For the first time since the program's back-to-back wins in 1979 and '80, the NC State women's swimming and diving team took the ACC championship title on Thursday night, ending Virginia's nine-year streak. This marks the team's third win at the conference championship.
In total, the team won four individual titles, four relay titles and had 21 top-eight finishes.
After four days of competition, the team finished with 1,183.5 points, Virginia placed second with 1,100.5 points and Louisville rounded out the top three of the team standings with 1,027.
NC State’s Alexia Zevnik Named Most Valuable Swimmer
NC State’s Alexia Zevnik made the most of her final ACC Championship. The senior won three individual events on the week, and all three were the first wins in the respective event in program history. She is the first NC State swimmer to win three individual titles in a year since Amy Lepping in 1980.
She also swam on two medal winning relay squads, adding a gold medal in the 400 freestyle relay and a silver in the 800 freestyle relay.
For her performance, the ACC coaches voted her as the 2017 ACC Championship Most Valuable Women’s Swimmer.
Gold Medals
100 Backstroke (50.80)
200 Backstroke (1:49.61) – Meet Record
200 Individual Medley (1:54.44) – Meet Record
400 Freestyle Relay (47.38) – ACC Record
Silver Medal
800 Freestyle Relay (6:59.73)
Carlson, Giordano Named Most Valuable Divers
Florida State’s Molly Carlson was voted as the 2017 ACC Championship Most Valuable Women’s Diver by the league’s head coaches. The freshman finished first on the platform, third on the 1-meter, and fourth on the 3-meter.
On the men’s side, Pitts Dominic Giordano was the only diver to reach the finals in all three events and was named the 2017 ACC Championship Most Valuable Men’s Diver. The senior won the 3-meter title, placed third on the platform, and was fourth on the 1-meter.
Rewriting the Record Books
The ACC record book will need to undergo numerous revisions after a week of swimming at McAuley Aquatic Center.
Nine new marks were set, with six conference and three meet records falling.
ACC Records
100 Freestyle (46.75) – Mallory Comerford, Louisville
200 Freestyle (1:41.70) – Mallory Comerford, Louisville
200 Freestyle Relay (1:27.31) – NC State (Labonge, Perry, Duffield, Caldwell)
400 Freestyle Relay (3:10.31) – NC State (Zevnik, Perry, Duffield, Caldwell)
800 Freestyle Relay (6:56.21) – Virginia (Smith, Marrkand, Hill, Jones)
200 Medley Relay (1:34.89) – NC State (Haan, Brumbaum, Labonge, Perry)
Meet Records
50 Freestyle (21.78) – Caroline Baldwin, North Carolina (PRELIMS)
200 Backstroke (1:49.61) – Alexia Zevnik, NC State
200 Individual Medley (1:54.44) – Alexia Zevnik, NC State
400 Freestyle Relay
NC State closed out the week and their first league championship since 1980 in resounding fashion on Thursday night.
Alexia Zevnik, Ky-lee Perry, Krista Duffield, and Courtney Caldwell combined to touch in 3:10.31, bettering the Wolfpack’s own ACC record in the event by over 1.5 seconds.
Zevnik opened with a 47.38 split to grab the early lead.
Louisville closed the gap in the second leg, but Duffield and Caldwell closed out the victory for NC State for the Wolfpack’s third straight win in the event.
Louisville (3:12.12) and North Carolina (3:13.49) rounded out the podium.
Men’s and Women’s Platform Diving
A pair of freshman took home titles in the men’s and women’s platform diving.
Florida State’s Molly Carlson stood atop the podium with a 284.05 performance, followed by fellow freshman Freida Lim of Clemson. North Carolina junior Elissa Dawson claimed bronze with 272.25 points.
In the men’s final, Miami’s David Dinsmore became the first Hurricane to win the event since JJ Kinzbach in 2008. The freshman finished with 517.65 points, ahead of Florida State’s Dylan Grisell (391.95) and Pitt’s Dominic Giordano (377.50).
200 Butterfly
Virginia’s Kaitlyn Jones successful defended her title in the 200 butterfly in the last individual race of the championship.
The senior sat in third through the first 50 yards, moved up to second at the midway point, grabbed the lead through 150 yards, and then ran away from the field in the last lap.
Jones finished in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:53.21 to win the gold. Virginia Tech’s Klaudia Nazieblo claimed silver in 1:54.80, and Virginia’s Jennifer Marrkand took home bronze in 1:55.29.
200 Breaststroke
Louisville’s Andrea Cottrell picked up the second straight win on the night for the Cardinals.
Virginia’s Laura Simon, the two-time defending champion in the event, led at the halfway point in a time of 1:00.41 with Cottrell sitting in third. NC State’s Kayla Brumbaum took over the led at the 150 yard mark in 1:33.64, but Cottrell split 33.14 on the final lap to win the title in 2:06.90.
Simon won silver in 2:07.24, followed by Brumbaum in 2:07.53 in a tight race among the top three.
Cottrell and Simon both posted NCAA automatic qualifying times in the race.
100 Freestyle
After setting the 100 freestyle ACC record in a time of 47.00 in the morning prelims, Louisville’s Mallory Comerford split 22.82 on the first lap and finished in 46.75 to reset her own record in the finals. The time stands as the fastest in the country this year.
The win was the third straight in the event by a Louisville swimmer, as Kelsi Worrell won the race the last two years.
The event was a big one for NC State, which had four swimmers in the championship final including two on the podium. Courtney Caldwell placed second (47.89), just ahead of teammate Ky-lee Perry (47.97).
200 Backstroke
One day after becoming the first NC State woman to win the ACC 100 backstroke title, Alexia Zevnik became the first in program history to win the 200 backstroke to complete the sweep of the two events.
Zevnik split 53.92 and found herself in second place at the midway point, and took over the lead through 150 yards. The senior ran away from the field in the final lap to win in a time of 1:49.61 to set a new meet record.
North Carolina’s Hellen Moffitt placed second in 1:51.64, followed by NC State’s Elise Haan in third (1:52.82).
1650 Freestyle
Virginia’s Leah Smith continued to add to her career trophy case in the first final on Thursday night.
The senior entered the 2017 championship having won the 1650 freestyle in each of the past three years, and she showed why she is one of the top distance swimmers in the world again at the McAuley Aquatic Center.
Swimming in the first of four heats, Smith swam a pool record 15:31.49 to complete the career sweep of the event. With the win, she is the first woman in ACC history to win the 1650 freestyle four times, is the fourth woman in ACC history to win two different events four times, and she moved into a tie for second most with nine career individual titles.
Virginia Tech’s Jessica Hespeler (16:05.26) and NC State’s Rachel Muller (16:06.01) claimed the other two podium spots.
