Although beating No. 1 Virginia would prove to be an insurmountable task, the No. 4 Wolfpack women finished second in the ACC swimming and diving championships in Greensboro from Feb. 14-18.
Notably, NC State swept the backstroke events — senior Katharine Berkoff, who currently holds the American record in the 100-yard backstroke, claimed her fourth-consecutive title in the same event on Friday, Feb. 17. The following evening, freshman Kennedy Noble and graduate student Emma Muzzy went 1-2 in the 200-yard backstroke, unseating Virginia’s Reilly Tiltmann for the conference title.
That being said, the Wolfpack got off to a bit of a slow start early on. On day one, the women finished second and third in the 200-yard medley relay and 800-freestyle relay, respectively, but found themselves behind UNC-Chapel Hill, Virginia and Louisville in the team standings. UNC’s lead wouldn’t last for long — its points on day one came mostly from its divers — but Louisville would prove to be a formidable opponent for the next few days of competition.
On day two, the women picked up another third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay but didn’t gain another podium finish for the rest of the evening. Junior Abby Arens came close in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall a mere 0.1 seconds behind Virginia’s Abby Harter, who took bronze. Although the women’s team has undeniable depth, a lack of top-three finishes meant that NC State found itself about 50 points behind Louisville at the end of the day.
Sophomore Grace Sheble broke the ice on day three, finishing in 4:04.98 in the 400-yard individual medley for the Wolfpack women’s first individual podium finish of the meet. Arens and graduate student Kylee Alons went 4-5 in the 100-yard butterfly, and junior Abbey Webb set a new program record after finishing the 200-yard freestyle in 1:43.84.
The next day of competition, however, is when the Wolfpack finally pulled ahead of Louisville. Arens successfully defended her conference title in the 200-yard butterfly, leading the field to victory in 1:52.91 and picking up the women’s first individual win of ACCs.
Although Berkoff didn’t quite break her ACC Championship record of 49.41 set at last year’s ACCs, the Montana native successfully defended her title in the 100-yard backstroke. Noble, Muzzy and Alons all finished in the top eight alongside Berkoff, pulling in some crucial points for the Wolfpack in the back half of the meet.
Without breaststroker Sophie Hansson on NC State’s roster, it was a matter of time before her four-year conference championship streak was broken, but senior Heather MacCausland made a fantastic effort nonetheless. Although unable to beat Virginia’s Alex Walsh for the top spot, MacCausland touched the wall in 58.22 seconds — only 0.06 off of her personal best.
To top off an incredible session, the women closed day four with another second-place relay finish. Berkoff, MacCausland, Alons and Arens combined for 3:26.28 in the 400-yard medley relay to pick up some valuable points for the Pack. Plus, Louisville’s relay was disqualified, leaving room for NC State to jump in the team standings.
In her first year at NC State, Noble captured her first-ever ACC title in the 200-yard backstroke. The Arizona native broke 1:51 for the first time in her career to finish 0.72 seconds ahead of Muzzy, who won the event in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Berkoff also caught another podium finish in the 100-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 47.02 to beat Louisville’s Gabi Albiero by a mere 0.04 seconds.
Finally, in the last individual race of the meet, graduate student Andrea Podmanikova took third in the 200-yard breaststroke. The womens’ ACC run wrapped up with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay and a grand total of 1,272 points, well behind Virginia but ultimately 194.5 points ahead of Louisville.
The women’s swim & dive team will return to the pool on Friday, Feb. 24 for a “last chance meet” against UNC-Chapel Hill.
