2025 Wolfpack Elite Invite: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2025 WOLFPACK ELITE INVITE

• November 20-22, 2025
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center — Greensboro, NC
• When: 9:30 am ET prelims/5:30 pm ET finals
• Participating Teams: NC State, Virginia Tech, Army, Duke, Arizona, Auburn, George Washington, BYU
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2025 NCSU Invite”
• Live Stream
• Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1

We’re back at the Greensboro Aquatic Center for the second night of finals at the 2025 Wolfpack Elite Invitational. Tonight, we’ve got finals of the 400 medley relay, 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle, 50 freestyle, and 800 freestyle relay.

Catch the live stream below.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay — Timed Finals

• NCAA Record: 3:20.20, Virginia (2025 NCAA Championships)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:30.89
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:32.51

Top 8:

1. NC State ‘A’ — 3:26.44 NCAA ‘A’ Standard
2. Duke ‘A’ — 3:30.58 NCAA ‘A’ Standard
3. Auburn ‘A’ — 3:30.92
4. Arizona ‘A’ — 3:33.98
5. Virginia Tech ‘A’ — 3:34.45
6. Auburn ‘B’ — 3:36.43
7. NC State ‘B’ — 3:36.81
8. Arizona ‘B’ — 3:37.82

The Wolfpack got the session started with a win thanks to the quartet of Erika Pelaez, Eneli Jefimova, Leah Shackley, and Cassie Moses. Pelaez skipped the individual 100 backstroke in favor of the 500 freestyle in prelims; however, she got her shot at it on this relay. Pelaez led off the relay in 50.44, then the freshman Efimova clocked 58.18 on the breaststroke leg.

Shackley (who we will see in the 100 backstroke) took over the butterfly duties, turning in 50.48 while Moses anchored in 47.37. They stopped the clock at 3:26.44, a season-best for NC State. It’s well under the NCAA ‘A’ standard as well.

Duke’s squad of Ali Pfaff (51.91), Kaelyn Gridley (58.13), Heather White (52.87), and Tatum Wall (47.67) joined NC State under that threshold, swimming 3:30.58. Gridley’s breaststroke leg proved to be the difference between 2nd and 3rd place, as Duke edged out the Tigers by about four-tenths. Auburn’s team of Lora Komoroczy (51.98), Zoey Zeller (59.63), Isabel Iwasyk (52.35), and Lisa Klevanovich (46.96) narrowly missed the ‘A’ cut with a 3:30.92.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay — Timed Finals

• NCAA Record: 2:55.66, Florida (2025 SEC Championships)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:04.96
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:06.20

Top 8: 

1. NC State ‘A’ — 3:01.81 NCAA ‘A’ Standard
2. Auburn ‘A’ — 3:03.70 NCAA ‘A’ Standard
3. Arizona ‘A’ — 3:04.97
4. Auburn ‘B’ — 3:05.48
5. BYU ‘A’ — 3:08.39
6. Arizona ‘B’ — 3:08.60
7. Army ‘A’ — 3:08.78
8. Virginia Tech ‘B’ — 3:10.34

The fastest timed final was all about NC State, who tore to the win in a resounding 3:01.81. Hudson Williams cleared 45-seconds in the 100 backstroke for the first time in his career this morning. He backed that swim up tonight with a 44.49 lead off effort for the Wolfpack. That swim was faster that the 44.65 that he put up in prelims. From there, Arsen Kozhakhmetov, Kaii Winkler, and Jerry Fox extended NC State’s lead, so that the team won by almost two seconds.

After its ‘B’ relay won heat two, the Auburn ‘A’ squad finished second overall with a 3:03.70. They were the only team to join NC State under the NCAA ‘A’ standard. The Arizona squad, anchored by Tomas Lukminas, missed it by a hundredth.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 48.10, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 52.65
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.68

Top 8:

1. Leah Shackley (NC State) — 50.09
2. Ali Pfaff (Duke) — 51.06
3. Kennedy Noble (NC State) — 51.60
4. Lora Komoroczy (Auburn) — 52.12
5. Teia Salvino (NC State) — 52.62
6. Carmen Weiler Sastre (Virginia Tech) — 52.99
7. Tierney Lenahan (Cuke) — 53.03
8. Kyla Maloney (Auburn) — 53.68

We’re just three events into the session and Shackley already has two wins under her belt.

