Wolfpack Elite Invite: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2024 Wolfpack Elite Invite

• November 21-23, 2024
• Greensboro Aquatic Center – Greensboro, NC
• 9:30 am ET prelims/5:30 pm ET finals
• Participating teams: Arizona, Arizona State, Army West Point, Duke, NC State (host), Northwestern, Virginia Tech
• Live Results: “2024 Wolfpack Elite GAC Invitational” on Meet Mobile
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap

It is time for the final day of the Gamecock Invite. The NC State and ASU women will be battling it out for the title tonight. NC State is currently in the lead by just 19 points going into tonight’s final events.

The ASU men are in the lead by a little over 100 points coming into tonight, and that is with their DQ in their 800 free relay last night. NC State is in second, and Virginia Tech is in 3rd.

Tonight’s action includes the women’s 200 backstroke final which is a race between 3 NC State swimmers including last year’s NCAA runner-up Kennedy Noble.

Also swimming tonight is Ilya Kharun, who had a fast finals session last night, in the 200 butterfly. Kharun won this event at NCAAs last yeark and is the top seed in this evening’s final.

WOMEN’S 1650 FREE – FASTEST HEAT

• NCAA Record: 15:03.31, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 15:52.41
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 16:14.03

1. Alexa Reyna (ASU)- 16:00.40
2. Chase Travis (NCS)- 16:13.83
3. Emma Hastings (NCS)- 16:23.68
4. Kate Anderson (VT)- 16:34.33
5. Luiza Comini Lima (NU)- 16:37.34
6. Ava Sutphin (UA)- 16:41.06
7. Malia Rausch (UA)- 16:44.61
8. Maddy Grafmiller (VT)- 16:51.61

ASU sophomore Alexa Reyna got out first, and stayed in that position through her whole race. Her final time of 16:00.40 was a 7 second best time, dropping from the 16:07.25 she went at this meet last year. Reyna was in the 29 low range for most of the race, excluding the 4 50s from 1350 to 1500 where she jumped up to 29 mid-high. Reyna won the event for by 13 seconds, almost a full 25 ahead of 2nd place.

2nd and 3rd both went to NC State swimmers. Chase Travis took 2nd at 16:13.83. This was an add from her best time of 16:00.54. Travis settled in at the 29 mid-range and stayed there for the whole race.

Emma Hastings took 3rd almost 10 seconds back from Travis at 16:23.33. Hastings has the fastest recorded best time of the 3 podium finishers of 15:59.69 from this year’s NCAA Championships. She split mostly 29.9s with a few 30.0s mixed in.

MEN’S 1650 FREE – FASTEST HEAT

• NCAA Record: 14:12.08, Bobby Finke (Florida) – 2020
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 14:37.31
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 14:54.92

1. Owen Lloyd (NCS)- 14:37.23
2. Lance Norris (NCS)- 14:38.69
3. Daniel Matheson (ASU)- 14:43.46
4. Will Gallant (NCS)- 14:49.40
5. Reece Grady (ASU)- 14:55.22
6. Jacob Pins (ASU)- 15:02.71
7. Matt Marsteiner (NCS)- 15:03.66
8. Isaac Fleig (ASU)- 15:05.26

The top two swimmers in tonight’s final, Owen Lloyd from NC State and Lance Norris swam a very close race in this men’s 1650. Norris was out in front of Lloyd, and the two swimmers perfectly tied at the 350 mark. After that Lloyd stayed in front for the rest of the race, but not by much, ultimately winning by a little over a second.

Lloyd split primarily 26s with a few 27s mixed in randomly. He jumped around within the 26 second mark quite a bit, but was relatively consistent in the 26 high range finishing in 14:37.23.

Lance Norris took second in 14:38.69. Norris was a little more consistent in the 26 high range, not having any 50s that were 27 seconds.

Daniel Matheson took 3rd for ASU going 14:43.46, splitting 26 highs and 27 lows throughout the race.

