CHAPEL HILL — The atmosphere Saturday for the final day of the ACC women’s swimming and diving championships at UNC’s Koury Natatorium was one of great emotion as family members and friends cheered on the swimmers.

But by that time, N.C. State’s team was so far behind that its finish — 10th place out of 11 conference teams — was all but sealed.

Though senior Melissa Jamerino said the team was able to have an enjoyable time in spite of the lackluster showing.

“We have a lot more talent than what was shown, but we kept our confidence up and stayed positive,” Jamerino said. “So that’s the most important thing is having fun, coming out here and doing what you love to do.”

Jamerino said that as the team, which has 16 freshmen, gets older, it should get better at swimming up and to its potential.

“Next year we just need to build on that. We had a lot of freshmen, so this is their first ACCs,” Jamerino said. “And I think they’re just going to get better each year.”

Senior Kerry Whitson said the freshmen now have the knowledge to do just that.

“They know what to expect now,” Whitson said.

Freshman Kristin Davies finished third in platform-diving Saturday at Duke.

Freshman Anna Linkenauger had the third-fastest 400-yard individual medley time in Wolfpack history with her ninth place finish in Friday’s competition. Linkenauger’s time may qualify her for NCAA championships.

“It’s all kind of surreal,” Linkenauger said after the swim. “It hasn’t really kicked in yet. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Linkenauger also echoed Jamerino and Whitson’s remarks on the importance of the event for the team’s first-year performers.

“I think we have a really young team, and we’re all figuring out what the whole ACCs thing is,” Linkenauger said. “It’s a great learning experience.”

But Melissa Jamerino, Kerry Whitson, Lindsay Barwegen, Amy Baskwell and Laura Neely — all seniors — won’t have another chance to compete at ACCs.

Though Barwegen said she would remember her strong relationship with her teammates more than the result of her final meet. Even so, she said her performance in her final meet wasn’t the way she wanted to cap her career.

“My swims were [the most disappointing thing], but I haven’t been having the best season anyway,” Barwegen said. “So I did have some good swims. I scored some points, made it back in a couple races.”

As Whitson said, the seniors’ final meet “didn’t go exactly as planned,” but the senior from Centerville, Ohio said she can’t focus on what might have been.

“Things didn’t go the way I planned either for myself,” Whitson said. “But you’ve just got to roll with the punches.”

Staff Writer Ivey Redding contributed to this report.