Jesse Childs
Kylee Alons, a freshman from Fort Collins, Coloroado, swims in the 200-yard butterfly against Virginia at Casey Aquatic Center on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019. with a final time of 1:57.03. NC State Women's Swimming & Diving was victorious over the Cavaliers with a final score of 167-127.
The NC State swimming and diving team is set for a quad meet against Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky at Kentucky, after dominating in a win against South Carolina on Oct. 25. The Wolfpack swim team is one of the top teams in the country, with the men currently ranked third in the nation and the women ranked fourth.
Against South Carolina, the men’s team won by a score of 194-104 while the women’s team won by a score of 197-100, bringing both teams to a 1-0 record to start the season. The Wolfpack was so dominant that they swept the podium a total of 11 times against the Gamecocks.
Swimmers from the women’s team to watch for are sophomores Kylee Alons and Sophie Hansson, who both won multiple events against South Carolina. Alons won all three of her events including 100-yard backstroke (53.02), 100-yard freestyle (49.31) and 100-yard butterfly (54.14). Hansson won both of her events in breaststroke, the 100-yard (1:00.65) and the 200-yard (2:11.78).
Junior Kate Moore also performed well against the Gamecocks, recording a 4:10.50 in the 400-yard IM. Moore was a standout last year for the Pack as well, being an NCAA All-American in 500-freestyle and ACC champion in 400-yard IM. Despite only being sophomores, Alons and Hansson could put on a show at Kentucky, while Moore is expected to continue her impressive performance.
Swimmers from the men’s team to look out for are senior Coleman Stewart and sophomore Nyls Korstanje. Stewart was honored as ACC men’s swimmer of the week after an impressive performance against South Carolina. He piled up three wins in his events against the Gamecocks including the 100-yard backstroke (46.59), 100-yard butterfly (47.79) and 100-yard freestyle (44.32).
Korstanje managed to put up an incredible time in one of his events as well. His 50-yard freestyle time of 19.84 was placed at third in the nation at the time. Last year, Korstanje impressed as a freshman as well, being honored as the 2019 ACC men’s Freshman of the Year and an All-American in five different events.
The diving team also has a couple standouts expected to show out in the quad meet including senior Madeline Kline from the women’s team and senior James Brady from the men’s team. Last year, Kline was the ACC champion in platform diving and competed on all three boards for the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships. Kline also showed out against South Carolina winning first place on one-meter with a score of 256.95 and placing third on three-meter with a score of 247.80.
Last year, Brady reached the one-meter finals of the NCAA Zone B Championships and finished 13th overall, while finishing the season as an All-ACC performer in platform diving. Brady had a solid performance as well against South Carolina, placing second place in both his three-meter (310.50) and one-meter (330.98).
Missouri’s men swim team has had an exceptional start to the season with dominant wins over Florida (190.5-109.5) and Missouri State (166.5-70.5), bringing them to a 2-0 record. Missouri’s swim team is 1-1 on the season after losing to Florida (176-124) and taking a victory against Missouri State (160-73). Arkansas’s women swim team has struggled to start off the season with a huge loss against Auburn by a score of 195.5-101.5 and losing to Stanford 186-105 in their past two meets bringing them to a 1-2 record. Arkansas does not have a men’s swim team.
Kentucky’s women have started the season strong with a 4-1 record while the men have had an average start at 2-2. Both teams from Kentucky completely outmatched South Carolina like the Wolfpack, with the men’s score of 197.5-102.5 and the women’s score of 200-100.
The quad meet will be a tough challenge for the very talented Wolfpack swimming and diving team. Since there has only been one meet this season, this will be the first chance to see a great amount of swimming from NC State this season.
The quad meet will take place on Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. and Nov. 8 at 10 a.m. at Lancaster Aquatic Center in Lexington, KY.