2021 NC State Fall Invitational: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2021 NC State Fall Invitational

• November 18-20, 2021
• 9:30 AM Prelims / 5:30 PM Finals
• Greensboro Aquatic Center
• SCY (25y)
• Live Results
• Meet Mobile: 2021 NC State GAC Fall Invitational
• Teams: NC State, Arizona State, Army West Point, Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford, James Madison (diving only), and UNC-Wilmington (diving only)

2021 NCAA Cut Lines

Day One finals of the 2021 NC State Fall Invitational will consist of the women’s and men’s 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 400 medley relay.

Some of the big swims from the morning prelims session came from Andrei Minakov (19.13) in the 50 free, Emma Nordin (4:38.65) in the 500 free, and ASU teammates Leon Marchand (1:43.92) and Grant House (1:43.94) in the 200 IM.

The teams competing include hosts NC State, Arizona State, Army West Point, Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, and Stanford in swimming, and James Madison and UNC-Wilmington in diving.

Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 1:28.43

1. NC State – 1:27.61
2. Stanford – 1:27.79
3. North Carolina – 1:29.55

The finals session opened with a pair of A-cuts for NC State and Stanford. Katharine Berkoff (22.11), Kylee Alons (21.37), Sophie Hansson (22.21), and Heather MacCausland (21.92) overcame an early lead by the Cardinal and combined for a winning 1:27.61. Torri Huske took it out in 21.96 for Stanford. She was followed by Taylor Ruck (21.95), Emma Wheal (21.74), and Anna Shaw (22.14) for 1:27.79.

Grace Countie, Heidi Lowe, Sophie Lindner, and Greer Pattison of North Carolina took third place ahead of Penn State’s Catherine Stanford, Mary Brinker, Abigail Amdor, and Ellie Tiskus.

Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 1:17.07

1. Arizona State – 1:16.60
2. NC State – 1:16.76
3. Penn State – 1:17.40

As he did in prelims this morning, Andrei Minakov of Stanford swam a 19.13 to lead off the Cardinal relay, but this time he wasn’t the only 19-low. Jack Dolan of Arizona State went 19.12 on the first leg of the Sun Devils’ relay to hold the initial lead. Dolan was followed by Grant House (19.18), Carter Swift (19.17), and Cody Bybee (19.13) for a final time of 1:16.60, easily clearing the NCAA A-cut bar. Bybee pulled ASU past NC State to get the win.

Noah Henderson led off the NC State relay in 19.28. He turned it over to David Curtiss (19.05), Nyls Korstanje (19.06), and Giovanni Izzo (19.37). The Wolfpack also picked up an A cut for the relay, finishing in 1:16.76.

Penn State (Jake Houck, Will Roberson, Victor Baganha, and Zane Sutton) shot by Stanford to touch third with 1:17.40. Notably, Baganha split an 18.90 on the third leg of that relay.

Women’s 500 Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA A cut: 4:36.30

1. Emma Nordin, ASU – 4:34.87
2. Brooke Forde, Stanford – 4:36.96
3. Erica Laning, ASU – 4:42.48

Emma Nordin of Arizona State was only 1.1 seconds off her best time, winning the A final in 4:34.87. She swam a steady race, splitting 53.0/55.2/55.6/55.5/55.4 for a wire-to-wire win. Stanford’s Brooke Forde was about half a body length behind Nordin through the 300 but fell off pace over the final 200 yards; she finished in second place with 4:36.96.

There was a big gap between the two leaders and the rest of the field. Erica Laning of ASU led the next wave of finishers by a body length, coming to the wall in 4:42.48. Behind her were Stanford’s Lillie Nordmann (4:43.43), NC State’s Yara Hierath (4:43.69), Duke’s Yi Xuan Chang (4:43.79), Stanford’s Regan Smith (4:43.86), and Molly Batchelor of Arizona State (4:44.46).

Men’s 500 Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA A cut: 4:12.22

1. Julian Hill, Arizona State – 4:13.23
2. Preston Forst, Stanford – 4:15.54
3. Grant Shoults, Stanford – 4:15.75

Arizona State sophomore Julian Hill beat his previous PB by 2.4 seconds to win the 500 free in 4:13.23, just about a second away from the NCAA A cut. Hill jumped out to an early lead with 48.37 at the 100. He was slightly ahead of NC State’s Ross Dant in lane 4. He increased his lead over Dant on the second 100 yards, leading by a full body length at the 200. As Dant began to fall off pace, Hill was all alone in front of the pack.

Stanford’s Preston Forst and Grant Shoults began to close the gap over the third 100 yards. Forst moved into second place at the 400, while Shoults was just a tick behind Dant in fourth. Dant struggled over the final 100 yards and the pair from Stanford finished in second and third, more than 2 seconds behind Hill with 4:15.54 and 4:15.75.

Dant just barely held off a challenge by teammate James Plage, taking fourth place with 4:17.68 to Plage’s 4:17.77. The rest of the championship final, Liam Bresette of ASU and NC State’s Will Gallant and Eric Knowles, were another second behind with 4:18.78, 4:18.85, and 4:19.10.

