North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Swimming & Diving Hosts the Yellow Jackets Saturday
1/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
Jan. 24, 2003
The Standings
NC State looks to get back on track against Georgia Tech. The Pack men opened the season strong at 6-0, but have lost two straight to ACC behemoths UVa and Florida State, falling to 2-2 in the league and 6-2 overall.
The Wolfpack Women are now 5-6 overall and 1-4 in league action.
The "Rambling Wreck" is winless in league action, but could pick up its first win on Friday at Duke. The Jacket men are 2-5, and the women are 4-3.
Scouting the Opponent
Leading the way for the Tech men this weekend will be senior All-American Shilo Ayalon, who met the NCAA "B" qualifying standard in the 1650-yard freestyle against Alabama. He owns the Jackets' top times in four events. Seniors James Salazar (backstroke) and Tomonori Tsuji (breaststroke) should also have an impact for Tech. Junior Paul McCarty enters as the team's top diver.
Sophomore Moeko Wallis, who owns the team's best marks in the 50, 100 and 200 free, leads the women's squad. Hancock, freshman Elizabeth Foster and sophomore Michelle Maguire also own club-best performances in multiple events. Rookie Laurissa Prystaj leads the team's diving efforts.
When the Pack is in the Water
Watch out for sophomore Rob Yeager. Yeager has posted MVP performances all season and is continually making improvement on his times. He now holds a facility record in the 200 breast for his winning performance versus Florida State two weeks ago.
Brian Pursley, a transfer from the Colorado School of Mines, has also posted solid times in the breast events. Training with Yeager, the two have developed into one of the best one-two tandems in the league.
Cullen Jones has come on strong for the Wolfpack in sprint events. Jones joined the team in January and has added speed to the relay and sprint events.
The women are led by a solid diving corps, and have gotten strong contributions from IMer Karen Burbella and backstroker Anna Gazda. Burbella now claims the school record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:22.11, which she made at the Nike Invitational in November. Gazda has consistently been a top performer in the backstroke events, and holds the teams top times in the 100 and 200 events, and leads the team's top performing medley relay team, swimming the opening leg.
The diving trio of Molly Culberson, Erin Bailey and Amber O'Reilly continues to be one of the top in the league. Culberson has claimed the winning spot on the 3-meter board in all but one dual meet this season, giving way to teammate Bailey in their last outing.
The Logistics
Georgia Tech at NC State
Saturday, January 25 at 1:00 p.m.
Willis Casey Natatorium
