In its first dual meet of the season, NC State swimming and diving split with Arizona State as the No.12 ranked Wolfpack women beat the No. 18 Sun Devil women 222-131 while the No. 5 Wolfpack men fell 195-158 to the No. 6 Sun Devil men at Casey Aquatic Center.

The highlight of the meet was the debut of freshman Erika Peleaz who made her college debut by breaking the school record in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.14 which is also the fastest time in female college swimming.

Along with a new school record, Peleaz set a pool record in the women’s 200-yard backstroke and placed first in the women’s 100-yard freestyle. In total, Peleaz tallied six first-place finishes for NC State.

Not to be outdone, fellow freshman Leah Shackley set a pool record in her first event with a time of 1:55.25 in the women’s 200-yard butterfly. Shackley also recorded a first-place finish in the women’s 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.40 which is currently the second fastest time in the NCAA behind Olympic gold medalist Gretchen Walsh.

For the weekend, Shackley recorded five first-place finishes, and she and Peleaz led the women to a victory over the Sun Devils. The duo was also part of the 200-yard Medley Relay that finished first and made the NCAA cut-time.

Coming off its third consecutive ACC Championship, the men couldn’t hold off the defending national champion Sun Devils despite some outstanding individual performances.

Sophomore Chase Mueller set a personal best and finished first with a time of 4:15.31 in the men’s 500-yard freestyle, which placed him among the top three in 2024 NCAA records. Redshirt sophomore Quintin McCarty set a pool record in the men’s 50-yard freestyle with a time of 18.91. Another first-place finish came from sophomore Daniel Diehl in the men’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:40.68.

Making his NC State debut fresh off a bronze medal in the Olympics in the men’s 10 km, freshman David Betlehem set a pool record in the men’s 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 8:47.17.

Speaking of the Olympics, NC State honored one of the greatest swimmers in its history during the meet. Katharine Berkoff was honored coming off two medals at the Olympics. During Berkoff’s time with the Wolfpack, she was a six-time ACC Champion, 30-time All-American and five-time national champion. Head coach Braden Holloway was also honored for his contributions at the Olympics where he was an assistant coach that helped Team USA women to 28 medals.

After splitting its first dual meet of the season, NC State will head to Athens, Georgia to take on the Bulldogs. The meet is set for Nov. 8-9.