N.C. State came up short on Saturday afternoon, with the men losing 155-145 and the women 184-116. The men lost what was a highly-contested meet in dramatic fashion by losing the final event, after falling behind by eight points with two events remaining.
The day, although ultimately disappointing, was marked by impressive individual performances from some. For the women, junior Lucy Lindsey came from behind to win the 200-free in 1:55.25.
Junior Erica Smith followed with a victory in the 100-back in 58.34 while freshman Jen Kopenitz grabbed a win in the 200-butterfly and posted a season-best 5:02.66 in the 500-freestyle.
Sophomore Patrice Dason also finished first in the 100-butterfly, and her time of 55.58 is extremely close to an NCAA qualifying time. Dason’s time was her fastest in college thus far, and she was elated with her performance.
“It was good,” Dason said. “I just wasn’t nervous. Before me, Anna got her lifetime best in the [1000-freestyle], and Lucy dominated in the 200-freestyle. It really is a domino effect — once one person does well it gives you confidence for the event that you are going to swim.”
The men’s team had strong marks as well. Junior Andrew Lester started the Pack off with a win in the 1000 and 200-freestyle. Freshman Dan Forsythe, finding himself trailing in the final lap of the 100-breaststroke, managed to pull out a win in 57.27. He went on to win the 200-breaststroke later in the meet.
Forsythe said he had struggled all week in practice with nagging muscle pain in his back, but he said it did not seem to affect him too much in the pool.
“My muscles weren’t cooperating, but I pushed through. It wasn’t the best way to swim, but I got it done,” Forsythe said.
Redshirt junior Stephen Mellor did well as he placed first in the 200-butterfly and the 200-backstroke with times of 1:50.82 and 1:51.64, respectively. State placed three swimmers in the top four in the 500-freestyle, with sophomore Mason McGee, Lester and junior Cole Yarborough finishing first, second and fourth.
Coach Brooks Teal said he was pleased with the performance, despite the loss. Teal knew the Hokies would present a stiff challenge, but he believes his team responded with a strong performance.
“Well, we never like being on the short end of the score,” Teal said. “But Virginia Tech is on the rise in the conference, so we knew they were going to be a handful and the team really stepped up and we had a real impressive show of heart, character, tenacity and desire — and I was proud of them today.”
The men’s team had a chance to win the meet coming into the final three events. The team came close, but they were not quite able to muster the points needed to bring home the win. Forsythe said State’s competitiveness in the meet was unexpected to everyone but the team.
“It was a really good meet,” Forsythe said. “We had a lot of personal and season bests, we came up just short on that last relay but we were tied going into it, but no one expected us to be that close in this meet.”
Teal said the team did well under the pressure of a tight race and delivered an encouraging, if not victorious, performance.
He said the team’s ability to swim well was a reflection of the self-discipline and dedication it took to train on their own during Thanksgiving.
“It brought out the best in them. How well they swam here was a reflection of how well they trained over Thanksgiving,” Teal said.
“They had to train over Thanksgiving on their own, not in the team atmosphere. But back home where it would be easy to stay on the couch and eat turkey — but apparently they worked hard and you can see it in the results of today’s meet.”
