North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Wrapup
6/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
June 2003
Building a competitive program in the Atlantic Coast Conference takes time, but coach Brooks Teal's squad is right on schedule after consistently taking steps forward in the past three seasons. The team was hampered by injuries to key performers, but managed to pull together for some of its best swims at the conference meet in February. This season the team was led by a triumvirate of individuals who stood out and made their presence felt in the pool. Molly Culberson, Karen Burbella and Jessica Koenig were the consistent point scorers for the Wolfpack throughout the season and led the team with a number of big swims and dives during the year.
Freestyle
The sprint group featured a tandem of underclassmen in Kendall Smith and Elizabeth Herron. Smith led the way in both the 50- and 100-yard events. The freshman was victorious in both events versus Georgia Tech in dual competition and made night swims at the ACC Championships.
Catherine Parks was solid in the 200- and 500-yard events, narrowly missing a scoring mark in both at ACCs. Allison Marks stepped up at the conference meet as a scorer in the mile after getting consistent contributions from Claire Nicholls during the dual season. The distance group sorely missed a 100 percent-healthy senior captain Caroline Curran, who was injured throughout most of the season.
Backstroke
With the exception of senior Anna Maria Gazda, the backstroke group was comprised of a number of young swimmers. Jessica Koenig and Emily Clabaugh both offered solid performances during the season and are expected to improve with another year of experience.
Gazda marked five first-place finishes during dual meets and was a consistent scorer during the season. Koenig finished no worse than fourth during the regular season and posted her best time of the year in January versus Virginia Tech.
Individual Medley
The individual medley was perhaps the brightest swimming events for the Wolfpack at the conference meet. Karen Burbella, Laura Cutler and Jessica Koenig each scored points at ACCs and were dependable during duals.
"That is the kind of depth we need to be successful at the ACC level," says Teal. "We need three dependable athletes in each event all season long. We would have liked for them to finish higher at the conference meet, but now we just look forward to next year and their development."
Burbella etched her name into the school record books back in November when she turned in a time of 4:21.82 in the 400-yard IM at the Nike Cup. The mark ranks first all-time on the top performances list for the event. Koenig, a freshman, ranks second in the 200- and 400-yard events, and promises to drop seconds off of her swims as she matures in the pool. Koenig, a freshman, turned in an NCAA B cut time of 2:04.00 at the ACC Championships, and now ranks second in both the 200- and 400-yard events. She has the potential to be one of the conference's top performers in 2004.
Breaststroke
The breaststroke group looks promising for the future. The team placed four women in the finals at ACCs in the 100- and six in the 200- yard events. Erin Trau's time of 2:20.00 at the championships fell into the Wolfpack's top-10 all-time performances list at number eight. Trau, who was named the teams' most improved swimmer, was consistent in both events. Priscilla Humberstone, the only upperclassman in the group, was a leader in the 100 most of the season.
"This is another event in which we have great depth," says Teal. "If we can get this group to take a few seconds off of its times, we should be able to compete near the top of the league next season. It feels good to see the kind of potential the team has right now in the breaststroke."
Lola Woodworth showed a lot of promise in her freshman season and should continue to improve with a solid summer of training. Lindsay Baskwell was another key contributor and stepped up when needed during the dual season.
Butterfly
The butterfly was a youth led movement as freshmen and sophomores occupied the top three spots in both distances. Jessica Koenig showed her diversity by leading the crew with a 57.08 swim. Laura Cutler, second on the team in the 100 fly, was the workhorse in the 200 fly with a team leading 2:03.29.
"The butterflyers are a group that we will be calling on to score valuable points in both dual meets and the championship season, " Coach Teal said. "With a bit of improvement and a continued increase in work ethic, butterfly could be a real strength for us."
Diving
The results speak for themselves. All-ACC diver Molly Culberson had a spectacular year on the boards as a freshman and promises to improve throughout the remainder of her career at NC State. She took fifth on one-meter springboard at the ACC Championships and followed that performance with a third place finish on the three-meter. During the dual meet season, she recorded a total of 13 first-place performances, including a string of seven consecutive wins on the three-meter. She scored a 440.60 at East Carolina on the three-meter and set a school record in the event, breaking All-American and former Olympian Agnes Gerlach's mark that stood for nearly 10 years.
Culberson also did well at the NCAA Zone B Championship. She was a zone finalist in both events, and finished 11th overall on the three-meter. Culberson finished the season as the women's highest point scorer, and earned Most Valuable Player honors.
"Coach Candler did a great job with the diving corps this season, as demonstrated by their performance as a whole," says Teal. "Molly showed a lot about herself. It's not an easy task to come into a major Division I program and react to the pressure the way she has. We look forward to seeing her on the boards for years to come."
The team also got strong leadership from its seniors, Erin Bailey and Amber O'Reilly. Bailey finished fourth on the one-meter, and narrowly missed the finals cut at NCAA Zones. O'Reilly took fifth place honors on the three-meter board at the conference championship, and seventh on the one-meter.
With a stellar recruiting class entering the pool in the fall of 2003, the Wolfpack is sure to add the talent it needs to become more competitive in the ACC. With a conglomerate of rookies and veterans, the Pack will be back in 2003.