WOMEN’S 200 BACK – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:46.87, Claire Curzan (Virginia) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:50.50
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:54.01

1. Leah Shackley (NCS)- 1:49.71
2. Erika Pelaez (NCS)- 1:50.64
3. Kennedy Noble (NCS)- 1:51.22
4. Ali Pfaff (DUKE)- 1:51.55
5. Carmen Weiler Saster (VT)- 1:52.02
6. Caroline Bentz (ASU)- 1:52.10
7. Emma Atkinson (VT)- 1:53.43
8. Claire Mehok (NU)-1:56.29

Leah Shackley took home the gold in the women’s 200 backstroke beating teammates Erika Pelaez and Kennedy Noble by almost a second. Shackley went a new best time of 1:49.71 to win the event, besting the 1:50.81 she swam against UGA a few weeks ago.

Pelaez placed 2nd at 1:50.64. This was also a new best time for the other NC State freshman who came in with a best time of 1:50.71

3rd place, and rounding out the all NC State podium was Kennedy Noble in 1:51.22. This was faster than her prelims time of 1:53.07, but was still off her best of 1:48.43 from NCAAs.

MEN’S 200 BACK – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:35.37, Destin Lasco (Cal) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:38.80
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:40.62

1. Daniel Diehl (NCS)- 1:40.37
2. Will Meyers (UA)- 1:41.15
3. Jono Adam (ASU)- 1:43.10
4. Nico Garcia (VT)- 1:43.13
5. Simon Bermudez (NCS)- 1:43.40
6. Jack Wadsworth (ASU)- 1:43.58
7. Ryan Weaver (NCS)- 1:43.67
8. Jacob Hills (DUKE)- 1:43.84

WOMEN’S 100 FREE – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 44.83, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 47.10
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 48.34

1. Emily Claesson (VT)- 48.33
2. Tatum Wall (DUKE)- 48.47
3. Lily Christianson (NCS)- 48.54
4. Annabel Crush (NCS)- 48.91
5. Lindsay Ervin (NU)/Nikki Venema (NU)- 49.00
6. —
7. Tyler Driscoll (NCS)- 49.10
8. Kyanh Truong (DUKE)- 51.56

Emily Claesson pulled out the win for Virginia Tech with a time of 48.33. Claesson was second at the 50 mark with a 50 time of 23.42 to Tatum Wall’s 23.19. Claesson had the closing speed, however, and brought it home in 24.91 to Wall’s 25.28.

Both girls dropped from their best times, Claesson came in with a 48.54 from 2022, that she bested tonight, and Wall had a previous best of 48.66 from last year’s NCAA Championships

NC States Lily Christianson took 3rd in 48.54, which is faster than this morning, but a slight add from her 48.45 best time.

MEN’S 100 FREE – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 39.90, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 41.34

1. Jonny Kulow (ASU) – 40.97
2. Jerry Fox (NCS) – 41.65
3. Kaii Winkler (NCS) – 42.04
4. Patrick Sammon (ASU) – 42.05
5. Brendan Whitfield (VT) – 42.31
6. Ralph Daleiden Ciuferri (AZ) – 42.33
7. Luke Miller (NCS) – 42.35
8. Tomas Lukminas (AZ) – 42.38

Jonny Kulow, who was last year’s breakout sprint star for Arizona State, joined the sub-41 second club on Saturday night, winning the 100 free in 40.97. His previous best was a 41.40 done at last year’s NCAA Championship meet that placed him 12th in prelims before adding a couple of tenths to finish 13th in finals.

He is now the 17th swimmer in history to go sub-41 in the 100 freestyle on a flat start, and the time ranks him as the 16th-best in history. He is the third swimmer to go sub-41 on a flat start this week, joining the Tennessee pair of Jordan Crooks (40.26) and Gui Caribe (40.85) from the Tennessee Invite. Of note, the defending NCAA Champion in the event Josh Liendo didn’t swim the race at his mid-season invite.

