NC State swimming spent the weekend in Greensboro, NC at the U.S. Open. The Pack struggled in the national field and only recorded six top-10 finishes — one being a podium finish for graduate student Katharine Berkoff.
The red-and-white had a great outing at the NC State/GAC Invite in November; in a tough field, the Pack finished first on the women’s side and second on the men’s side. The U.S. Open presented a much greater challenge for the Pack — NC State had just nine swimmers make it to the finals in their respective events.
On the men’s side, five athletes competed in four different events. Fifth-year senior Hunter Tapp competed in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke races, taking eighth in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 54.85 seconds and 15th in the 200-meter race with 2:05.15. Redshirt freshman JT Ewing also competed in the 200-meter backstroke finals, finishing 10th with a time of 2:00.97.
Senior Owen Lloyd competed in the 400-meter individual medley race, finishing 11th with a time of 4:22.60. Junior Aiden Hayes and graduate student Noah Bowers finished in the finals of the men’s 100-meter butterfly. Hayes came in seventh with a time of 52.10 seconds, and Bowers finished in 24th place with 54.73 seconds.
Four NC State women made it to the finals, with Berkoff and sophomore Kennedy Noble each competing in two events. Berkoff took a third place finish in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 58.61 seconds, recording the Pack’s only podium finish. Noble took fifth in the same race with a time of 59.51 seconds. Earlier in the competition, Noble secured another top-five finish in the 200-meter backstroke. She finished in fourth with a time of 2:10.07.
Much like the Pack’s top performing men, Berkoff and Noble showed a performance decline on the national stage this weekend. Berkoff holds the season highs in both the 100-meter backstroke and the 100-meter freestyle and Noble holds the second spot for NC State in the 100-meter backstroke, but neither of them were able to match their performances at the NC State/GAC Invitational.
At the U.S. Open, Berkoff took 14th place in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 55.40 seconds. Senior Abby Arens competed in the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing 16th in the finals with a time of 1:09.84. Sophomore Meghan Donald also competed in the 100-meter backstroke and finished 15th with a time of 1:01.71.
This marks the last time the Wolfpack swimming team competes in 2023. Its next outing will be the U.S. Pro Series in Knoxville, Tennessee from Wednesday, Jan. 10 to Saturday, Jan. 13.
