Courtesy: NC State Athletics
RALEIGH – The NC State men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs will kick off their 2020-21 campaigns this weekend as they make the short trip to visit rival North Carolina. The two-day dual meet will take place inside the Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill.
The Wolfpack women are set to take on the Tar Heels on Friday, with diving starting at 4:30 p.m. and swimming beginning at 6 p.m. The next day (Saturday, Nov. 7), the Pack men will take their turn with diving at 9:30 a.m. and swimming at 11 a.m.
Due to health and safety recommendations and current state guidelines, this event is closed to the public.
Additional meets on the Wolfpack’s schedule will be announced at a later date.
PACK IN THE POLLS:
Both NC State squads are ranked in the national top six to start the season, as the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) released its preseason poll on Oct. 22. The Pack men begin the year at No. 4 as the highest-ranked ACC squad, and the Wolfpack women checked in at No. 6 in the nation.
2019-20 REWIND:
The Pack once again made some noise at the ACC Championships, highlighted by the men’s squad winning the conference crown for the sixth consecutive year and the 30th time overall. The 2020 championship-winning squad took home gold in seven events with a total of 13 podium finishes.
In addition to two relay wins, NC State picked up top individual finishes from three men. Nyls Korstanje won both sprint freestyle races, senior Coleman Stewart swept the backstroke titles for the third year in a row and diver James Brady added an individual gold on three meter.
The Wolfpack women placed second, marking the team’s fifth-straight season in the top three. The team won seven events of their own, one of which was the squad’s third 400-yard medley relay gold in the last three seasons.
NC State’s individual victories spanned multiple women, highlighted by a breaststroke sweep by sophomore Sophie Hansson and backstroke titles from Katharine Berkoff (100-yard backstroke) and Emma Muzzy (200-yard backstroke). Kate Moore also repeated as 400-yard individual medley champion and Kylee Alons won her first individual title in the 50-yard freestyle.
Twenty-seven members of the two squads were honored as CSCAA All-Americans for the 2019-20 season. With the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the selection criteria was adjusted to give all swimmers selected to the national meet and all divers who qualified for the Zone Championships status as All-Americans.
NC State also racked up on postseason ACC awards as Braden Holloway (Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year), Stewart (Men’s Swimmer of the Year) and Brady (Men’s Diver of the Tear) were honored.
During the regular season, Holloway eclipsed 100 career victories. The Wolfpack head coach is now up to 108 head-to-head wins since taking charge of the programs at the start of the 2011-12 season.
20-21 NATIONAL TEAM:
A total of seven current and former NC State swimmers are featured on the USA Swimming National Team roster for the current season. Current Wolfpack student-athletes Katharine Berkoff and Eric Knowles earned spots on the team, as did NC State alumni Elise Haan, Ryan Held, Hannah Moore, Justin Ress and Makayla Sargent. All seven selections were members of the 2019-20 U.S. National Team and retained their spots with the pandemic shortening the season.
The Wolfpack hopefully will be kind to UNC…no need to completely swamp the Chapel Hill crew. Show some pity – please!!!!