To cap off her freshman season at NC State, Shackley scared the 50-second barrier at the NCAA Championships, swimming a 50.06 for 6th place. She came within a tenth of that threshold for the second time in her career tonight, popping a 50.09.

Shackley was out in 24.59 and came home in 25.50 to get her hand on the wall for the win. She touched .97 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher Ali Pfaff. The 20-year-old Duke swimmer led off the Blue Devils’ relay before the break in 51.91; she was much faster than that in the individual final, charging to a lifetime best 51.06. The swim shaves five-hundredths off her previous best, swum earlier this year in February.

Shackley’s teammate Kennedy Noble took .27 seconds off her time from prelims with a 51.60.

MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 43.20, Hubert Kos (Texas) – 2025
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 46.29
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 45.26

Top 8:

1. Ivan Tarasov (Auburn) — 45.33
2. Aiden Hayes (NC State) — 45.45
3. Daniel Diehl (NC State) — 46.04
4. Samuel Empey (Auburn) — 46.52
5. Simon Bermudez (NC State) — 46.55
6. Stephen Conrad (NC State) — 46.85
7. Sasha Zheltiakov (NC State) — 47.01
8. Ryan Hardy (Arizona) — 47.21

After leading the way through the men’s 100 backstroke prelims this evening, NC State’s Williams skipped the individual final this evening. He did still get an evening 100 backstroke final swim in, clocking a lifetime best 44.49 leading off the Wolfpack’s winning relay.

In his absence in the final, there was a great race between Auburn’s Tarasov and the Wolfpack’s Aiden Hayes. Hayes, who returned to racing earlier this spring after taking the 2024-25 NCAA season off due to injury, was ahead of Tarasov at the halfway point. Hayes swam 21.64 on his opening 50 yards to Tarasov’s 21.72.

Tarasov split 23.61 on the back half which was enough to get his hand on the wall eight-hundredths ahead of Hayes, 45.33 to 45.45.

They were the only two swimmers to clear the 46-second mark in the individual final, with Daniel Diehl getting 3rd in 46.04.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 2:01.29, Kate Douglass (Virginia) – 2023
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 2:11.27
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 2:09.58

Top 8:

1. Kaelyn Gridley (Duke) — 2:05.25
2. Eneli Jefimova (NC State) — 2:07.15
3. Zoey Zeller (Auburn) — 2:10.25
4. Lisa Nystrand (NC State) — 2:11.06
5. Olivia Dinehart (Auburn) — 2:12.01
6. Audrey Crawford (Auburn) — 2:12.89
7. Julie Rose (NC State) — 2:13.92
8. Nichelly Brano Lysy (Virginia Tech) — 2:14.82

Kaelyn Gridley produced the second-fastest 200 breaststroke of her career to win the event this evening in Greensboro. It’s the quickest she’s been since the 2024 NCAA Championships when she posted her lifetime best 2:04.94 and better than the 2:05.91 she swam during the 2025 NCAA Championship finals.

Gridley won the race by nearly two seconds over the freshman Jefimova, splitting 1:00.17/1:05.08. Efimova was about a half-second off Gridley’s pace through 100 yards (1:00.67) but couldn’t hang on over the back half of the race (1:06.48). The time is a new lifetime best for Jefimova as she continues to adjust to the yards format, shaving time from the 2:07.38 she posted in October.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:46.35, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:54.95
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 1:52.89

Top 8:

1. Eli Martin (Virginia Tech) — 1:52.53
2. Maston Ballew (Auburn) — 1:53.89
3. Hudson Schuricht (NC State) — 1:54.73
4. Kalen Anbar (Duke) — 1:55.17
5. Ian Stutts (NC State) — 1:55.24
6. Peter Etzold (BYU) — 1:55.37
7. Tavner Wisdom (Arizona) — 1:56.45
8. Jack Smith (Duke) — 1:57.54

Eli Martin led the men’s 200 breaststroke after prelims and he maintained his hold on the top spot tonight in finals. He swam a 1:52.53 to win, producing his second lifetime best of the day. Martin came into the meet with a 1:54.67 lifetime best from the 2025 ACC Championships, which he improved to a 1:54.35 in prelims. He crushed that time in finals tonight, bypassing the 1:53-mark entirely with his 1:52.35 effort.

