North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Men Host Fighting Irish on Thursday
10/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
Oct. 21, 2003
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RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State men's swimming and diving squad will step out of conference action on Thursday, Oct. 22 for a show down with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The Wolfpack enters the contest win a win under its belt after defeating Maryland in its season opener last Saturday. Action is slated to begin at 5 p.m. in the Willis Casey Aquatics center.
The Pack gained momentum after easily downing the Terrapins. NC State turned in a number of impressive times at the meet, many of which rank in the Atlantic Coast Conference Top-10. The 400 Medley relay squad of Rob Terrell, Brian Pursley, Kevin Devine and Scott Dettloff lead the league with a time of 3:24.67. Terrell, a sophomore, also ranks No. 2 in the 100 and 200 Back events, while Pursley, a senior, is No. 6 in the 100 Free and 10th in the 200 Free.
Junior Pete Pessagno leads a strong Wolfpack distance corps with a time of 4:49.19 (No. 7 - ACC), in the 500 Free, and a 9:37.44 (No. 6 - ACC) in the 1000. Freshman Vitor Assuncao was impressive in his collegiate debut. He broke the school record on the 1-Meter with a score of 344.55 in six dives, a league-leading mark, and stands third in the conference on the 3-Meter with a winning score of 306.50.
WEEKLY RELEASE
Tracking the Pack
The men's squad opened its season on a high note Saturday, Oct. 18 with a dominating 154-53 win over ACC foe Maryland. The Wolfpack won 10 of the 13 events. Wolfpack mid-distance and distance groups looked remarkable after emphasizing the importance of success in the events during the training season. Pete Pessagno won the 500- and 1000-yard free events, and led the Pack to 1-2-3 sweeps in both events.
On the boards, Vitor Assuncao made his first debut for the Pack and wasted no time setting a new school record on the 1-Meter.
The Wolfpack Women will return to the competition pool on Oct. 25 when the combined team travels to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech. On Oct. 18 the Pack fell victim to the Terrapin women, 138-97. The squad picked up four wins, including victories by freshmen Rebecca Perry and Kerry Whitson. Molly Culberson was strong on the boards and picked up wins on both the 1- and 3-Meter.
On the Visitor's Bench
The Notre Dame men's swimming and diving squad opened its season on Oct. 3 with a win at the Stark Relays. The squad bettered second-place Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 200-256.
Last season, the Irish rewrote the record books. Current Junior Frank Krakowski took five records, and was a part of three relay teams that broke records.
The squad is led by co-captains Josh Dermott and Matt Obringer, and is coached by Tim Welch, who is in his 19th season with the men. Caiming Xie coaches the ND divers.
Freshmen Make Immediate Impact: Three Wolfpack freshmen made their presence felt in NC State's season opener versus Maryland on Oct. 18.
Vitor Assuncao turned in first-place performances on both the 1- and 3-meter springboards with scores of 344.55 and 306.50, respectively. His mark on the one-meter earned him a spot in the Wolfpack record books, topping Andy Johnson's previous record of 343.20 set in1999.
Kerry Whitson and Rebecca Perry collected wins in their collegiate debuts as well. Whitson turned in a time of 1:53.73 in the 200 Free, and Perry followed suit in the 50 Free to take the win in a time of 23.93. Perry's time is faster than any turned in during the 2002-03 season, and Whitson's is less that five tenths of a point off the top mark from a year ago.
Amy Baskwell, younger sister of junior breaststroker Lindsey Baskwell, finished second in the 1000 Free, adding significant points from the distance group.
Including relay events, freshman contributed a total of 55 points toward the Wolfpack's efforts against Maryland.
Pack Ranks in ACC's Top-10: In the ACC's first official release of the season, NC State has a number of times in the conference's top-10. Seventh of the men's times rank in 12 events, and 12 of the women's fall into 11 events.
NC State's 400 style relay time of 3:04.74 is the fastest in the conference after week one, and Vitor Assuncao leads the way on the 1-Meter springboard with a 344.55.
