Ilya Kharun Hits 43.95 100 Fly As ASU Men Take Down NC State; Freshmen Lead Wolfpack Women

NC State vs. Arizona State

• October 25th-26th, 2024
• Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center, Raleigh, NC
• Dual Meet Format
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results on Meet Mobile as “NC State vs ASU 2024”
• Friday Results (PDF)
• Saturday Results (PDF)
• Final Scores:
  • Men: ASU 195, NC State 158
  • Women: NC State 222, ASU 131
• Live Stream: ACCNX (Subscription Required)

Ilya Kharun continued to perform well on Day 2 of Arizona State’s dual with NC State, breaking 44 seconds for the first time in the 100 fly while contributing a pair of blistering relay splits for the Sun Devils as they took down the Wolfpack men on the road.

On the women’s side, freshman swimmers Erika Pelaez and Leah Shackley helped lead NC State to a big win over ASU.

WOMEN’S RECAP

After setting a new NC State Record in the 200 free on Friday, Pelaez followed up by winning two more events on Saturday, claiming the 200 back and 100 free.

In the 200 back, Pelaez put up a time of 1:50.71 to set a new Pool Record and lower her personal best time of 1:51.54 set this past December. Her teammate Kennedy Noble was the runner-up in 1:52.04, significantly faster than she was in late October last season (1:56s).

Pelaez followed up by dominating the 100 free in a time of 47.98, just two-tenths shy of her lifetime best

The 18-year-old now ranks 1st in the NCAA this season in the 200 back and 2nd in the 100 free (not including SCM conversions), while Noble is tied for 2nd in the 200 back.

Pelaez also played a crucial role in the meet-ending 200 free relay, anchoring in 21.63 to lead the Wolfpack to victory in a time of 1:28.15, having been joined by Lily Christianson (22.48), Tyler Driscoll (21.93) and Casaundra Moses (22.11).

After winning the 100 back and 200 fly on Day 1, NC State’s Shackley continued to perform well on Saturday with a big win in the 100 fly, clocking 51.47 to move into 2nd in the NCAA this season. Shackley owns a best of 50.29 set in March.

She also delivered a difference-making split in the 400 medley relay, as Noble (51.71), Grace Sheble (1:00.73), Shackley (51.00) and Christianson (48.74) combined for a Pool Record time of 3:32.18, topping Arizona State (3:33.56) which had a sub-1:00 breast split from Iza Adame (59.94).

ASU junior Deniz Ertan capped off a standout meet with two wins on Day 2, claiming the 1000 free (9:37.96) and 400 IM (4:10.83) in a pair of tight races.

Kicking things off in the 400 IM, Ertan came from behind on the last 50 to op NC State’s Lisa Nystrand, 4:10.83 to 4:11.06, ranking the two of them 3-4 in the country this season.

The 1000 free saw Ertan hold off teammate Alexa Reyna (9:41.43) and NC State’s Chase Travis (9:42.86), with Ertan moving into 5th in the nation this season.

The other event of the day, the 200 breast, saw a reversal of the 100 breast, with ASU’s Emma Gehlert (2:10.66) pulling out the win over Nystand (2:10.75) after Nystrand got the better of her in the shorter event on Day 1.

MEN’S RECAP

Ilya Kharun was the story of the opening day, hitting a nation-leading time in the 200 fly and a personal best in the 100 free leading off the relay, and that was the case once again on Day 2.

Kharun joined the exclusive list of swimmers who have broken 44 seconds in the 100 fly, producing a time of 43.95 to become just the 10th man to dip under the 44-second threshold.

Having already gone 44.57 earlier this month against UNLV, Kharun’s time lowers his previous PB of 44.26 set at the 2024 NCAAs.

Split Comparison

NC State’s Luke Miller was the runner-up in the 100 fly, clocking 45.20 to rank 4th in the nation. Kharun, who is #1 in the country, also broke Miller’s Pool Record of 44.17 set last November.

That swim in the 100 fly for Kharun came after he split 43.99 on ASU’s 400 medley relay, combining with Lucien Vergnes (45.79), Andy Dobrzanski (51.49) and Jonny Kulow (40.77) for a time of 3:02.04, obliterating the Pool Record by nine seconds.

Miller split 44.50 on fly for NC State’s squad, which was more than three seconds  back in 3:05.51.

As is on display in comparing Kharun’s 100 fly splits, he’s got more speed early on this season, and that was on display once again in the 200 free relay, as he led off in 18.59 to tie Jack Dolan‘s ASU Record in the 50 free.

Kharun’s previous best stood at 18.82, set at the 2024 Pac-12s. He now ranks 1st in the NCAA this season by more than three-tenths, with NC State’s Quintin McCarty sitting 2nd at 18.91, a time he dropped on Day 1 in the individual race.

Kharun was followed by Patrick Sammon (19.06), Tommy Palmer (18.94) and Kulow (18.52) in the 200 free relay, giving ASU a final time of 1:15.11 to outpace NC State by one second exactly. McCarty led the Wolfpack off in 19.07.

*Results show Sam Hoover splitting 17.87 for NC State in the 200 free relay, though it appears to be a timing error. Jerry Fox is listed with a 20.11 split, and he was 18.98 on Day 1 in the 200 medley relay.

Other wins for the Sun Devils came from Dobrzanski in the 200 breast and Sammon in the 100 free.

In the 200 breast, Dobrzanksi and Vergnes went 1-2 for ASU, posting respective times of 1:54.14 and 1:54.31 to both go well under the Pool Record, while the freshman Vergnes also set a new best time.

Sammon sizzled in the 100 free, touching in 41.80 to hold off Kulow (41.96) as both men set season-best times and rank 2-3 in the nation behind Kharun, who went 41.56 on Friday’s 400 free relay.

Sammon, like Kharun, also split sub-41 on the anchor leg of the 400 medley relay at the beginning of the session, going 40.94 on ASU’s ‘B’ team.

For NC State, they had some impressive showings come from Kyle Ponsler, Daniel Diehl and David Betlehem.

Ponsler won a razor-thin battle in the 400 IM, setting a new Pool Record of 3:46.23 to edge out ASU’s Michael Hochwalt (3:46.57) and Cale Martter (3:46.90).

Diehl went 1-2 with teammate JT Ewing in the 200 back, as they put up respective times of 1:40.68 and 1:41.04 for the Wolfpack.

Betlehem, a freshman, paced the 1000 free in a Pool Record time of 8:47.17, using a blistering 23.66 final 50 to pull ahead of teammate Lance Norris (8:48.91).