NC State vs Penn State vs Duke
- Friday, October 20th
- Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Short course yards
- Results
Team Scores
Men
- NC State: 182, Penn State: 110
- NC State: 179, Duke: 113
- Penn State: 161.5, Duke: 138.5
Women
- NC State: 185.5, Penn State: 110.5
- NC State: 195, Duke: 103
- Duke: 159, Penn State: 139
NC State beat both Penn State and Duke at the first meet of the season for the Wolfpack. The NC State men started the meet by winning the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:26.24, which is the fastest time in the NCAA so far this season. They had solid splits across the board: Andreas Vazaios (22.30), Jacob Molacek (24.30), Ryan Held (20.45), and Justin Ress (19.19). Ress’ anchor split on that relay was only .49 seconds off his fastest 50 free split from last year, 18.70, which he swam in the finals of the 200 free relay at the NCAAs. Justin Ress and Ryan Held also went 1-2 in the 100 back, with both of them going best times. Ryan Held went 47.77 to get 2nd and drop almost 7 and a half seconds from his previous best time of 55.02, which he swam when he was 17. Justin Ress won the event with a 47.36, shaving about half a second off his previous best of 47.81, which he swam in February of this year.
Andreas Vazaios and Anton Oerskov Ipsen of NC State went 1-2 in the 200 free with times of 1:36.32 and 1:36.86 respectively. Ipsen later went 4:19.71 in the 500 free, which was just off his fastest ever dual meet performance of 4:19.05.
Penn State showed off their breaststroke squad’s speed, completing a sweep of the mens and womens breast events. Freshmen Jane Donahue and Carly Hart went 1:03 in the 100 breast. Donahue won the event with a 1:03.32, just under 2 seconds off her best time of 1:01.49. Hart got 3rd in the event with a 1:03.81, less than a second and a half slower than her best time of 1:02.44. Donahue later went on to win the 200 breast with a 2:15.63, her fastest 200 breast ever at a non-championship meet. Kaelan Freund took both the mens 100 and 200 breast. His winning time in the 100 of 54.55 was less than a second off his best time of 53.59. In the 200 breast he broke 2 minutes, going 1:59.37, less than 2 seconds off his personal best of 1:57.60.
Press Release – NC State:
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s & women’s swimming & diving teams had a stellar opening night inside the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center, as both the Wolfpack men & Wolfpack women earned victories over Penn State & Duke Friday night.
Thoughts from Head Coach Braden Holloway
“This was a big meet for the women. Unfortunately, we were a little shorthanded but we needed some new faces to step up and emerge and we had that today. I’m really proud of them; there were a lot of new names that really stood out today as well as the upperclassmen. Seeing the freshmen excel is really important for the development of our program.
Every time you have your first meet of the season, especially when it’s toward the end of October, they’re antsy to just get up and race and I think they did that. We have some guys that are talented and can do some different races but a lot of times we can’t put them in those races as much. We wanted to try and do that this first meet to see where we stood in a couple of areas and the guys stood up which was good to see.”
More details to come.
Press Release – Penn State:
RALEIGH, N.C. – Sophomore Kaelan Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) and freshman Jane Donahue (Charlotte, N.C.) swept the men’s and women’s breaststroke events, respectivelym to lead Penn State swimming & diving in double duals against NC State and Duke Friday evening in Casey Aquatic Center.
The Penn State men (1-2) split against Duke and No. 5 NC State (2-0), defeating the Blue Devils (0-4), 161-5-138.5, while falling to the hosts, 182-110. The Penn State women (0-3) battled No. 20 Duke (2-2), but came up short, 159-139, while No. 8 NC State (2-0) was victorious, 185.5-110.5.
“We picked up from where we were last week and had a lot of good races,” said Penn State head coach Tim Murphy. “We had some people really step up with some strong swims, good times. We had some struggle a little bit, but people were picking each other up.
“Kaelan and Jane continued their strong path, and we had some other people step up on both the women’s and men’s side, especially some underclassmen, so it was good to see.”
Freund, the reigning Big Ten Men’s Swimmer of the Week, won three individual events total, as he also won the 200 IM in 1:49.54, with no one else finishing under 1:52. Nathaniel Bledsoe (Carmel, Ind.) (1:53.47) and Hayden Harlow (Bentonville, Ark.) (1:53.67) also touched before the Duke swimmers to put that dual meet out of reach.
