Alons, Berkoff, and Moore Lead NC State Women Over UNC

North Carolina v. NC State

• November 6, 2020 (women)
• Koury Natatorium, Chapel Hill, NC
• SCY
• Dual Meet Format
• Scores (Women): NC State 224, UNC 167
• Full Results

The NC State women made the crosstown trek to Chapel Hill today to take on UNC, and walked away having won every swimming event (not accounting for exhibitioned swims), winning by a final score of 224-167. As we’ve seen fairly often so far this season, this meet departed from the normal dual meet event lineup, featuring most of the regular events, but also adding in some atypical distances.

Kate Moore paced the Wolfpack with three victories, sweeping the distance events with victories in the 600 free (5:50.33), 400 free (3:51.74), and finally the 200 free (1:50.18). It’s worth noting that Moore was 4:51.83 at the 500 mark of that 600 free, a time that would put her 8th in the nation coming into this weekend.

Backstroke star Katharine Berkoff got things off to a swift start by leading off the opening event, the 200 medley, in a time of 24.47 en route to a 1:38.28 win for the Wolfpack. That appears to be the fastest 50 back so far this season. She also matched Moore’s efforts with three individual victories, sweeping the 50/100/150 backstrokes with times of 24.50/52.68/1:23.02. That 100 back time puts her #3 in the nation so far this season.

Sprinter Kylee Alons also picked up three individual events, sweeping the shorter freestyles (50/100/150) with times of 22.52/49.49/1:18.66.  Like Berkoff, that 100 time is one of the fastest in the nation so far this season, coming it at #4 pending other results from today. Technically, both Alons and Berkoff were credited with only two victories each, as NC State swam the 150s as exhibition, rather than for points (more on that below).

Three other Wolfpack women took two individual events. Heather MacCausland doubled in the 50/100 breast with times of 28.81/1:02.33, Emma Muzzy took the 100 and 300 IMs with times of 56.34 and 3:08.68, and freshman Abby Arens made the most of her collegiate debut, going 54.15 in the 100 fly and 1:26.47 in the 150 fly.

Julia Poole gave Muzzy a run for her money in the 100 and 300 IMs, finishing just 0.08s behind in the 100 and 0.04s in the 300, while beating Poole by nearly 2.5s in the 200 IM, 1:59.52 to 2:02.09.

Sirena Rowe took the 50 fly in 23.84, winning by over a second, while Andrea Podmanikova won the 150 breast in 1:37.98. NC State’s 200 free also won with a time of 1:31.79 to close out the meet.

While the Tar Heels didn’t touch first in any events on the swimming side, they did sweep the 1m and 3m diving events, courtesy of Emily Grund, who won with scores of 278.78 and 358.25, respectively.

UNC also earned picked up plenty of 2nd place finishes, including several close ones. Lilly Higgs came the closest to toppling the Wolfpack’s hegemony, touching just 0.02s behind MacCausland in the 50 breast (28.83).

Sophie Lindner took 2nd behind Berkoff in the 50 back (25.40), the 100 back (54.29), and the 150 back (1:25.57), although she was credited with the victory in the final event as NC State exhibitioned it. It was the same exact story in the freestyles, where Grace Countie took 2nd behind Alons in the 50/100 with times of 23.38/50.88, then touched 2nd, but was credited with the victory, in the 150 with a 1:20.75.

NC State Release

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The sixth-ranked NC State women’s swimming and diving team opened 2020-21 action by cruising to the 224-167 victory over the No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday evening.

The Pack swam the fastest time in every single swimming event that was contested and picked up 1-2-3 finishes in a pair of races. Kate Moore led the way with three individual victories apiece as a total of six Wolfpack women won multiple events on the night and three posted NCAA B cut times.

Friday night marked the first collegiate action in the pool for both teams since the 2020 ACC Championship meet, and the squads swam an adjusted slate of events to get back in the swing of things.

Berkoff (24.47), Anna Shumate (28.39), Sirena Rowe (23.44) and Alons (21.98) opened with a solid 200-yard medley relay performance, taking the win with a time of 1:38.28 that currently ranks second nationally. The Pack also closed out the meet with the 200-yard freestyle relay win.

NC State’s two sweeps came in the 600-yard freestyle, led by a first-place finish from Kate Moore (5:50.33), and the 100-yard freestyle, where Emma Muzzy touched first (56.34).

Moore then went on to win the 400-yard freestyle (3:51.74) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.18) to round out her day.

Berkoff (100-yard backstroke, 52.68), Alons (100-yard freestyle, 49.40) and Julia Poole (200-yard individual medley) were the three members of the squad to secure NCAA B times on the night.

