The No. 11 NC State women’s swim team placed second in the ACC Championship at the Greensboro Aquatic Center after four days of competition that ended Saturday, Feb. 20. Although the Wolfpack smashed numerous program records and took home several individual meet titles, No. 2 Virginia finished in first place for the second year in a row.
On Wednesday night, sophomore Katharine Berkoff hit the fourth-fastest 50-yard backstroke medley relay leadoff time in NCAA history with a blistering 23.37 as she led the 200-yard medley relay to a second-place finish in 1:33.52, the third-fastest time in NCAA history.
The Wolfpack women also placed second in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a 6:58.48, well under the NCAA “A” cut. Sophomore Helen Synnott finished seventh overall in the 3-meter dive event, giving the Wolfpack a boost heading into the second day of competition.
Junior Kylee Alons and teammate Berkoff took first and second in the 50-yard freestyle prelims in Thursday morning prelims. Notably, Berkoff shaved 0.19 off her personal best and Alons finished with the second-best race of her career in 21.70. The Wolfpack continued to dominate the preliminary events as senior Kate Moore and freshman Yara Hierath made the 500-yard freestyle A final, and three NC State women placed in the top eight in the 200-yard individual medley.
Alons did not disappoint on Thursday night, claiming first in the 50-yard freestyle to give the Wolfpack its first ACC title of the meet. The women continued to dominate the podium, as Moore cinched second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:38.09, and senior Julia Poole took bronze in the 200-yard individual medley. NC State wrapped up the night with another second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, highlighted by Alons’ swift 21.11 split.
Arguably, the Wolfpack’s top swim of Friday morning was another searing performance by Berkoff as she broke the ACC meet record in the 100-yard backstroke with a 50.56. Also in the top eight was senior Danika Huizinga, who finished in 52.90 to land her in sixth place in prelims. Every individual event of the morning had at least one NC State swimmer slated to compete in the A final, and multiple swimmers were seeded in the top three heading into Friday evening.
The Wolfpack women defended two individual titles on Friday night, as Berkoff re-broke the ACC meet record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.45, and junior Sophie Hansson secured her victory in the 100-yard breaststroke for the third year in a row. Furthermore, two NC State program records were lowered; Alons shaved even more time off her own team record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.74, and the Wolfpack took silver in the 400-yard medley relay with a new school record of 3:26.88. By the end of day three, NC State was in second place with a total of 879 points.
Heading into the final day of competition, all eyes were on junior Emma Muzzy and Hansson as they looked to defend their ACC titles in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard breaststroke, respectively. On Saturday morning, Berkoff easily notched first place in the 200-yard backstroke prelims, finishing over a second ahead of Muzzy. Notably, four NC State women finished in the top six of the 200-yard breaststroke heading into Saturday night finals.
In the final session of the meet, Muzzy defended her championship title in the 200-yard backstroke with a 1:50.12, the third-fastest time in the NCAA this year. Berkoff placed second with a time of 1:51.06 in her second podium finish of the meet.
The Wolfpack hit another one-two punch in the 200-yard breaststroke as Hansson and Podmanikova finished first and second, respectively. Hansson hit a personal best of 2:04.87, making her the 11th-fastest performer in 200-yard breaststroke event history. Alons finished out her strong weekend with a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle finals, notching a 47.73. With the conclusion of yet another podium finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Wolfpack women wrapped up the meet with a score of 1317 to place second overall behind Virginia.
The NC State men’s swim team will return to the pool for the ACC Championships on Feb. 24-27. The team will be seeking its seventh consecutive conference title.
