Florida International played host to #19 ranked North Carolina State and #44 Kansas in Miami today, taking a hard 160-126 loss against the Wolfpack but managing to defend their turf successfully against the Jayhawks 150.5-148.5. NC State also defeated Kansas 161-119.
Full results in dual meet format are here.
NC State grabbed the top two overall spots in the 200 medley relay, led by the A squad of Yurie Nakano, Kayla Brumbaum, Krista Duffield and Natalie Labonge who finished over two seconds ahead with 1:42.34. Kansas’ top relay held off the A team from FIU for the win in their dual with 1:44.57.
The Wolfpack landed the top time in all but one individual event, with six double event winners leading the way. Michelle Craddock won the 200 free and 200 fly for NC State, finishing those races in 1:51.22 and 2:03.23. For the 200 free, in the match-up between FIU and KU, the Panthers’ Skye Carey won at 1:53.26. In the 200 fly, it was KU’s Haley Bishop at 2:05.08. Bishop also claimed another win against FIU with her 55.81 in the 100 fly. The overall winner of that event was the Wolfpack’s Yurie Nakano with 55.75.
Natalie Labonge led 1-4 sweeps of both of the sprint freestyles for the Wolfpack, touching for the win at 23.48 for the 50 and 50.73 for the 100. KU’s Leah Pfizer took the win against the Panthers with 24.53 in the 50, and FIU’s Letizia Bertelli won against the Jayhawks with her 52.66 in the 100.
For the backstroke events, NC State’s Lindsay Morrow took the overall wins with 56.04 in the 100 and 2:01.35 for the 200. FIU’s Naomi Ruele was the top finisher against the Jayhawks with 57.62 in the 100, while the Panthers’ Skye Carey took the 200 over Kansas with 2:03.84.
The breaststrokes were won by NC State’s Kayla Brumbaum with 1:03.74 and 2:17.35 for the 100 and 200 yard distances. Behind her for second in both, KU’s Bryce Hinde doubled against FIU with 1:05.01 and 2:21.00.
Michigan transfer Hannah Moore convincingly won the mile in 16:18.41, and the 400 IM in 4:22.40. The top finishers in those events for the FIU/KU matchup were FIU’s Kyna Pereira at 16:52.70 for the mile and KU’s Madison Straight at 4:24.51 for the IM. Pereira was the overall winner for the 500 free as well, touching at 4:56.21 ahead of NC State’s Rachel Muller at 4:59.22.
The diving events were both won by NC State’s Rachel Mumma, with scores of 319.40 on the 1-meter and 291.60 on the 3-meter. FIU’s Becca Quesnel was second overall behind her in both with 282.05 for the 1-meter and 280.35 for the 3-meter.
While the Wolfpack had a clear lead over both opponents by the end of the meet, the battle between the Jayhawks and Panthers was still on the line as the meet between them was tied with two events to go. FIU had an opportunity to win by two points, but only if they could manage to take first and third place for the 200 free relay against Kansas. The Panthers’ A and B squads each edged out Kansas’ A and B head to head for the win, led by a 1:35.82 combined effort from FIU’s A team. NC State took the top overall time for the event with 1:33.94.