The top half of this final was relatively spread out, as Auburn’s Maston Ballew touched second in 1:53.89 and Hudson Schuricht took third in 1:54.73. It was more bunched up in the middle, as fourth through sixth were separated by two-tenths.

WOMEN’S 500 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 4:43.70
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:39.47

Top 8:

1. Katharine Helms (NC State) — 4:44.20
2. Ava Topolewski (GW) — 4:44.89
3. Kate Anderson (Virginia Tech) — 4:45.75
4. Sammie Hamilton (Auburn) — 4:46.59
5. Maggie McGuire (Auburn) — 4:48.49
6. Emma Hastings (NC State) — 4:48.69
7. Julia Strojnowska (Auburn) — 4:50.49
8. Keelan Cotter (NC State) — 4:50.53

Katharine Helms and Ava Topolewski battled it out in the final of the women’s 500 freestyle. Helms pulled away from Topolewski at the close of the race to win by six-tenths with a 4:44.20. Topolewski touched second with a 4:44.89, which is within a half-second of her lifetime best 4:44.44 from February 2024.

Less than a second behind them was Virginia Tech’s Kate Anderson. She also neared her lifetime best (4:45.36), swimming a 4:45.75.

MEN’S 500 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 4:18.07
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:14.13

Top 8:

1. Max Carlsen (NC State) — 4:14.79
2. Lance Norris (NC State) — 4:16.28
3. Mikolaj Filipiak (NC State) — 4:16.50
4. Tanner Nelson (BYU) — 4:18.45
5. Mack Shumann (Auburn) — 4:18.52
6. Daniel Krichevsky (Auburn) — 4:19.16
7. Ben Butler (Arizona) — 4:20.49
8. Jakub Poliacik (Virginia Tech) — 4:21.19

It was a Wolfpack sweep in the men’s 500 freestyle. Freshman Max Carlsen took home the win in a lifetime best 4:14.79. It’s his first time clearing the 4:15 mark as he beat the 4:15.74 he swam at the Georgia Tech Dual Meet Challenge last month (twice). He’s been making fast improvements in this event since arriving at NC State. Before this fall, he had never broken 4:20.

His teammate Lance Norris and Mikolaj Filipiak rounded out the Wolfpack’s podium sweep with Norris clocking 4:16.28 and Filipiak a 4:16.50. Filipiak is also a freshman; he’s a Polish swimmer still adjusting to the yards format but he smashed the 4:19.04 mark he had coming into the meet today, swimming a lifetime best 4:16.23 in prelims.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 20.37, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 22.28
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 22.01

Top 8:

1. Lisa Klevanovich (Auburn) — 21.66
2. Lily Christianson (NC State) — 21.81
3. Riley Botton (Arizona) — 21.97
4. Cassie Moses (NC State)/Tatum Wall (Duke) — 21.98
5. —
6. Julia Wozniak (Arizona) — 22.05
7. Tyler Driscoll (NC State) — 22.46
8. Lily King (NC State) — 22.52

Lisa Klevanovich hit the ground running this fall in her second season at Auburn. She came into the 2025-26 season with a lifetime best 22.25, which she’s demolished since then. She broke 22 seconds for the first time in October (21.92), bringing her best to a 21.80 at Auburn’s tri-meet against Tennessee and Louisville. She’s taken another .14 seconds off her best with her winning time of 21.66 tonight.

