NC State Closes Out Regular Season With Wins Over UNC

NC STATE VS. NORTH CAROLINA

• Results
• Hosted by North Carolina
• Friday, January 26th
• 25 Yards
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

• MEN: NC State 186, UNC 109
• WOMEN: NC State 164, UNC 136

The NC State men and women took down rival UNC in the last competition of their regular dual meet season. National Teamer Justin Ress was among the top performers for the men, winning 2 individual races. Ress battled closely with teammates Coleman Stewart (1:36.75) and Jacob Molacek (1:36.89) in the 200 free, coming from behind with a 24.66 on the final split to win it in 1:36.61. In the 100 free, Ress was a full second ahead of the field as he touched in 43.42. He also contributed a 19.30 anchor split on the winning 200 medley relay and finished 2nd in the 200 IM with a 1:48.76 behind teammate Andreas Vazaios (1:45.40).

The Wolfpack women had several swimmers win multiple events. All-American Hannah Moore swept her specialty distance races. Moore was over 5 seconds ahead of the field in the 1000 free, touching in 9:45.80 ahead of teammates Tamila Holub (9:51.95) and Summer Finke (9:56.79) for a 1-2-3 sweep. Moore was the only swimmer to break 4:50 in the 500 free, turning in a 4:47.52 as Holub (4:51.86) followed for another 1-2 finish.

Backstroker Elise Haan outpaced UNC’s Caroline Baldwin through the back half of the 100 back to win in 52.88 to Baldwin’s 53.16. She completed the sweep with a 1:56.02 in the 200 back. Sprinter Krista Duffield collected a pair of wins in the 50 free (22.80) and 100 fly (53.75). Finally, breaststroker Julia Poole threw down a winning double with her 2:13.98 in the 200 breast and 2:00.14 in the 200 IM.

PRESS RELEASE – NC STATE:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In its final dual meet of the season, the #6/15 NC State men’s & women’s swimming & diving team both picked up wins Friday evening over UNC-Chapel Hill inside Koury Natatorium.

The Wolpfack won a total of 22 events on the day in the last dual meet for NC State’s eight seniors; Ryan Held, Hannah Moore, Caroline Estep, Anton Ipsen, Krista Duffield, Matt O’Donnell, Harrison Mitchell and Hennessey Stuart.

 Team Scores
Men
#6 NCSU 186, UNC-CH 109

Women
#15 NCSU 164, #20 UNC-CH 136

Quoting the Coaches
Swimming
“I’m extremely happy with the women,” said head coach Braden Holloway. “They’ve been dealt some bad luck this year with injuries and that stuff happens to teams, but they’ve had some bad luck. It was a fun meet and I know we came out on top which helps, but it was a fun back-and-forth battle where everyone played a role, the spirit was up and I’m just really happy with the team effort from the women and I know the guys are proud of them too. For the guys, it was the last dual meet of the year so they wanted to finish strong and we had some pretty exceptional performances tonight.

I love our senior class; Anton’ last 1000 was his fastest in season 1000 time ever so that was a great way to go out for him. Ryan had a great swim today, Krista Duffieldhad a big performance getting two key wins, which were huge. Hannah Moore has been a staple point for our women’s distance team and she’s leaving that group in good hands. Carol got some big races today with some points in that 50, Hennessey got his hand on the wall in the backstroke events and led off with his fastest 50 backstroke ever. We had Charles on the boards and Matt who both did pretty well.”

Diving
“I think tonight was an outstanding performance by Wolfpack diving,” said diving coach Yahya Radman. “I couldn’t be happier for how much our kids put into this and it’s very hard to come into an environment like this and do what Madeline did in particular, who came in right out of the gate firing. She dominated on three-meter and every time they punched her back she punched back just a little harder, getting a personal best on three-meter which is arguably her weakest event. One of my happiest moments was seeing Holt constantly come through and fight back as a freshman to be our top finisher on both boards. It was truly outstanding and the future for NC State diving is very bright. I am very happy that we are where we are and what holds next for our very young team. Our next action is in Greensboro for ACC’s, so we’ll see where our training goes from there. From the first relay to the last wall, this was hands down the most fun contest I’ve ever been in. As a whole, our women’s team was gritty as all get out. Class acts all around.”

