:01.48/4:18.70 double. As I mentioned previously in the breaststroke section, Swedish freshman Lisa Nystrand has not yet competed in America, and her best times of 2:09.05/4:37.07 (SCM) and 2:14.64/4:45.06 (LCM) could be worth keeping an eye on.

DIVING: ★

NC State’s women’s diving team took a hit, losing their only NCAA qualifier from last year, Bayleigh Cranford, to Texas. Cranford was the ACC champion in the platform event. Another ACC point scorer, Helene Synnott, finished out her fifth year last year, and is no longer eligible to compete for the pack. This leaves three divers on the roster, only one of which– Ashton Zuburg– competed at ACCs last year. Zuburg scored four points. There are no diving recruits from the class of 2024 coming in for NC State.

RELAYS: ★★★ ½

Of the four NCAA relays from last year, the Wolfpack will only return six of the 16 legs of their relays. Including their best 800 freestyle relay of Berkoff, Noble, Cotter, and Crush, less than half of their relay legs will return, with 9/20. Losing Berkoff, Arens, and Miriam Sheehan hurts, but they’ll turn to the incoming freshmen and transfers to deliver on relays.

Erika Pelaez and Lily Christianson feature sprint free times that will make an immediate difference on the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Leah Shackley and Pelaez will have a chance to fill in the backstroke and butterfly gaps left by Berkoff and Sheehan on the medley relays, and Sheble, Ivanov, or Nystrand can assume the breaststroke legs. The 800 freestyle relay is still a little dicey in terms of scoring, but with the potential seen from next year’s team they could make some magic happen. Pelaez, Christianson, and Shackley are likely to make appearances on multiple relays next year, something similar to what we saw from Berkoff and Noble, who were both on all five of the fastest Pack relays.

Total Stars: 22.5/40

2024-25 OUTLOOK

The gaps left by Katharine Berkoff and Abby Arens from last year will be quickly filled by the likes of the incoming class, and NC State will likely once again rely on some big names to score big individual points for the team.

Sure, there are some unpredictable events within this team (mainly in the breaststroke and 200 freestyle), but there’s potential for the Pack to turn things around from last year and resettle themselves higher up on the national rankings again. Kennedy Noble, Emma Hastings, and Chase Travis all have the opportunity to continue to drive their NCAA careers forward, as all have scored points at the highest level in the past and all are capable of doing it again. Erika Pelaez, Leah Shackley, and Lily Christianson can start their collegiate careers off with a bang, each showing great promise for the Wolfpack. The international crew coming in this year have had great success in the metric world, and if they transfer their skills into yards we could see some exciting swims from this favorable recruiting class.

WOMEN’S 2024-25 COLLEGE PREVIEW INDEX