N.C. State’s men and women swimming and diving team traveled to College Park, Md. Saturday where the teams took on ACC rivals Duke and Maryland. The men defeated both teams; Duke by a score of 171-129 and Maryland 198-102. Meanwhile the women’s team beat Duke 155-143, but fell to Maryland by 58 points.
In total, the women’s roster put up four all-time top ten times, including three individual wins from freshman Marifrances Henley, junior Jen Kopenitz, and sophomore Morgan Robertson.
Kopenitz, Jessica Ward, sophomore Megan Thompson, and Henley placed second in the 400-medley relay with a 3:50.26. Henley won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.78, tying the seventh-best time in school history. Robertson also took the seventh best time in the school’s history with a 100 backstroke time of (57.55).
Kopenitz tied for the fourth all-time in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.11 in the 400-medley earlier in the day. Ashley Ritcher, Allison Hendren, Patrice Dason and Henley posted the third-fastest 400-freestly relay in Wolfpack history with a 3:25.57 for a second place standing overall.
“I am so proud of this team,” Linkenauger said. “We beat Duke, which we have not done in a couple of years, and we put up a good fight against Maryland. We had a really good start to the season and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.”
Overall, the women came back from 14 point deficit in the second half with help from a close race by Dason, who won her race by 2/100 of a second, and Linkenauger’s and Kopenitz’s second and third place finish in the 200 individual medley. Going into the last relay the Pack was only a few points behind, but a win from the A and B relay put the Pack ahead of Duke.
Head coach Brooks Teal walked away proud of both teams.
“Both teams fought hard all the way through and raced with a lot of intensity,” Teal said. “I was very pleased with how they performed and was excited to come away with the three wins.”
For the men’s team, Freshman Hudson Rains diving performance in the 1-meter dive (301.95) qualified him for the NCAA diving zones. Senior Mason McGee took first in both the 1000 freestyle (9:35.22) and 200 freestyle (1:39.86). Freshman Matt Voell won his college debut event in the 100 butterfly with a 50.18, while junior Mike Seiferth’s 50.89 placed him in third.
“We started off by winning the first relay which was really big, and it put some momentum on our side,” McGee said. “A lot of people stepped up and there was a lot of excitement and confidence throughout the meet.”
Coming into the race, most of the team’s focus was on conditioning, so Teal said it will work more on technique in practice now that the season is underway.
Despite walking away with three wins, coach Teal says there are some improvements that can still be made.
“The team’s turns and racing strategy needs some work,” Teal said. “Racing strategy will get better as we compete more, and the turns are something that the coaches need to be more attentive to in practice so they can be perfected.”
The women will be back in the pool this Saturday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m. at home against Richmond and both teams will compete at Davidson Saturday, Nov. 7.