Wolfpack Relays
Andreas Vazaios, Jacob Molacek, Ryan Held and Justin Ress helped get the evening off to a strong start for NC State, winning the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:26.50 seconds. On the women’s side, Elise Haan, Lexie Lupton, Vasiliki Baka and Krista Duffield won the 400 freestyle relay thanks to their finish of 3:18.26 seconds.

Top Individual Performances
NC State continued its dominance in the distance events; Hannah Moore won the 1000 freestyle with a mark of 9:45.80 seconds and the 500 freestyle thanks to her finish of 4:47.52 seconds. On the men’s side, Anton Ipsen took first in the 1000 freestyle after he touched the wall at 8:49.49 seconds, a mark which topped his previous nation-best time of 8:49.75 seconds. Eric Knowles won the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:25.47 seconds.

Along with her first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, Krista Duffield also won the 50 freestyle with a mark of 22.80 and the 100 butterfly after she touched the wall at 53.75 seconds. Julia Poole also won multiple events; her mark of 2:13.98 seconds saw her finish first in the 200 breaststroke and her 200 IM time of 2:00.14 seconds also saw her earn first-place.

Justin Ress won both the 100 and 200 freestyle events; he touched the wall at 43.42 and 1:36.61 seconds respectively. Andreas Vazaios also had an impressive outing, finishing first in the 100 backstroke thanks to his finish of 46.79.

Elise Haan swept the women’s backstroke events, winning the 100 backstroke in 52.88 and the 200 backstroke in 1:56.02 seconds. Hennessey Stuart took first in the men’s 200 backstroke thanks to his time of 1:45.37 seconds.

Rounding out the Pack’s event winners was Giovanni Izzo, who won the 100 breaststroke in 54.99, James Bretscher, who won the 200 butterfly in 1:45.29 seconds, Patrik Schwarzenbach, who won the 200 breaststroke in 2:00.59 seconds and Coleman Stewart who took first in the 100 butterfly in 47.20.

Diving
Madeline Kline took first on the three-meter board and set a new personal best thanks to her NCAA Zone mark of 320.85. She also took third on the one-meter board after posting a score of 264.83.

Holt Gray continued his strong form with as he hit a Zone mark and set a new personal best score on the one-meter board as he tabbed a mark of 316.88. He also saw success on the three-meter board, tabbing a personal best score of 321.75, which was also an NCAA Zone mark.

Stewart Spanbauer earned an Zone mark of 311.03 on one-meter to finish third and a score 309.00 on the three-meter board to finish sixth.

NC State Event Winners
Men’s 200 medley relay: Vazaios, Molacek, Held, Ress – 1:26.50
Women’s 1000 freestyle: Hannah Moore – 9:45.80
Men’s 1000 freestyle: Anton Ipsen – 8:49.49
Men’s 200 freestyle: Justin Ress – 1:36.61#
Women’s 100 backstroke: Elise Haan – 52.88#
Men’s 100 backstroke: Andreas Vazaios – 46.79#
Men’s 100 breaststroke: Giovanni Izzo – 54.99#
Men’s 200 butterfly: James Bretscher – 1:45.29#
Women’s 50 yard freestyle: Krista Duffield – 22.80#
Men’s 50 freestyle: Ryan Held – 19.66#
Men’s 100 freestyle: Justin Ress – 43.42#
Women’s 200 backstroke: Elise Haan – 1:56.02#
Men’s 200 backstroke: Hennessey Stuart – 1:45.37#
Women’s 200 breaststroke: Julia Poole – 2:13.98#
Men’s 200 breaststroke: Patrik Schwarzenbach – 2:00.59
Women’s 500 freestyle: Hannah Moore – 4:47.52#
Men’s 500 freestyle: Eric Knowles – 4:25.47
Women’s 100 butterfly: Krista Duffield – 53.75#
Men’s 100 butterfly: Coleman Stewart – 47.20#
Women’s three-meter dive: Madeline Kline – 320.85#
Women’s 200 IM: Julia Poole – 2:00.14#
Women’s 400 freestyle relay: Haan, Lupton, Baka, Duffield – 3:18.26