The top five swimmers all cleared the 22-second mark, with two NC State swimmers snagging spots in that mix. Lily Christianson swam a 21.71, coming within a tenth of her lifetime best from February 2024. Her teammate Cassie Moses tied with Tatum Wall for fourth (21.98). In between the NC State swimmers was Arizona’s Riley Botton, who swam her second lifetime best of the day in the final. Bottom arrived in Greensboro with a 22.28 personal best. She approached the 22-second mark in prelims with a 22.06, then dipped under for the first time tonight with a 21.97.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 19.43
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 19.02

Top 8:

1. Quintin McCarty (NC State) — 18.81
2. Brendan Whitfield (Virginia Tech) — 18.94
3. Kaii Winkler (NC State) — 19.05
4. Kalle Makinen (Auburn) — 19.09
5. Jerry Fox (NC State) — 19.13
6. Drew Salls (NC State) — 19.17
7. Hudson Williams (NC State) — 19.20
8. Aiden Hayes (NC State) — 19.27

Two men cracked 19 seconds this evening, led by NCAA ‘A’ finalist Quintin McCarty. McCarty had a breakout summer in the long-course pool, showing off the sprint backstroke speed he really developed over the last year. Back in his sprint freestyle element tonight, McCarty won the men’s splash-and-dash by .13 seconds in a season-best 18.81.

Brendan Whitfield claimed second place in 18.94, a strong swim for him that’s just five-hundredths off his lifetime best (18.89). He was able to put some distance between himself and the fight for third, which Kaii Winkler won against Kalle Makinen, 19.05 to 19.09.

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay — Timed Finals

• NCAA Record: 6:44.13 — Virginia (2025)
• 2026 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 7:00.86
• 2026 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 7:05.18

Top 8:

1. NC State ‘A’ — 7:05.16
2. Arizona ‘A’ — 7:14.44
3. Auburn ‘A’ — 7:18.35
4. BYU ‘A’ — 7:19.15
5. George Washington ‘A’ — 7:27.04
6. George Washington ‘B’ — 7:34.38
7. Army ‘C’ — 7:36.33
8. BYU ‘B’ — 7:38.53

It was a relatively subdued night in the women’s 800 freestyle relay finals as no teams hit the NCAA ‘A’ Standard. The NC State squad of Helms (1:48.47), Pelaez (1:43.44), Salvino (1:46.37), and Lily King (1:46.88) squeaked under the NCAA ‘B’ cut by two-hundredths with a 7:05.16.

The Wolfpack ‘A’ demolished the race, no other teams broke 7:14.

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay — Timed Finals

• NCAA Record: 5:59.75 — Cal (2025)
• 2026 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 6:14.67
• 2026 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 6:16.79

Top 8:

1. Arizona ‘A’ — 6:15.57
2. NC State ‘A’ — 6:22.37
3. Auburn ‘A’ — 6:25.59
4. BYU ‘A’ — 6:26.25
5. Arizona ‘B’ — 6:31.96
6. George Washington ‘A’ — 6:33.30
7. BYU ‘B’ — 6:39.25
8. George Washington ‘B’ — 6:42.94

The subdued end to the session continued in the men’s 800 freestyle relay timed finals. As in the women’s event, no team earned the NCAA ‘A’ Standard. And also carrying the trend from the women’s race, the Arizona ‘A’ team did get under the ‘B’ cut as Tomas Lukminas (1:32.16), Ralph Daleiden (1:32.73), Ben Butler (1:35.03), and Mason Hopper (1:35.65) swam 6:15.57.

The Arizona men, like the Wolfpack women, won handily. No other team was faster than 6:20 as NC State’s ‘A’ relay touched second in 6:22.37.

Team Standings

Women

1. NC State, 1199.5
2. Auburn, 1084.5
3. Duke, 638
4. Arizona, 604
5. Virginia Tech, 600
6. Army, 412
7. BYU, 392
8. George Washington, 348

Men

1. NC State, 1140
2. Auburn, 925
3. Arizona, 699
4. BYU, 670
5. Virginia Tech, 638
6. Duke, 441
7. George Washington, 350
8. Army, 329