Makayla Sargent, a 2016 Olympic Trials qualifier and 2017 NCAA qualifier who spent the first two years of her collegiate career at the University of Florida, has committed to North Carolina State University beginning in the fall of 2018. Sargent is from Victor, New York; she attended Victor Senior High School.
“I am extremely excited to continue my swimming and education at NC State University. I cant [sic] wait to join this family of incredibly hardworking and enthusiastic athletes. The level of excitement in the program is obvious and I feel lucky to be a member of THE PACK!
Sargent competed in the 200 fly and 400 IM at 2017 NCAA Women’s Division I Championships during her freshman season at Florida. As a sophomore, she swam at the All-Florida Invitational, in dual meets against Indiana and Texas, Alabama, and Georgia, and at the Purdue Invitational. She swims for the club team Islanders Aquatics under co-head coach Michael Murray. She had a good long course season last summer, going a best time in the 200 back at Nationals, and later, at U.S. Open, in the 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM.
Sargent improved quite a bit while at Florida. Below are her best SCY times (with her pre-Florida times in parentheses).
- 200 IM – 2:00.46 (2:00.46)
- 400 IM – 4:10.78 (4:16.54)
- 200 fly – 1:58.69 (2:01.63)
- 200 free – 1:49.78 (1:51.31)
- 500/400 free – 4:48.24 (4:51.19)
- 200 back – 2:01.40 (2:04.12)
Sargent’s best 200 fly and 400 IM times would have made the Wolfpack’s top-5 lists for the 2017-18 season. She will begin with incoming freshmen commits Emma Muzzy, Kylee Alons, Maddie Smith, Sami Nickerson, Shannon Kearney, Sophie Hansson, and Taylor Bennett.
Excited to announce my commitment to swim and continue my education at NC State! Thank you to everyone who helped me throughout this process. GO PACK!??
— Makayla Sargent (@SargentMakayla) January 26, 2018
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
Any word on who the other two State commits were yesterday? They always announce they have a new commitment on Twitter but don’t say who. I assume this was one of the three.
I think if you look at the level of energy and enthusiasm of the NC State program, it capitalizes on an “athlete centered” philosophy that seems to collectively inspire the team as a whole. That might be Braden Halloway’s greatest coaching tool. Over the last few seasons this program continuously rises up in big situations and they seem to love racing in critical moments. I think that’s the “it” factor that the program is built on, how can you argue with the results. YES, Gary and Todd were a HUGE part of that success, but it starts at the top and Halloway has put together a TEAM FIRST mentality that’s created an atmosphere of fun-maybe the most important part of… Read more »
Absolutely agree!
WOLF-
I mean, they’ve said as much in interviews, if I recall. Braden’s definitely been on record saying that when the women’s team won the ACC title in 2017 that the men’s team was almost happier than the women’s team for that big accomplishment. That’s not something you commonly see from a men’s and women’s team at a big school because they’re virtually always separated, both in coaching staff and in practice. It undoubtedly has helped them foster more of a team-first attitude when everyone on the team, not just everyone of a gender, is working towards a common goal. That’s what Braden and his staff (everyone on staff, not just Gary or Todd) have excelled at.
I’m confused by your comment that men’s and women’s teams are “virtually always separated, both in coaching staff and in practice.” I would estimate over 90% of D1 programs have combined coaching staffs. While some may break up men and women in practice (which I think is also rare), they have the same coaches.
How is it then that the Florida men are good and the women are really weak. Where is Greg Troy in this scenario???
What a clever girl!
She’s getting an upgrade both athletically and academically!
Lol UF ranked tied for 9 in college public school rankings, NC state ranked tied for 33.
….. and a downgrade in aerobic work.
Maybe, but isn’t swimming fast the most important thing. I believe that NC State scored more points in both the Men’s and Women’s 500 and 1650 Free at this past year’s NCAAs. They must hav even doing something right.
Is it even possible to upgrade in aerobic work from Troy to anyone else? And I mean, I know Gary is gone now, but let’s not pretend like the aerobic work that the team has been doing hasn’t worked for athletes like Hannah Moore, Anton Ipsen, Adam Linker, etc.
All that aerobic work scored 3 points at NCAA’s…
NC State nearly scored more points in one event – the mile, than Florida did in the entire meet.
I’m pretty sure Anton Ipsen — first swimmer in history to go under 4:10 500, 3:40IM and 14:25 mile did a little bit of aerobic work.
Does this statistic (that the NC State coaches marketed) annoy anyone else?? Just seems like they are trying a bit much… right?
And let’s not feed the Statement troll.
Except UF is ranked significantly higher academically than NC State…
We all know #STATEMENT is just a troll. But let’s not get carried away with this ‘significantly higher’ ranked nonsense. Yes UF is #9 and NCSU #33 for nat’l public university (USNews 2018). But if you’re intrigued enough to take a look its methodology, you’d find the difference in scoring that determines the ranking between UF-NCSU is smaller than UF-Cal (#1). And since I love torturing myself, here’s the data for admitted students in 2017 (Mid 50% range) from university’s page:
UF: 4.3-4.6 (GPA), 1280-1430 (SAT), 28-32 (ACT)
NCSU: 4.3-4.8 (GPA), 1240-1370 (SAT), 27-31 (ACT)
To summarize:
UF & NCSU are good schools. UF is higher than NCSU in terms of ranking, but not by much. Both schools… Read more »
Start of a mass exodus from the Gator team?
Just askin!
She announced her transfer 3 months ago
OK. Thought there might be more to it.
I thought this announcement sounded familiar. Glad to know I wasn’t just imagining it. Phew!