• # denotes NCAA ‘B’/Zone cut

Up Next
NC State competes next when it returns to Koury Natatorium for the Carolina Nike Invitational from Feb. 2-4.

PRESS RELEASE – UNC:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.  – The University of North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams fell to NC State in dual meet action Friday evening on Senior Night at Koury Natatorium.

The meet marked the final home dual meet performance for 15 Tar Heel men’s and women’s senior swimmers, divers and student managers.

The third-ranked NC State men defeated UNC 186-109 to improve to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC.  Carolina is now 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the ACC.  The 14^th-ranked Wolfpack women defeated the 21^st-ranked Tar Heel women 164-136.  Both teams are now 4-4 on the season overall.  NC State is 2-1 in the ACC and Carolina is 1-2.

CAROLINA’S TOP PERFOMERS:  On the men’s side, UNC won four events, including a sweep of the diving.  Redshirt junior Sean Burston won the one-meter diving with a score of 370.95 while freshman Greg Duncan took home three-meter diving with 408.15 points.  The Tar Heels also had the top official time in the 200-yard individual medley with Noah Cairns and in the 400-yard freestyle relay with Jack Messenger, Valdas Abaliksta, Alvin Jiangand J.T. Casey.

On the women’s side, UNC started off the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay as Caroline Baldwin, Caroline Hauder, Emma Cole and Brooke Bauer touched first in 1:38.85.  Five Tar Heels earned single individual event wins on the women’s side.  Winners were Zhada Fields in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:48.19, Caroline Hauder in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:01.06, Bryanna Cameron in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:58.91, Caroline Baldwin in the 100-yard freestyle at 49.05 and Maria Lohman in the one-meter diving with 297.60 points.

WHAT THE TAR HEELS HAD TO SAY:
Head Coach Rich DeSelm
“We absolutely respect the quality program that N.C. State has. We knew they would be coming in here with a lot of firepower and they did. It was a good healthy competition. I thought our team as a whole stepped up to the challenge far better this week than we did last week at Virginia. That’s a positive sign.  We’ve got to turn around and go over to Duke tomorrow. It will be its senior day. We are looking forward to the racing tomorrow, it should be a lot of fun. It was our senior night tonight, their last dual meet in Koury Natatorium.  We took some time to honor our seniors and are very appreciative of their contributions over their careers here.  Overall, we didn’t win but it was a much better showing than last week.”
Diving Coach Abel Sanchez
“They did great. The guys did a really good job. Devin Bellamyand Andrew Owsiany killed it. I needed them to step up and they did a really good job. Sean Burston and Greg Duncan are coming into their own. The women did very well. On three-meter I think all the women did an excellent job. Maria Lohman did a great job on both boards. Unfortunately, our senior, Elissa Dawson, had a little mishap in warmups when she hit the board and wasn’t able to dive. All in all, I think the group did a fantastic job.”
Senior Swimmer Caroline Baldwin:
“We started with senior day so it was a little bittersweet. I remember senior day vividly all four years for the past three years. It’s so weird to think that my class’s day was finally today. It was a little emotional before the meet so we all had to dial back in. N.C. State is always a really fun meet and I am glad we got to have a senior day this meet because we have such a good rivalry between the two of us. Everyone brought their A-game today, so much better than last week at UVA.  For the most part, just be a cohesive, united team.”
Men’s Diver Sean Burston
“Today went pretty well for all of us. It’s a team sport and N.C. State has a great team so it is always good to get some great competition in there so I think today went pretty well.”
On the guys going 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the one meter:
“That was awesome. We were really proud of all our guys. Our underclassmen, they really showed up when we needed them too.”