Women’s 200 Individual Medley – Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 1:54.32

1. Torri Huske, Stanford – 1:52.82
2. Kate Moore, NC State – 1:55.56
3. Julia Poole, NC State – 1:55.58

Stanford freshman Huske slashed .9 off her lifetime best to crush the field in the 200 IM, winning with 1:52.82. She hit the wall nearly more than two body lengths ahead of NC State seniors Kate Moore (1:55.56) and Julia Poole (1:55.58), who came in together 2.7 seconds behind.

The third group came to the wall 2.5 seconds later, led by Duke sophomore Sally Foley (1:58.01). Annabel Crush from NC State (1:58.57) edged Duke’s Catherine Belyakov (1:58.76) for fifth, while NC State freshman Grace Sheble (1:59.11) beat Samantha Pearson from Stanford (2:00.82) for seventh.

Men’s 200 Individual Medley – Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 1:41.34

1. Leon Marchand, ASU – 1:40.80
2. Grant House, ASU – 1:42.05
3. David Schlicht, ASU – 1:43.30

Arizona State freshman Leon Marchand, who is still getting used to swimming in short course yards, knocked 3 full seconds off his previous PB to win the 200 IM in 1:40.80. That’s .19 faster than Carson Foster, then a freshman, went in the final at NCAAs last season. Marchand blasted off and split 21.7/25.1/29.2/24.6 to beat teammates Grant House (1:42.05) and David Schlicht (1:43.30) in a 1-2-3 Sun Devils sweep of the podium.

NC State took the next two places with sophomore Mikey Moore (1:44.37) and freshman Sam Hoover (1:45.38). Teammate Luke Miller placed seventh with 1:45.41, .01 behind Stanford sophomore Jonny Affeld. Duke’s Cole Reznick was eighth with 1:45.75.

Women’s 50 Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 21.74

1. Torri Huske, Stanford – 21.70
2. Kylee Alons, NC State – 21.72
3. Katharine Berkoff, NC State – 22.22

Stanford freshman Huske earned her second A cut of the evening with a 21.70 win in the 50 free. Her best time, from March 2021, remains at 21.39. NC State’s Alons was just .02 behind Huske, while Berkoff got her hand to the wall first among the next wave of finishers, in 22.22. UNC senior Grace Countie dropped .05 from her entry time to place fourth with 22.30.

NC State’s Heather MacCausland (22.37) and Sophie Hansson (22.65) were fifth and seventh, while Stanford’s Ruck (22.38) and Wheal (22.65) were sixth and seventh (tie with Hansson).

Huske and Alons lead the NCAA so far this season with their respective 21.70 and 21.72.

Men’s 50 Freestyle – Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 19.00

1. Jack Dolan, Arizona State – 19.16
2. (tie) Noah Henderson, NC State / Andrei Minakov, Stanford – 19.20
3. –

ASU sophomore Dolan stunned the field, winning the 50 free A final with 19.16, just off his brand-new personal best time of 19.12 from leading off the 200 free relay at the beginning of the session. Dolan flipped in fourth place at the halfway wall, but came home the fastest to split 9.28/9.88. NC State’s Noah Henderson and Stanford’s Andrei Minakov tied for second place with 19.20.

There was also a tie for fourth place, as NC State’s Korstanje and Penn State’s Baganha both stopped the clock with 19.28. Carter Swift of ASU (19.53) beat NC State’s David Curtiss by .01 for sixth. Penn State’s Jake Houck rounded out the heat with 19.71 for eighth.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 3:31.66

1. NC State – 3:26.44
2. Stanford – 3:28.76
3. North Carolina – 3:34.87

NC State crushed the A standard with a winning 3:26.44, a time that is .44 faster than their prelims performance at 2021 NCAAs (where they ended up winning the event with an NCAA record of 3:24.59). The Wolfpack reunited three-quarters of that quartet with Katharine Berkoff leading off in 50.96, Sophie Hansson splitting 56.87 on the breast, Kylee Alons going 49.99 on the fly, and newcomer Abbey Webb anchoring in 48.62.

Hansson’s split of 56.87 was .14 faster than her 57.01 from last year’s NCAA final, in which she was the fastest breaststroke leg in the meet.

Stanford, also under the A cut by nearly 3 seconds, used Regan Smith on back (50.06), Zoe Bartel on breast (1:00.50), Torri Huske on fly (50.74), and Taylor Ruck on free (47.46).

Men’s 400 Medley Relay – Timed Finals

• NCAA A Cut: 3:05.37

1. NC State “A” – 3:04.02
2. Arizona State “A” – 3:04.11
3. Arizona State “B” – 3:07.31

NC State and Arizona State both cleared the NCAA A cut handily in the men’s 400 medley relay. The Wolfpack got off to an early lead with Kacper Stokowski’s 44.79 leadoff backstroke leg, then held the lead with swims from Rafal Kusto on breast (52.49), Korstanje on fly (44.78), and Miller on free (41.96).

Arizona State went 2-3 to round out the podium. The Sun Devils’ A relay nearly ran down NC State, finishing only .09 back in 3:04.11. Dolan led off in 44.87. He was followed by John Heaphy, with the fastest breaststroke split in the final (51.53), Bybee (44.87), and House (41.69).

The ASU B relay overtook Stanford on the final 100 yards to place third with 3:07.31. Marchand led off in 46.14. Elijah Warren swam breast (53.70). Butterflyer Evan Carlson (45.80) handed off to Swift, who outsplit Stanford’s Minakov, 41.67 to 42.11, to secure the third spot.