The No. 6 NC State men’s swim team won the Nike Cup Invitational in Chapel Hill over the weekend, continuing its perfect record for the season. The men trailed behind Tennessee for the first two days of the meet, but pulled ahead for the 1,521-point victory on Saturday.
The women’s team finished third overall behind Tennessee and UNC-Chapel Hill.
“I was overall pleased with the weekend and more pleased with their eagerness to race and to make adjustments,” head coach Braden Holloway said. “They got more into the meet spiritually and it was a close overall team race. Every year we focus on identifying the men’s role in the program. Everyone has that role where if they just do their part, those small parts are going to add up. We had some guys step up and beat some people they were seeded behind and I think that was big.”
The Wolfpack relays had strong performances throughout the invitational. On Thursday, the women’s team finished second in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:30.53. The relay team consisted of senior Lauren Poli, junior Ashlyn Koletic, sophomore Lotta Nevalainen and junior Riki Bonnema. Koletic, Bonnema and sophomores Alexia Zevnik and Kayla Brumbaum also took second place in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:39.84.
The men’s team also finished second in the 200 free and 400 medley relays. Junior Simonas Bilis, sophomore Andreas Schiellerup, freshman Ryan Held and senior David Williams ended the 200 race in 1:19.59. The Tennessee team out-touched the Wolfpack by a mere 0.01 of a second to win first place. Schiellerup, sophomore Derek Hren, junior Christian McCurdy and Bilis clocked in at 3:12.88 for the 400 medley.
“I was really encouraged with all the relays,” Holloway said. “Everyone watches relays. You’re doing it more than just for yourself, and our team really feeds off our relays, especially now that they’re strong. It picks the team up and really sets the tone.”
NC State also took home a first-place finish in the 800 free relay. Sophomore Soren Dahl, freshman Anton Ipsen, Williams and Bilis finished the race in 6:28.93. Schiellerup, Hren, Dahl and Bilis finished second in the 200 medley relay in 1:27.31.
Sophomore Rachel Muller, sophomore Natalie Labonge, Nevalainen and freshman Lauren Rhodes finished second in the 800 free relay in 7:20.90 for the women’s team. With a time of 1:40.01, the women also nabbed a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay with Zevnik, Brumbaum, Koletic and Bonnema.
In addition to the Wolfpack relay success, several NC State swimmers and divers broke records during the three-day meet.
With her score of 329.65, redshirt junior Rachel Mumma broke the 1-meter diving school record that Molly Culberson held since 2006. NC State’s Anton Ipsen also had a handful of record-breaking swims.
On Thursday Ipsen broke the school record his teammate, Alex Hamilton, set for 500 freestyle last season with a time of 4:18.70. The NC State freshman also broke a long-standing record Saturday when he finished the 1,650 freestyle in 15:04.71. Olympian and All-American Dan Harrigan set this school record in 1978.
Holloway was also impressed by the performances from the freshmen men this weekend. “That class was a highly talented class and they showed it a little this weekend,” Holloway said.
The Wolfpack swimming and diving team will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, on Dec. 4 for the three-day Winter National Championships.