Five men are ranked in two categories. Assuncao is also third on the 3-Meter board. Rob Yeager is third in the 200 Breast (2:08.02) and sixth in the 200 IM (1:55.84). Rob Terrell is second in both the 100 and 200 Back events with times of 52:20 and 1:51.11. Pete Pessagno is seventh in the 500 Free (4:39.19) and sixth in the 1000 (9:37.44), and Brian Pursley is sixth in the 100 Free (46.57) and 10th in the 200 with 1:44.48.
For the women, Rebecca Perry is the second fastest woman in the conference with a 23.93 in the 50 Free, and is the fastest freshman in the league. Kerry Whitson ranks sixth and ninth, respectively, in the 200 and 500 Free with time of 1:53.73 and 5:05.37. Laura Cutler is third in the 200 Fly, and teammate Karen Burbella ranks fifth. Burbella is also ranked seventh in the 200 IM. Jess Koenig is seventh in the 200 Back (2:06.19) and fifth in the 200 IM (2:06.76).
Molly Culberson is fifth on both the 1- and 3-Meter boards.
Cutler Cuts It Loose: Wolfpack football has "Cut It Loose" in 2003, as did junior Laura Cutler in the Wolfpack's season opener versus Maryland.
Cutler had a winning performance in the 200 Butterfly with a time of 2:06.02. She led the 2002-03 team in the fly, clocking a time of 2:03.29 at the ACC Championships last February.
Happy Birthday for Terrell: Wolfpack sophomore Rob Terrell must have blown out all the candles on his birthday cake Saturday morning before the Maryland meet and wished for a big day in the pool.
Terrell turned in a remarkable performance in the 200 Back, winning with a time of 1:51.11. He split the last 50 yards in 26.11 to make a push for the front and come from behind for the victory.
Terrell also contributed to a winning relay on the day. He led off the 400 Medley Relay, splitting the first 100 in 52.20.
He turned 20 Oct. 18, 2003.
Going The Distance: Wolfpack men's distance swimmers dominated the pool in the squad's opener versus Maryland. The Pack swept both the 200- and 500- Free events, and took one and two in the 1000.
Junior Pete Pessagno touched the wall first in both the 500 and 1000 events to lead the way for NC State. Junior Jack Deal was a winner in the 200.
Victory For Vitor: Wolfpack freshman Vitor Assucao turned out to be as good as advertised. Making his collegiate debut on the boards for the Pack, the native Brazilian swept the competition on the 1- and 3-Meter boards, and also wrote his name in the record books with a score of 344.55, topping Andy Johnson's previous record of 343.20 set in1999. Johnson went on to capture the ACC title on the 1-Meter that year.
In The Zones: Divers Molly Culberson and Vitor Assuncao reserved a spot for themselves at the NCAA Diving Zones competition to be held in March with their performances on the boards against Maryland.
Assuncao qualified on both the 1- and 3-Meter boards with respective scores of 244.55 and 306.50. Culberson qualified with a score of 304.95 on the 3-Meter.
In the spring of 2003, Culberson was a Zone finalist on both boards, finishing 11th on the 3-Meter and 17th on the 1-Meter.
WARNING - Watch For Falling Records: Three current members of the 2003-04 squad possess times or scores that rank them amongst the Wolfpack elite.
Senior Karen Burbella broke her own record at last season's ACC Championships by finishing the 400 IM in a time of 4:21.82 in the consolation finals.
Molly Culberson holds the school record on the 3-Meter board, and the pool record at ECU, where she turned in a score of 346.20. She broke Agnes Gerlach's record, which had previously stood for nearly 10 years.
Vitor Assuncao toppled the record on the 1-Meter in his first outing as a member of the Wolfpack with a 344.55 on the 1-Meter board. He should beat his own mark by season's end.
Pack Makes the Grade: An impressive number of Wolfpack swimmers and divers were named to the ACC's Honor Roll following the 2002-03 season. Included in the group were: Lindsay Baskwell, Billy Booth, Jenny Bland, Christy Britt, Rachel Bumgardner, Karen Burbella, Emily Clabaugh, Molly Culberson, Scott Dettloff, Anna Maria Gazda, Abby Griffith, Jorge Gutierrez, Seth Hoffman, Steve House, Ashley Lamberton, Abby Lewis, Brian Pursley, Rick Scott, Katie Sheridan and Kendall Smith.