A pair of young NC State sprinters were behind him with sophomore Jerry Fox touching 2nd in 41.65 and highly-touted freshman Kaii Winkler finishing 3rd in 42.04. That is a best time for Fox, while Winkler was a 41.96 as a high school junior – just a few months before breaking his wrist and elbow in a bicycle accident.

Arizona State’s Patrick Sammon finished 4th in 42.05, which is actually slower than he was in either of the last two dual meets where he raced this event (41.80/42.00), while key Virginia Tech contributor Brendan Whitfield was 5th in 42.31.

As Arizona State looks to fill out its 400 free relay this season following a title-winning and record-breaking quartet from last year that lost its first two legs, note that Tommy Palmer was their third-best on Saturday with a 42.25 from the B Final.

WOMEN’S 200 BREAST – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 2:01.29, Kate Douglass (Virginia) – 2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 2:05.73
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 2:09.55

1. Kaelyn Gridley (DUKE)- 2:05.71
2. Lisa Nystrand (NCS)- 2:09.83
3. Zoe Summar (ASU)- 2:11.32
4. Emma Gehlert (ASU)- 2:12.10
5. Aubree Brouwer (NCS)- 2:12.95
6. Sophie Martin (NU)- 2:13.67
7. Maggie Papanicholas (NU)- 2:14.28
8. Kelsey Wasikowski- 2:14.31

Duke’s Kaelyn Gridley won the 200 breaststroke by more than 4 seconds. She was off her best of 2:04.94. She set a new season best in the event, beating the 2:09.38 she went at a dual meet with Northwestern. She is also faster than she was at this point last season when she went 2:06.92 to win the event at this meet last year.

Lisa Nystrand took second at 2:09.83. This is a new best time from her, who had been 2:10.40 earlier this month.

Zoe Summar from ASU took 3rd at 2:11.32. She was faster here than she was this morning, but she has been as fast as 2:10.11 in February of this year.

MEN’S 200 BREAST – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:46.35, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:50.65
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:53.12

1. Carles Coll Marti (VT) – 1:50.09
2. Cale Martter (ASU) – 1:54.31
3. Tavner Wisdom (AZ) – 1:55.04
4. Oscar Bilbao (ASU) – 1:55.25
5. Arsen Kozhakmetov (NCS) – 1:56.48
6. Will Heck (NCS) – 1:56.67
7. Kalen Anbar (Duke) – 1:57.38
8. Daniel Young (Arizona) – 1:59.03

Carles Coll Marti, who entered the weekend as the NCAA leader in the 200 breast, reclaimed that throne with a 1:50.09 to dominate the A-Final on Saturday. That knocked almost seven-tenths of a second off his 1:50.77 from the SMU Classic.

He has been way faster this season than he was early in any of his prior collegiate seasons, though his best time remains a 1:49.69 from the 2022 NCAA Championships.

The next-best time of the night was actually in the B-Final, when Andy Dobrzanski swam 1:53.63. That bettered the time of his teammate Cale Martter, who was 2nd in the A-Final in 1:54.31.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:49.16, Alex Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:52.47
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:55.88

1. Kyra Sommerstad (DUKE)- 1:57.17
2. Martina Peroni (DUKE)- 1:57.38
3. Caroline Sheble (NCS)- 1:57.73
4. Sonia Vaishnani (ASU)- 1:57.81
5. Grace Monahan (NCS)- 1:58.09
6. Lilly Mehok (NU)- 1:59.52
7. Grace Lindberg (ASU)- 1:59.96
8. Zoe Nordmann (NU)- 2:01.38

The last women’s event of the week ended in a Duke 1-2 with Kyra Sommerstad winning the women’s 200 fly in 1:57.17. Sommerstad was 5th in the preliminaries with a time of 1:59.20. Sommerstad has been as fast as 1:55.83 at last year’s NCAAs but she was only 1:58.68 at last year’s midseason.

Martina Peroni took second, also for Duke at 1:57.38. This was about a second faster than she went in the prelims, but was still far off her best, and off her season best in the event. Her personal best is 1:53.76, and she has been 1:56.62 this season.