Freund and Donahue posted their best times in the 200 breaststroke with both achieving the B Standard for NCAA Championships qualification, as Freund won the men’s race in 1:59.37 and Donahue the women’s in 2:15.63. They also both won their respective 100 breast races, as Donahue and classmate Carly Hart (Canton, Ohio) teamed up to place first (1:03.32) and third (1:03.81), while Freund took the men’s race in 54.55 seconds. Donahue, the reigning Big Ten Women’s Swimming & Diving Freshman of the Week, also bested Duke in the 200 IM (2:03.77).
Junior diver Hector Garcia Boissier (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) was also an event winner on the men’s side, claiming the 1-meter board with a score of 360.10. For the women, sophomore Maddie Hart (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) enjoyed a successful evening in multiple events, highlighted by a win in the 100 butterfly (55.21). She also placed fourth in the 100 backstroke (55.76) and 200 backstroke (2:00.32).
Additionally, multiple Nittany Lions beat Duke to the wall to claim event wins against them on the men’s side. Freshman Nathan Schiffman bested Duke the 500 free (4:29.70) placing runner-up overall, as did freshman Eben Krigger (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in fifth (4:33.90) in a key race later in the meet. Schiffmann (9:26.43) and junior captain Robbie Dickson (Greenwich, N.J.) (9:27.05) also beat out Duke in the 1000 freestyle, and senior Ryan O’Neill (Howell, N.J.) (1:40.18) and Krigger (1:40.47) bested the Blue Devils in the 200 free. Other freshmen contributors to the Duke win with gold medals included Jacob Deckman (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) in the 200 butterfly (1:51.86) and Gabe Castano (Allentown, Pa.) in the 100 free (45.98).
In addition to Donahue’s wins against Duke, senior Tommie Dillione (Newtown, Pa.) (1:49.38) and freshman Camryn Barry (Westlake Village, Calif.) (1:50.09) placed second and third overall, respectively, in the 200 free, and Barry also bested Duke in the 500 free, placing second overall in 4:54.95.
“NC State is a powerhouse and we had some good races with them, but they had a bit too much for us,” said Murphy. “It gives a marker though in terms of where we are now and the things we are going to face come the end of the season.”
Penn State will next return to the pool at Minnesota, also facing Michigan and Wisconsin, in a two-day meet set for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3-4.
Press Release – Duke:
RALEIGH, N.C. – The second weekend of the season saw the Blue Devil swimmers and divers face another tough test Friday in a double dual meet against a pair of top-10 NC State squads and the Penn State men and women out of the Big Ten.
Duke’s women (2-2, 1-2 ACC), ranked 20th in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Division I poll, split the day with a 159-139 victory over the Lions and a 195-103 setback to the eighth-ranked Wolfpack women. The Blue Devil men (0-4, 0-3 ACC) received several noteworthy individual performances in losses to fifth-ranked NC State and Penn State.
“We challenged the team after last weekend to come in and fight tonight,” said head coach Dan Colella. “We wanted to be able to race our competition and make sure that we beat them to the wall, whether it was fighting for first or fifth place. I think we did that for a number of our races, but it’s an area that we want to continue to work on.”
After the Duke women opened the meet with a second-place showing in the 200-yard medley relay, both squads received a boost from the springboards. Freshman Teddy Zeng captured the first individual win of his collegiate career, besting the field in the men’s three-meter diving competition with a score (385.75) that cracked the Blue Devils’ all-time performance list. Junior Josh Owsiany followed suit in second (324.10) and Zeng was also second on the one-meter board (336.30), as was senior MaryEllen Targonski in the women’s one-meter competition (259.10) and junior Mackenzie Willborn at the three-meter height (282.15).
Another highlight for Duke came in the women’s 200 butterfly, as senior Isabella Paez was first to the wall and the lone swimmer under the two-minute mark at 1:59.38. Sophomore Alyssa Marsh added a pair of second-place finishes in the 50 (23.28) and 100 (50.77) freestyle, while junior Maddie Hess was second in the 100 backstroke (55.21) and third at the 200-yard distance (1:59.67).
“Isa had a huge smile on her face after that 200 fly tonight,” Colella said. “It was probably one of the best 200 fly performances in terms of feel this time of year. She swam a really strategic race and came up with the win.”
