XIaolei Zhang
The NC State swimming and diving teams had strong performances this weekend at the Nike Cup in Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill. The women’s team finished fourth out of nine teams at the competition with 1,328.5 points, while the men’s team took home second out of seven teams with 1,545.5 points.
“The meet for us shows us a couple different things,” head coach Braden Holloway said. “For a lot of the kids it was just basically another chance to race and have them learn about things that they’re doing right, things they’re doing wrong, and things that we want to work on. For another group, they were able to get themselves in a qualifying position for nationals, which I think is kind of a good sign as to where we are. We had a lot of people put themselves in positions with times that should make NCAA in March.”
The Wolfpack had 68 top-10 finishes from the meet, including five top-national times on the third day of competition. The team also took 46 NCAA qualifying times home from this meet, putting the Pack in a good position for the NCAAs and the rest of the season. Among these qualifying times was NC State’s first NCAA ‘A’ cut of the season from sophomore Hennessey Stuart. Stuart finished the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:40.22, now the current fastest time in the nation.
“Now that we’re getting higher and higher up in the rankings, we’re turning into a team that needs to focus on how many guys we can get to qualify for NCAAs,” junior Derek Hren said. “It’s been a tough fall [season] for both men’s and women’s sides. Both squads have battled it out and showed the country who we are, what NC State is really about and that they should watch out for us at the end of the year. We’re gaining respect, and at NCAAs they’re going to see us and be intimidated.”
Hren finished first in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 52.94. This time not only earned Hren an NCAA ‘B’ mark, but also marks the second-fastest time from NC State and is also currently the second-fastest time in the nation.
“It was definitely a relief almost,” Hren said. “During the year I wasn’t hitting some of my times, and I was confused about things and where my training was at and how tired my body was. Hitting that mark definitely said to myself that ‘you’re doing what you need to do and hard work always pays off in the end and you just have to keep grinding every single day. I knew it was going to be a dogfight in finals, but when I hit the wall and saw that time I was very satisfied with the result, and I was definitely excited.”
Junior Alexia Zevnik also had a strong impact on the women’s team this weekend. Zevnik earned three first-place finishes over the course of the meet, including her NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time in the 100 freestyle and 200 backstroke, where she finished in 1:53.66. This event also qualified Zevnik with an NCAA ‘B’ cut and stands as the third-fastest time in the nation.
The Pack also came out on top in the women’s 400 free relay. The squad of juniors Natalie Labonge, Zevnik, sophomore Krista Duffield and senior Riki Bonnema
Marked the fastest time in the nation in this event with their time of 3:14.39. The men also had strong swim in the event, clocking in at 2:50.94, earning the team of sophomore Ryan Held, senior Simonas Bilis, juniors Joe Bonk and Andreas Schiellerup the fastest time in Division-I competition.