What happened?N.C. State’s women’s swimming and diving team fell to visiting Virginia Tech on Saturday by a margin of 184-116. Coach Brooks Teal said the meet was closer than the score would suggest.
“Any time you lose, it’s just disappointing. But the Virginia Tech girls team is a very powerful team, and I think it would have been very easy for our ladies to go in and give an uninspired performance, but they really made [the Hokies] fight for the win,” Teal said. “We had a lot of fast swims, a lot of close races and several lifetime-best times. I was really proud of them.”
Who’s hot?Sophomore Patrice Dason came close to an NCAA ‘B’ cut qualifying time with her performance in the 100-yard butterfly on Saturday. Dason said breaking her personal record has been something she’s “been looking to do for a long time.”
“After you change your stroke, it usually takes about a year to get back into it,” Dason said. “So I guess now I’m starting to get into the rhythm of it, and hopefully soon I’ll be able to break the record.”
In addition, junior Lucy Lindsey recorded State’s second-best time of the season in the 200-yard freestyle against Virginia Tech. The come-from-behind victory provided a boost for her team.
Who’s not?Junior Erica Smith said that a more balanced attack is one of the things her team needs to compete against higher-ranked schools.
“What we didn’t have against Virginia Tech was depth, in the events that we won and in the other events,” Smith, who placed first in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday, said. “We need more people to step it up, go faster and just basically race the people next to them.”
What’s next?The women’s team will take a short break before traveling to Florida for a conditioning stint. State will face off against Gardner-Webb on Jan. 18 and Clemson the following morning.
Dason said the long break ahead will benefit the Pack.
“Since everyone did a really good job maintaining their focus over Thanksgiving break — it showed in the meet against Virginia Tech — I’m sure everyone will do the exact same over Christmas break,” Dason said. “We’ll work really hard and pick up where we left off.”