UP NEXT:  The Tar Heels will close out the 2017-18 dual meet season on Saturday when they swim at Duke at 1 p.m. at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion.

MEN’S TEAM SCORE:  #3 NC STATE 186, NORTH CAROLINA 109
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT–MEN
200-Yard Medley Relay:  4^th place, Alvin Jiang, Valdas Abaliksta, Nick Loomis, J.T. Casey, 1:28.81
1000-Yard Freestyle: Nick Palmer, 5^th Place, 9:32.57
200-Yard Freestyle:  Henry Campbell, 4^th Place, 1:39.03
100-Yard Backstroke: Alvin Jiang, 3^rd Place, 48.10
100-Yard Breaststroke: Valdas Abaliksta, 3^rd Place, 55.08
200-Yard Butterfly: Collier Cobb, 2^nd Place, 1:50.97
50-Yard Freestyle:  J.T. Casey, 4^th Place, 20.50
Three-Meter Diving: Greg Duncan, 1^st Place, 408.15
100-Yard Freestyle: Jack Messenger, 5^th Place, 45.45
200-Yard Backstroke:  Chris Thames, 4^th Place, 1:48.91
200-Yard Breaststroke: Michael McBryan, 3^rd Place, 2:01.19
500-Yd. Freestyle: Henry Campbell, 3^rd Place, 4:30.40
100-Yd. Butterfly: Alvin Jiang, 3^rd Place, 48.39
One-Meter Diving: Sean Burston, 1^st Place, 370.95
200-Yard Individual Medley: Noah Cairns, 1st Place, 1:53.21
400-Yard Freestyle Relay:  1st Place, Jack Messenger, Valdas Abaliksta, Alvin Jiang, J.T. Casey, 3:01.94
Records:  NC State 6-0, ACC 3-0;  North Carolina, 3-5, ACC 1-2

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORE:  #14 NC STATE 164, #21 NORTH CAROLINA 136
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—WOMEN
200-Yard Medley Relay:  1^st Place, Caroline Baldwin, Caroline Hauder, Emma Cole, Brooke Bauer, 1:38.85
1000-Yard Freestyle:  Robyn Dryer, 4^th Place, 9:59.51
200-Yard Freestyle: Zhada Fields, 1^st Place, 1:48.19
100-Yard Backstroke: Caroline Baldwin, 2^nd Place, 53.16
100-Yard Breaststroke: Caroline Hauder, 1^st Place, 1:01.06
200-Yard Butterfly: Bryanna Cameron, 1^st Place, 1:58.91
50-Yard Freestyle:  Kate Boyer, 2^nd Place, 22.95
Three-Meter Diving:  Taylor Hockenberry, 2^nd Place, 304.80
100-Yard Freestyle:  Caroline Baldwin, 1^st Place, 49.05
200-Yard Backstroke:  Caroline Hauder, 3^rd Place, 1:58.81
200-Yard Breaststroke: Brooke Perrotta, 3^rd Place, 2:16.06
500-Yd. Freestyle: Bryanna Cameron, 3^rd Place, 4:53.43
100-Yd. Butterfly: Emma Cole, 2^nd Place, 53.93
One-Meter Diving: Maria Lohman, 1^st Place, 297.60
200-Yard Individual Medley:  Sydney Baker, 3^rd Place, 2:03.19
400-Yard Freestyle Relay:  2^nd Place, Caroline Baldwin, Zhada Fields, Emma Cole, Brooke Bauer, 3:20.23
Records:  NC State 4-4, ACC 2-1;  North Carolina 4-4, ACC 1-2