The NC State swimming and diving team will head to Chapel Hill to compete in the annual Nike Cup Invitational Nov. 20-22, hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill inside the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium.
Coach Braden Holloway:
Braden Holloway, NC State, Head Swimming Coach (courtesy of Tim Binning, theswimpictures.com)
“It was a battle with Virginia- we had some areas where we wanted to see some people step up and get the job done and they did. I think it bodes well for the Nike Cup coming right off of a weekend of great racing, but a dual meet is only two and a half to three hours versus the Nike Cup is a three-day competition with prelims in the morning and finals at night. The workload for this competition will be a lot higher but I can tell a lot of our kids will be heading into this weekend with great confidence due to such great performances from last weekend.”
Last Time Out
The men’s team earned a 181-112 victory in its dual meet against ACC opponent Virginia, while the Wolfpack women fell, 188-112. The men improved its perfect season record to 4-0, remaining undefeated in ACC competition, while the women fell to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in ACC action.
Last Time at the Nike Cup
-The Wolfpack men finished second with a three-day total of 1554 points while the women finished third with a score of 1480. UNC-Chapel Hill took the first place title in the men’s and women’s competition.
-The men’s squad currently holds pool records at the Nike Cup Invitational in the 200 freestyle and the 400 medley relays, which were swam at last year’s event.
*200 free relay- Andreas Scheillerup, Johnathan Boffa, Simonas Billis, David Williams: 1:18.97
*400 medley relay- Scheillerup, Ian Bishop, Barret Meisfeld, Boffa: 3:11.47
Scouting Nike Cup Opponents
-Eight schools will participate in this year’s Nike Cup – host North Carolina, Tennessee, Navy, Air Force, Duke, NC State, East Carolina and Old Dominion.
-Along with NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill and Tennessee rank among the top 25 of the national polls. The Tennessee men are listed at No. 14, while the UNC men rank No. 9. For the women, the Volunteers check in at No. 8 while the Tar Heels sit at No. 14.
About the Nike Cup
-The meet, which dates to 1986, features a three-day championships format similar to the ACC and NCAA Championships.
-Preliminaries will begin each day at 9:30 a.m. with finals each night at 5:30 p.m. Four championship final heats will be swum each night– a championship “A” final, consolation “B” final, bonus “C” final and non-scoring “D” final.
College Swimming News courtesy of NC State Swimming and Diving.