Junior Max St. George turned in solid performances while racing against a field of strong backstroke specialists from NC State. The Wheaton, Ill., native was third in the 200 backstroke (1:47.14) and fourth in the 100 (48.12). Sophomore Miles Williams was the top finisher for the Blue Devil men in the 50 freestyle (20.55) and the 100 butterfly (49.69), while the same event on the women’s side featured a second-place showing by senior Leah Goldman (55.35).
“It’s always fun to swim a Big Ten school,” Colella said. “Penn State, we’ve never swum against them before, so it was great to come away with a win on the women’s side. The men swam them really tough as well. NC State, both their men and women are top-10 programs and they performed like top-10 programs … We learned a lot tonight, things to build on. We’re going to continue to do that and get ready for Virginia in two weeks.”
The Blue Devils will next take on ACC opponent Virginia Friday, Nov. 3 in Charlottesville, Va.
Team Scores:
NC State Women 195, Duke Women 103
Duke Women 159, Penn State Women 139
NC State Women 185.5, Penn State Women 110.5
NC State Men 179, Duke Men 113
Penn State Men 161.5, Duke Men 138.5
NC State Men 182, Penn State Men 110
Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women’s One-Meter Diving: MaryEllen Targonski (2nd), 259.10
Men’s One-Meter Diving: Teddy Zeng (2nd), 336.30
Women’s Three-Meter Diving: Mackenzie Willborn (2nd), 282.15
Men’s Three-Meter Diving: Teddy Zeng (1st), 385.75
Women’s 200-Yard Medley Relay: Maddie Hess, Halle Morris, Alyssa Marsh, Leah Goldman (2nd), 1:42.13
Men’s 200-Yard Medley Relay: Max St. George, Judd Howard, Sean Tate, Miles Williams (3rd), 1:29.85
Women’s 1,000-Yard Freestyle: Verity Abel (4th), 10:06.89
Men’s 1,000-Yard Freestyle: Matt Johnson (7th), 9:27.08
Women’s 200-Yard Freestyle: Hunter Aitchison (5th), 1:51.88
Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle: Sheldon Boboff (7th), 1:41.25
Women’s 100-Yard Backstroke: Maddie Hess (2nd), 55.21
Men’s 100-Yard Backstroke: Max St. George (4th), 48.12
Women’s 100-Yard Breaststroke: Alyssa Arwood (7th), 1:06.11
Men’s 100-Yard Breaststroke: Sean Tate (5th), 56.40
Women’s 200-Yard Butterfly: Isabella Paez (1st), 1:59.38
Men’s 200-Yard Butterfly: Daichi Matsuda (5th), 1:52.68
Women’s 50-Yard Freestyle: Alyssa Marsh (2nd), 23.28
Men’s 50-Yard Freestyle: Miles Williams (3rd), 20.55
Women’s 100-Yard Freestyle: Alyssa Marsh (2nd), 50.77
Men’s 100-Yard Freestyle: Sean Tate (6th), 46.10
Women’s 200-Yard Backstroke: Maddie Hess (3rd), 1:59.67
Men’s 200-Yard Backstroke: Max St. George (3rd), 1:47.14
Women’s 200-Yard Breaststroke: Lizzie Devitt (8th), 2:24.33
Men’s 200-Yard Breaststroke: Judd Howard (4th), 2:04.31
Women’s 500-Yard Freestyle: Verity Abel (5th), 4:57.70
Men’s 500-Yard Freestyle: Zach Washart (8th), 4:34.99
Women’s 100-Yard Butterfly: Leah Goldman (2nd), 55.35
Men’s 100-Yard Butterfly: Miles Williams (4th), 49.69
Women’s 200-Yard Individual Medley: Lizzie Devitt (5th), 2:05.14
Men’s 200-Yard Individual Medley: Judd Howard (4th), 1:53.90
Women’s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Maddie Hess, Leah Goldman, Hunter Aitchison, Alyssa Marsh (2nd), 3:23.25
Men’s 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Alex Peña, Miles Williams, Sean Tate, Max St. George (3rd), 3:01.76
#GoDuke
Too bad Duke doesn’t have much of a facility. He does a good job with what he gets. Are they funded? Men or women?
I disagree 100%. The women are fully funded. It’s Duke. Look at what NC state does with their facility. Nothing Duke has done since becoming fully funded has overly impressed me. Give any of these great younger coaches out there the job and I think you would see a juggernaut of a program
When did they become fully funded? How about men’s side? Asking for a friend.