Caroline Sheble, who was the top qualifier out of the morning prelims, placed 3rd.  She was a bit faster than her prelims swim, and she went a new season best by 0.03 in the event to drop from her 1:57.76 earlier this month vs UGA.

MEN’S 200 FLY – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:37.35, Jack Conger (Texas) – 2017
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:40.05
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:42.10

1. Ilya Kharun (ASU) – 1:39.00 A
2. Haakon Naughton (AZ) – 1:40.55
3. Filip Senc-Samardzic (ASU) – 1:42.08
4. Youssef Ramadan (VT) – 1:43.60
5. Diego Nosack (NW) – 1:43.99
6. Joel Nace (AZ) – 1:44.31
7. Tona Zinn (NW) – 1:45.14
8. Jake Mason (ASU) – 1:45.51

Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun, the defending NCAA Champion in the 200 fly, won on Saturday in 1:39.00. That’s another Arizona State swimmer who didn’t surpass their best dual meet time of the season – he was 1:38.74 at the NC State dual in October – but it’s a good sign that his breakthrough in the sprint events hasn’t negatively impacted his 200.

Not always going best times at mid-season is a necessary consequence of Arizona State’s “go fast all the time” approach so far this season.

Arizona got another important best time, this one from Haakon Naughton in 1:40.55. That takes 1.2 seconds off his previous best of 1:41.67 from last year’s Pac-12 Championships and now ranks him #2 all-time on the school’s top ten list. It’s the fastest time by a Wildcat since Justin Wright at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE RELAY – FINAL

• NCAA Record: 3:05.84, Virginia – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:13.74
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:15.28

Top 5 Teams:

1. NC State ‘A’- 3:12.66 A
2. Virginia Tech ‘A’- 3:13.75
3. ASU ‘A’- 3:14.65
4. Duke ‘A’- 3:17.22
5. NU ‘A’- 3:17.54

NC State won the final event of the meet in an NCAA A cut time of 3:12.66. Lily Christianson led off for the Wolfpack in 48.50, which had them in 4th after the leadoff leg. 2nd leg Annabel Crush helped move them into second with her 48.85 split. Leah Shackley went 3rd, and her 48.43 was enough to move NC State into 2nd, and final leg Erika Pelaez blasted a 46.88 to take the Wolfpack into first by over a second.

2nd place team Virginia Tech was in 1st for the first 300. Their leadoff leg Carmen Weiler Sastre went 47.94 to start the team off strong in first. 2nd leg was Emily Claesson, who went 48.09. Emma Atkinson went 3rd at 48.49. Athena Menses Kovacs went 4th, and was unable to hold off Pelaez with her 49.23 split

The ASU women placed 3rd with a quartet of 48s. Their team of Caroline Bentz (48.16), Erin Milligan (48.84), Julia Ullmann (48.91), and Charli Brown (48.74) went a final time of 3:14.65.

MEN’S 400 FREE RELAY – FINAL

• NCAA Record: 2:43.40, Arizona St. – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 2:49.79
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 2:51.01

Top 5 Teams: 

1. NC State ‘A’- 2:47.28
2. Arizona ‘A’- 2:48.65
3. Virginia Tech ‘A’- 2:49.68
4. ASU ‘B’- 2:50.23
5. NC State ‘B’- 2:50.36

NC State won the last event on the men’s side in 2:47.28. The second 3 swimmers on their relay were all within 2 one hundredths of one another. Kaii Winkler led off in 42.58. Then Jerry Fox went 41.56 at second, Luke Miller went 41.58 at third, and Sam Hoover anchored in another 41.56.

The University of Arizona A got second in 2:48.65, with far less consistent splits. Ralph Daleiden Ciuferri went first in 42.39. Tomas Lukminas went second at 41.37. Hunter Ingram was 42.35 at third, and Jadan Nabor went 4th to bring them ome in 42.54.

The ASU A relay actually won the relay, but they were DQd for an early takeoff, again. This comes on the tail end of their DQ last night in the men’s 800 free relay for the same infraction.