Back in its home water for the first time in more than three months, the NC State swimming and diving team hosted Minnesota Friday evening on day one of its two-day dual meet.
Through 20 events, the Wolfpack women lead the Gophers 106-80, while the NC State men lead Minnesota 125-60.
Wolfpack Relays
The women captured first and second place in the 200 freestyle relay. The group of Lauren Poli, Ashlyn Koletic, Natalie Labonge and Riki Bonnema swam a time of 1:30.23 while the squad of Lotta Nevalinen, Krista Duffield, Lauren Rhodes and Yuri Nakano notched a time of 1:31.81.
The team of Simonas Bilis, Ryan Held, Andreas Scheillerup and David Williams took first place in the men’s 200 free relay touching the wall at 1:18.58, which was good enough for a NCAA top-10 time.
The quartet of Jason Deana, Scott Johnson, Hennessey Stuart and John Newell captured the second-place spot, out touching Minnesota’s ‘A’ squad by .06.
The Pack capped off the relays on day one with two more wins. In the 400 medley relay Alexia Zevnik, Kayla Brumbaum, Koletic and Labonge swam a 3:40.18 in the women’s event, while Hennessey Stuart, Derek Hren, Soren Dahl and Bilis swam a new Casey Aquatic Center record with a time of 3:11.14.
Freestyle Watch
Freshman Anton Ipsen once again defeated his own school record, swimming an 8:58.92 in the 1000 free for a first place finish. His new time also gives him the second fastest time in the country as well as a Casey Aquatic Center pool record.
Dahl claimed the title in the men’s 200 free with a time of 1:36.99 while Labonge captured second-place honors in the women’s 200 free with a time of 1:49.37.
Bonnema won the women’s 50 free with a time of 22.74, while Bilis and Held earned first and second on the men’s side with times of 19.88 and 20.28.
Back It Up
NC State took a one, two, three finish in the women’s 100 back, as Zevnik notched a 53.47 and Koletic and Hannah Freyman touched the wall with a 55.29 and a 56.30.
The Wolfpack men claimed the top two spots in the 100 back, as Stuart and Scheillerup recorded times of 47.50 and 48.12.
Breaststroke
On the men’s side Hren took first place in the 100 breast with a time of 54.52, while Brumbaum and Addison Bursch took second and third on the women’s side with times of 1:02.42 and 1:04.86.
Fly Into the Sky
On both sides, NC State claimed first and second place in the 200 butterfly. Yuri Nakano and Lydia Jones on the women’s side touched the wall with times of 2:00.02 and 2:00.56, while Christian McCurdy and John Newell posted times of 1:45.22 and 1:49.61 on the men’s side.
Individual Medley
Zevnik took the top honor in the women’s 200 IM with a time of 2:02.09, while Stephen Coetzer won the men’s event with a time of 1:48.29.
Springboard Action
Rachel Mumma finished third in the women’s three-meter competition with a score of 333. to give her a new season-best.
Wolfpack Improvement
NC State recorded 10 new top times for the 2014-15 season. The 'Wolfpack Top Times' consists of the top five times in a given season for each individual event, and the top three times in relay events.
Postseason Focus
In addition the NC State’s first day performance, the Pack recorded two more NCAA ‘B’ standard times.
Men’s 200 Free Relay (Bilis, Held, Scheillerup, Williams), 1:18.58
Stephen Coetzer, 200 IM, 1:48.29
Up Next
NC State will return to Casey Aquatic Center for its second-day matchup with Minnesota. Competition is slated for a 10 a.m. start.