Just women funded, 3-4 years ago. Not sure on men’s funding. But it’s Duke, facility is good enough. While they’ve gotten better, nothing amazing has really stood out at ACC or NCAA level. They beat UNC great, UNC is a disaster so that means virtually nothing.
Again, Duke is improved, but I’m telling you it is such an attractive school, with women’s scholarships, regardless of facility, they should be fighting for top 3 every year at ACCs, and be top 15 at the least nationally
I think that Duke’s been building, slowly but surely, for a couple seasons. I also think the thing to remember about building programs is that it has to be done step by step. It’s highly unlikely they’ll just be able to get an outstanding recruiting class one season that will launch them into like the top ten nationally, especially when there’s schools like Stanford, Georgia, Cal, Texas, etc. that are just gobbling up all the top recruits. Instead, Duke’s staff has to focus on making each incoming class a little bit better than the last, and I think they’ve done a decent job of that. Their freshmen class this year is overall pretty good within the context of the program,… Read more »
Building? They’re going backwards fast on the men’s side
I’ve heard a number of people say that, but I disagree. They broke 9 mens school records last year, and if you look at their top times from this season and compare it to last season, there are already a couple events they are as fast/almost as fast in.
Records are there to be broken! It seems as though the rate at which the NCAA, as a whole, is improving is far exceeding that of Duke. It’s top 25 finishes and conference finishes that teams should be aiming for. Duke were a top 25 team 8 years ago (thanks to that Olympic diver). Looking at the current team there’s perhaps 1 swimmer (their backstroker) that may qualify. Besides Peter Kropp and their 200 medley relay they haven’t made any impact om the NCAA.
That’s completely fair to point out. I’m not sure if I totally agree that Duke is improving at a slower pace than the rest of the NCAA, but I definitely think the points you’re making are reasonable. I feel like it probably also depends on how any specific person measures team improvement. For example, how much stock you put in the fastest swimmer in each event vs depth in the event, NCAA/conference scoring potential vs dual meet scoring potential, how much you include other teams in the conference’s improvement when considering the teams improvement, etc.
A difficult issue is the need for a bigger facility & the reluctance of the AD to spend any money whatsoever on the program. My understanding is the scholarships on the women’s side are endowed via restricted giving to the program & not grant-in-aid money.
That as given, I do agree that Duke’s academic prowess should boost their opportunities to build & sustain an NCAA ranked program. It is hard considering the ACC also boasts UVa, UNC & Ga Tech —all very highly ranked academic institutions which have funded programs.
I don’t think the facility matters all that much. NC State’s facility is probably the worst of any team that placed in the top 25-30 at NCAA’s last year and they’ve managed brilliantly by creating a team atmosphere and culture that people want to be a part of. It should always be less about the pool itself and more about the team.
Yeesh, Ress is going to have a big year
Couple thoughts…watch out for nc states 2 medley relay. Not even sure that’s their fastest combination. Read on Back and their Italian freshman who’s been 22.0 may be the way to go. He looks like he got stronger as the meet went on. If he can convert that to an 18.5 mid split, that should be one good relay.
What is up with NC state women. Swam well but they were missing a lot of high impact women swimmers. Seems like more than just illness or injury. Something happen?
Guntoro is doing a good job handling the transition with the sprint group. This is a very strong NC STATE.
I’m skeptical on if using Ress on the back leg is even the 100% right call, but he did throw down a PB in the 100 SCY back yesterday and looks in good form in backstroke. If they can get Izzo down into 18.5 territory, I don’t see how they’re not vying for a national title around the 1:22 or below mark. Molacek is a huge get for the breaststroke leg, essentially coming in and replacing Hren with even more emphasis on the sprint side, and Held is a great sprint flyer as well. Definitely a lethal combination if the free leg can be pushed.
The women were missing Courtney Caldwell, Krista Duffield, Summer Finke, Sirena Rowe, and Elise Haan,… Read more »
Summer Finke can’t compete for NC State until after December, one year after leaving FSU. Transfer rules are totally biased against the athlete.
Ress’ best time in the back was a 47.8 going into last summer where he went a 53 low long course and a 24.4 in the 50. Guessing he can chop some time off that.
Huge win for a young penn state team! Watch out for them.. especially next year when they return almost every single swimmer and diver