The NC State women’s swimming team kicked off its 2019 NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas Thursday, garnering four All-American honors and two honorable mentions.
The Wolfpack finished off the day in sixth place in the team standings, with its 86 points just one back of fifth-place Texas. Stanford leads the team competition through two days with 173.5 points, half a point better than California.
After not competing on the opening night of competition Wednesday, the Wolfpack got into action in the morning preliminary session Thursday. NC State had four swimmers qualify for finals of individual events Thursday morning, as well as qualifying two relay teams for ‘A’ finals.
The Wolfpack finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay prelims, as the team of junior Ky-Lee Perry, freshman Kylee Alons, sophomore Sirena Rowe and sophomore Olivia Calegan finished in 1:27.12. In the 400-yard medley relay prelim, the Pack’s time of 3:28.20 from senior Elise Haan, freshman Sophie Hansson, Alons and Perry was good for fourth.
In the 50-yard freestyle prelims, two members of the Wolfpack qualified for the ‘A’ final. Perry placed seventh, while Alons finished in eighth to take the final spot in the main final. Calegan also swam in the 50 free prelims, finishing in 47th.
Sophomore Julia Poole qualified for the ‘B’ final in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing 11th in prelims. Freshman Emma Muzzy and junior Makayla Sargent also competed in the 200 IM, finishing 36th and 39th, respectively.
The Wolfpack’s other final qualifier Thursday morning was sophomore Kate Moore, who’s time of 4:38.47 in the 500-yard freestyle earned her a 12th-place spot and a trip to the ‘B’ final. Senior Anna Jahns finished 25th in 500 free prelims, while sophomore Tamila Holub placed 47th.
NC State’s evening session Thursday started off in the 200 free relay, where the Wolfpack missed out on a podium finish by just .23 seconds. The Pack’s team of Perry, Alons, Rowe and Haan improved its time to 1:26.73, good for a fifth-place finish and All-American honors.
The Pack finished less than a half a second off the podium in the 400 free relay as well, as the grouping of Haan, Hansson, Alons and Perry was beaten out by .37 seconds for third place. The Wolfpack took All-American honors in the event with its fourth-place finish.
Perry and Alons also garnered individual All-American honors, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 50 free final. Perry set a personal record with a time of 21.57, with Alons finishing .32 seconds behind her teammate.
Moore placed seventh in the ‘B’ final of the 500 free, good for 15th overall and an honorable mention All-American. Moore’s final time was almost a full second slower than her prelim time, dropping her three spots from her qualifying place.
Poole also garnered honorable mention All-American honors, placing sixth in the ‘B’ final of the 200 IM for a 14th-place overall finish.
NC State will get back in the pool Friday, looking to build on its strong start to NCAAs.
