Entering the day in sixth place, NC State won three of the four swimming events and had six championship finalists to claim the meet lead on Tuesday night at the 2017 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship, held at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center.
“This was a good day for us,” said NC State coach Braden Holloway. “We’re excited about our performances across the board. It was a good team effort in every event—I mean, we got points in every event. I think the big thing is that every opportunity you get, you want to capitalize and get points on the board. There were only a few areas where we didn’t get on the board and score.
“I think overall, we’re in a good spot and we know it’s a tight team race. So we have to come back tomorrow and get right back to work.”
The Wolfpack sits in first place with 452.5 points, ahead of nine-time defending champion Virginia with 385.5 points. North Carolina is in third (384), followed by Louisville (383), Duke (315), Florida State (297), Virginia Tech (266), Miami (228), Notre Dame (218), Pitt (195), Georgia Tech (141), Boston College (92), and Clemson (73).
Two records fell on Tuesday night with the NC State 200 freestyle relay squad setting the conference record and the Wolfpack’s Alexia Zevnik setting a meet record in 200 individual medley. NC State’s Ky-lee Perry, Virginia’s Leah Smith, and Florida State’s Ayla Bonniwell also took home individual titles.
The 2017 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships resume Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. with preliminaries for the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke. The finals for those events, in addition to the men’s 3-meter diving and the 400 medley relay, will get underway at 6 p.m.
200 Freestyle Relay
The NC State sprinters continued to shine in the final event on Tuesday night.
Shortly after placing four swimmers in the top nine spots in the 50 Freestyle, the 200 freestyle squad of Natalie Labonge, Ky-lee Perry, Krista Duffield, and Courtney Caldwell combined to touch in an ACC-record time of 1:27.31.
It was a tight race throughout, as North Carolina’s Caroline Baldwin and Sarah Hitchens gave the Tar Heels a lead through the first 100 yards. NC State’s Duffield grabbed the lead in the third leg, and Wolfpack anchor Caldwell beat North Carolina’s Hellen Moffitt to the wall for the victory.
The win was the fifth straight in the event for NC State.
North Carolina claimed silver in 1:27.36, and Virginia placed third in 1:28.27.
Women’s 1 Meter
Florida State freshman Ayla Bonniwell took home her first ACC title with a victory in the 1-meter.
The native of Ithaca, New York, qualified for the finals with 290.15 during prelims and scored 320.85 on Tuesday night to claim the gold medal.
Miami junior Wally Layland placed second with 308.50, edging out Florida State’s Molly Carlson (307.65) in third.
50 Freestyle
Ky-lee Perry made it two straight individual titles for the NC State Wolfpack as she out-touched a tight field in the 50 Freestyle A final grab the victory.
The freshman posted 21.88 to claim the gold, ahead of North Carolina’s Caroline Baldwin (21.93). NC State’s Courtney Caldwell (22.00) and Natalie Labonge (22.00) tied for the bronze.
NC State picked up a combined 120.5 points in the 50 freestyle with three of the top four finishers and six swimmers scoring in the event.
200 Individual Medley
Alexia Zevnik made meet and program history in the 200 individual medley. She posted the fastest opening leg (24.83) in the field, and out-raced Virginia’s Kaitlyn Jones to the wall to become the first NC State swimmer to win the event in team history.
Her final time of 1:54.44 lowered the meet record of 1:54.92, a mark held by Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney that had stood since 2014.
Jones also posted an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:54.93. Virginia’s Jennifer Marrkand grabbed bronze in 1:56.69.
500 Freestyle
Virginia’s Leah Smith joined some elite company in Tuesday night’s first race, the 500 freestyle.
The senior won the event for the fourth straight year, becoming only the ninth female to win four ACC titles in the same event in league history and only the second to do so in a freestyle event.
The two-time defending national champion in the 500 freestyle, Smith opened up with a 25.23 split and continued to extend her lead during the remaining laps to finish in 4:30.81. Her performance ranked as the third fastest in her career and the fifth fastest in NCAA Division I history.
Louisville’s Mallory Comerford, NC State’s Hannah Moore, and Virginia Tech’s Jessica Hespeler battled in a tight race for the final two podium spots, with Comerford (4:37.47) grabbing silver and Moore (4:38.07) claiming bronze.
Tuesday Morning Preliminaries
The second day of the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship began Thursday morning with preliminaries in three events: the 500 freestyle, the 200 yard individual medley, and the 50 freestyle.
Virginia’s Leah Smith, the two-time NCAA Champion and three-time ACC Champion in the 500 freestyle, posted the fastest qualifying time in prelims in 4:31.60.
Smith will attempt tonight to become the ninth female swimmer in ACC history to win the same event four times, and only the second in to do so in a freestyle event.
In the 200 individual medley, NC State’s Alexia Zevnik led the way in 1:55.85, followed by the Virginia tandem of Jennifer Marrkand (1:56.30) and Kaitlyn Jones (1:56.34).
In the morning’s final event, the 50 freestyle, four swimmers went under 22 seconds. North Carolina’s Caroline Baldwin (21.78) and NC State’s Ky-lee Perry (21.80) both topped the previous meet record of 21.85 set by Kelsi Worrell last year. North Carolina’s Sarah Hitchens and NC State’s Courtney Caldwell both touched in 21.99.
The preliminaries for the women’s 1-meter gets underway at Noon, while tonight’s final round is set to begin at 6 p.m.
