NC State
ACC Women's Swimming and Diving/Men's Diving Championships
#STATEMENT Made! Women's Swimming And Diving Wins ACC Championship
2/16/2017 9:20:00 PM | Swimming
NC State wins first title since 1980
ATLANTA—For the first time since the program's back-to-back wins in 1979 and '80, the NC State women's swimming and diving team took the ACC championship title on Thursday night, ending Virginia's nine-year streak. This marks the team's third win at the conference championship.
In total, the team won four individual titles, four relay titles and had 21 top-eight finishes.
After four days of competition, the team finished with 1,183.5 points, Virginia placed second with 1,100.5 points and Louisville rounded out the top three of the team standings with 1,027 points.
Day Four Highlights:
Zevnik Named Most Valuable Swimmer
Leading the efforts was the team's top-scorer Alexia Zevnik, who won all three of her events, the 100 and 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley. Her sweep marks the first time a female swimmer from NC State has won all three entries since Beth Emery won the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle in 1983. Zevnik scored 96 points individually and participated in two relays. She was named Most Valuable Swimmer by the ACC for her outstanding swims.
Wolfpack Relays
In the final event of the night, NC State had another dominating relay performance. The team of Zevnik, Ky-Lee Perry, Krista Duffield and Courtney Caldwell posted a time of 3:10.31 to earn the meet, ACC and school record as well as post the fast time in the country so far this season. Zevnik's lead-off 100 free split of 47.38 marks a new school record and earned her a NCAA "A" cut. The win earned the team the team its third consecutive title in that event.
Freestyle
In the 100 freestyle, the Wolfpack had four top-eight finishers. Caldwell led, earning her highest finish of the weekend by taking second. Her time, 47.89, marks the second-fastest record in program history behind Zevnik's relay split. Also making the podium with a time of 47.97 was Perry, who found her second top-three finish of the weekend. Lotta Nevalainen (48.62) and Natalie Labonge (48.85) rounded out the top-eight, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Duffield additionally finished 9th with a time of 48.49.
In distance freestyle, all three of NC State's entrants in the 1650 finished in the top-eight. Rachel Muller led the way with a third place finish in 16:06.01. Finishing just behind her was Hannah Moore, who touched the wall in 16:09.48. Anna Jahns rounded out the distance squad, earning her highest finish of the weekend as she took seventh in 16:25.35.
Backstroke
In another big team event, NC State place all three of its swimmers in the "A" final of the 200 backstroke. Zevnik found her third individual win of the competition, marking another first-time win for NC State. Her time of 1:49.61 broke the meet and school record, and marked the top time in the country.
Joining her on the podium was Elise Haan, who finished third in 1:52.82. The final Wolfpacker to score in the event was freshman Mackenzie Glover, who took sixth in 1:53.72.
Breaststroke
Kayla Brumbaum earned her second podium finish of the week, taking third place in the 200 breaststroke. Her time of 2:07.53 broke the school record by more than two seconds, and marks a top-10 time in the country so far this season.
Butterfly
Senior Lydia Jones was the Wolfpack's lone 200 butterflier. In the morning session, her time of 1:58.85 earned her a spot in the "B" final. In finals, Jones finished in 2:00.73 to take 16th.
Wolfpack Diving
On platform, both the men's and women's teams placed divers in the finals, freshmen Madeline Kline and James Brady. In finals, Kline finished seventh overall with a score of 228.00. In the prelim session, she posted a personal best of 233.35. Brady finished in seventh as well in his respective event with a score of 327.65.
Rachel Burston also posted a personal best, finishing 33rd with a score of 172.95. Harrison Mitchell took 29th place with 179.20 points.
Up Next
The women's team will return to Raleigh to train for the NCAA Championships on March 15-18 held in Indianapolis, Ind. In two weeks, the men's swimming team will head to Atlanta for the men's ACC championships where they will seek their third-straight title.
Players Mentioned
