Over the weekend, the NC State swimming and diving teams visited Durham to participate in the Carolina College Nike Invitational. No score was taken, but the event allowed the participants to be able to experience a competitive environment as postseason play nears.

The Wolfpack fared well over the weekend as it saw 22 top-eight finishes, 18 NCAA “B” cuts, six pool records and one meet record. Junior Ryan Held set a meet and pool record in the 100-yard butterfly on day two of competition.

Junior Caroline Estep started the weekend off for the Pack, Estep placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.54 seconds. The Wilmington native was .27 seconds off her lifetime best of 23.27 seconds.

Freshman Tyler Rice clinched a top-three finish for the Wolfpack. In the preliminaries, Rice finished the 50-yard freestyle at 20.08 seconds which earned him a NCAA “B” cut.

For the men’s 500-yard freestyle, senior Alex Hamilton and sophomore Trey Poff led the way for the Pack as they finished fourth and fifth respectively with times of, 4:26.86 and 4:27.63. Sophomore Mason Revis finished things off for the Pack as he finished 12th, as he touched the wall at 4:39.01. 

Freshman Olga Lapteva was the only female Wolfpacker in the individual medley on Day One. Lapteva finished preliminaries with a lifetime best in the 200-yard individual medley of 2:02.89. The breaststroke specialist finished second in the finals with a time of 2:03.76.

The male Wolfpack swimmers represented all of the podium finishes in the IM. Junior Andreas Vazaios, sophomore Parker Campbell and sophomore Quinlan Stuart finished the 200-yard IM first, second and third respectively. Vazaios finished in 1:44.43 and Parker finished 1:48.04 which earned them both, NCAA “B” cuts.

Day Two of the invitational was a great day for NC State as it broke four pool records, one meet record and earned 11 NCAA “B” cuts.

Senior Kendall Pena and Lapteva started the day for the Pack, finishing second and third respectively in the 400-yard IM. Senior Kayla Brumbaum competed in the preliminary session of the 400-yard IM, she touched in at 4:18.33, yielding a NCAA “B” cut.

Freshman Lucca Martins gave the Wolfpack its first, first place finish of the night, as he stopped the clock at 3:52.73 in the 400-yard IM. Revis finished at 3:53.73 which allowed him to join Martins to receive a NCAA “B” cut.

Senior Natalie Labonge secured another first place finish for the Pack, setting a pool record of 53.29 in the 100-yard butterfly, an NCAA “B” time. Held won the men’s 100-yard butterfly and set a pool and meet record in prelims with a time of 46.41.

Sophomore Courtney Caldwell continued the Wolfpack’s win streak by setting a pool record and taking first in the 200-yard freestyle, Caldwell touched the wall at 1:47.66. Rice added onto the win streak as he finished first in the men’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:35.78 which gave him an NCAA “B” cut.

Senior Maddie Witzke finished the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall at 1:02.42 which earned her first place.

The Pack finished the night by placing first in the men’s and women’s in the 100-yard backstroke. Freshman Ky-Lee Perry won for the women’s team with a time of 53.87 and freshman Coleman Stewart took home first for the men with a time of 47.65, both Perry and Stewart earned NCAA “B” cuts.

Junior Krista Duffield notched the first Wolfpack first place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, as she touched the wall at 49.32 which gave her an NCAA “B” cut. Senior Soren Dahl led the way for the men as he finished first in the 100-yard freestyle with an NCAA “B” cut time of 43.69.

Vazaios earned the Pack another first place finish with a time of 1:43.46 in the 200-yard butterfly which broke the pool record.

The Pack ended the weekend trip placing second in both the men’s and women’s 400-yard freestyle relay. Lapteva, Sophomore Emmie Barnhill, Estep and Witzke finished with a time of 3:26.83 and Vazaios, Stuart, Revis and Hamilton finished at 3:01.60 for the men.

Both NC State men’s and women’s teams venture off to Atlanta for the ACC Championships on Feb. 13-16.