North Carolina State University Athletics
Annual Red/White Swimming Meet A Success
10/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
Oct. 5, 2002
Raleigh, N.C. - NC State opened the 2002-03 swimming and diving season Saturday morning with its annual Red/White Meet, held in the Willis R. Casey Aquatics Center. Spirit and morale was high at the conclusion of the meet, alluding that this could be the year the Wolfpack gets in the hunt for a top finish in the conference.
Despite a close meet, the White team prevailed as the winners on a day where the goal was the evaluate the improvements made in the off-season and scout NC State's great group of freshmen and transfers for the first time in a meet situation. The meet was deemed a succuss by head coach Brooks Teal, who was pleased overall by the performances of the day.
Freshmen did well throughout the morning, winning eight of the 25 swimming events. Scott Dettloff, a freshman from Cary, N.C., won three events (50-free, 100-free,100 butterfly), while Chapel Hill, N.C., native Kendall Smith took top honors in the 50- and 100- free and the 100-back. Seth Hoffman, also from Cary, finished first in the 200 butterfly, and Steve Cowling, who hails from Sommersett, England, won the 100- and 200- back events. TJ Ferguson, a diver from Plainfield, Conn., made a spectacular debut on the boards, winning a number of events throughout the competition.
Transfer Priscilla Humberstone, a junior who joins the Wolfpack after spending two seasons at the University of South Carolina, won the 100- and 200- breaststroke races.
Veterans also made left their mark on the scoreboard. Co-Captains Katie Sheridan and Caroline Curran both finished at the top of their heats in the 200-free and 100-free respectively. Senior Annamaria Gazda (Budapest, Hungary) was in excellent form and won the 200-back.
The Wolfpack's group of super sophomores also looked great on Saturday. Distance specialist Jack Deal (Mathews, N.C.) won the 500- and 1000-free events, while Rob Yeager finished first in 100- and 200- breaststroke. Catherine Parks (Winston-Salem, N.C.) had a great performance, winning the 500-free and 200-butterfly events.
Junior Karen Burbella (Trenton, N.J.) and Chris Nixon (Richmond, Va.), a sophomore, were the top finishers in the 400-IM races, while junior Jorge Gutierrez (Monterey, Mexico) was the first to touch the wall in the 200-free.
Youth were prominent on the relay squads, with a majority of the swimmers in their freshman and sophomore years of eligibility. Jessica Koenig (Cherryville, N.C.), Erin Trau (Alpharetta, Ga.), Laura Cutler (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Kendall Smith teamed up for a win in the 200-medley, with Steven Cowling, Brian Pursley (Colorado Springs, Colo), Justin Smith (Gastonia, N.C.) and John Hudson (Wake Forest, N.C.) won the men's heat. Koenig, Cutler and K. Smith were joined by Suzanne Mitchell, a junior from Raleigh, in the 200-free relay as winners, while J. Smith, Hudson and Pursley added co-captain Cristian Rojas to their team for a victory in the men's race.
The Wolfpack will open Atlantic Coast Conference action in less than two weeks when Duke comes into Raleigh on Oct. 17. The men will face the Blue Devils in dual meet competition, while the women play host to Duke, Richmond and Gardner-Webb. Events will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the Willis R. Casey Aquatics center, located in Carmichael Gymnasium.