Heather Maccausland won both the 50-yard (28.81) and 100-yard (1:02.33) breaststroke races, and freshman Abby Arens (50 butterfly, 100 butterfly) also picked up a pair of top finishes in her Wolfpack debut, with her 100 butterfly time (54.15) cracking the NC State top 10.

Divers Katelyn Cook and Mary O’Neill also opened their seasons with competition on both one-meter and three-meter.

UP NEXT
NC State men’s squad will take its turn at the Tar Heels on Saturday as it makes a trip of its own to the Koury Natatorium. Diving is set for a 9:30 a.m. start, and swimming will begin at 11 a.m.

TOP TIMES:
• 200 medley relay: Berkoff, Shumate, Rowe, Alons (1st place – 1:38.28)
• 600 freestyle: Kate Moore (1st place – 5:50.33)
• 50 butterfly: Sirena Rowe (1st place – 23.84)
• 50 backstroke: Katharine Berkoff (1st place – 24.50)
• 50 breaststroke: Heather Maccausland (1st place – 28.81)
• 50 freestyle: Kylee Alons (1st place – 22.52)
• 100 IM: Emma Muzzy (1st place – 56.34)
• 100 butterfly: Abby Arens (1st place – 54.15)
• 100 backstroke: Katharine Berkoff (1st place – 52.68)
• 100 breaststroke: Heather Maccausland (1st place – 1:02.33)
• 100 freestyle: Kylee Alons (1st place – 49.40)
• 200 IM: Julia Poole (1st place – 1:59.63)
• 400 freestyle: Kate Moore (1st place  – 3:51.74)
• 150 butterfly: Abby Arens (1st place – 1:26.47)
• 150 backstroke: Katharine Berkoff (1:23.02)
• 150 breaststroke: Andrea Podmanikova (1:37.98)
• 150 freestyle: Kylee Alons (1:18.66)
• 300 IM: Emma Muzzy (3:08.68)
• 200 freestyle: Kate Moore (1st place – 1:50.18)
• 200 freestyle relay: Fonville, Rowe, Maccausland, Poole (1st place – 1:31.79)
• Three-meter: Katelyn Cook (4th place  – 231.23)
• One-meter: Mary O’Neill (4th place – 227.48)

UNC Release

CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina swimming and diving team opened the 2020-21 season with a dual meet on Friday evening from Koury Natatorium. Tonight featured the women’s sides competing, while the men will go head-to-head on Saturday morning in Chapel Hill. The Wolfpack came out on top Friday night by a 224-167 margin.

“Tonight, was all about getting back into competition,” said second-year Carolina head coach Mark Gangloff. Getting into the blocks, racing your competitors and ultimately throwing it all out there was my aim for the night and what I encouraged them to do was take some chances and race as hard as they could and they did that.”

Grace Countie brought home a trio of second place finishes in the freestyle events. She began the evening with a second in the 50 Free (23.38). Countie added runner-up placements in the 100 free (50.88) and 150 free (1:20.75) events.

The Tar Heels finished second and third in the 50 breaststroke as Lilly Higgs was second at 28.83, while Allie Reiter was third in the 50 breast (28.86) and the 100 breast (1:02.82).

Sophie Lindner picked up a runner-up spot in the 50 backstroke (25.40) and 100 backstroke (54.29) events.

Addison Smith, in her Tar Heel debut after transferring from Princeton, placed second in both the 200 freestyle (1:50.88) and the 400 freestyle (3:53.67).

Carolina posted a handful of third place finishes as well against the defending ACC champs. Ellie VanNote was third in both the 50 butterfly (25.23) and 100 butterfly (55.79), Amy Dragelin checked in third in the 200 Individual Medley (2:02.51) and Heidi Lowe finished third in the 50 Free at 23.41.

The 200-medley relay squad of Lindner, Higgs, VanNote and Lowe were second with a time of 1:41.33.

The 200-free relay group of Lowe, Cole, Countie and freshman Brieanna Romney finished second with a time of 1:32.74.

Carolina had a great showing in diving, finishing 1-2-3 in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Emily Grund set a new personal best with a score of 358.35, the third best total on the 3-meter in program history. She was followed by Paige Burrell (300.45) and Taylor Hockenberry (255.75).

Grund (278.78) also took first in the 1-meter, followed by Hockenberry (255.90) and Burrell (235.05).

“We were very, very happy to get back and compete and perform. We’re finally up and going and it was really fun to to see them compete and do what they love to do,” said head diving coach Yaidel Gamboa.

“It’s really rewarding today because we increased the difficulty of the dives. We think that will put us in a good position for the end of the season.”

Carolina and NC State’s men will swim Saturday morning beginning with diving at 9:30 a.m. at Koury Natatorium.