Senior Night was a breeze for No. 6/7 NC State swimming and diving, as it cruised to a regular-season-closing sweep of UNCW.
The No. 6 Wolfpack women earned a 186-91 victory over the Seahawks, while the No. 7 men secured a 162-107 win. Both squads won first place in every event, including 11 senior victories.
“Today was about just trying to have fun with our senior class,” said head coach Braden Holloway. “Really embracing our senior class, making sure they’re having a good time in their last time doing this in this pool. So it was a good day.”
Reigning ACC Diver of the Week Gracie Hurley earned victories on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, continuing a dominant stretch in her junior season.
Senior Katherine Helms pocketed a personal-best 200-meter freestyle time at 1:45.23, claiming the eighth-best performance in program history. Four other swimmers joined her with top-10 performances, including 10-time All-American senior Kennedy Noble with the No. 8 spot in the 100-meter butterfly at 52.27 seconds.
Helms and Noble were two of 18 seniors celebrated on Friday night, as a number of seniors competed in events for the first time in their collegiate careers. After the meet, the seniors gave speeches in front of the team and families in attendance, showing their appreciation for the university after their final home contest.
“It really means everything,” said senior Stephen Conrad. “It’s a culmination of all the hard work that the seniors have put in. And then also the underclassmen, the freshmen, juniors and sophomores have helped us get to this point because just the senior class can’t get here on our own.”
Holloway had a similar sentiment when asked about what the night meant.
“Emotional,” Holloway said. “We always joke as the staff that we love this meet because it’s our senior meet, but we hate it because we have to control our emotions because it’s for them and we’re not going to have them anymore.”
With such a strong class leaving, uncertainty always looms large, but Conrad believes the returners are up to the challenge.
“I think we leave a big legacy,” Conrad said. “I think we’re going to leave a big hole in the team. But I think. I think the guys are ready. There are a lot of guys that are ready to step up, and I think I’m excited to see that next year for them.”
In the meantime, with the regular season in the rearview, the team now moves on to the ACC Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, between Feb. 15-21. When asked about the team’s goals for the conference and national championships, Conrad declared a clear one.
“Win. That’s it.”
