North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Swimming Heads to ACC Championships
2/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
Swimming Competes at ACC Championships: The NC State men's swimming team will travel to Chapel Hill on Wednesday, February 21 to compete in the ACC Championships. The men finished the regular season 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the ACC. The diving team, which competed last week, has already gotten the team off to a great start. The duo of Austin Hampton and Alex Dambly have combined to give the Wolfpack 29 team points.
Hampton Finishes 3rd in 1-meter at ACC Championships: Sophomore Austin Hampton has been phenomenal this year for the Wolfpack and continued that performance last week at the ACC Championships. He posted a score of 350.90 in the 1-meter board to finish third and earn All-ACC honors. He also finished ninth in the 3-meter board. He holds the top score in both the 1 and 3-meter boards. In the 12 times that he has com peted this year he won seven of those times. He also has four second place finishes this year and one third place finish.
Mellor Continues All-Around Domination: Sophomore Stephen Mellor has dominated in four separate events this season. He has the top time in the 200 back, 200 fly, 200 IM, and the 400 IM. He has also posted a team high 19 top-5 finishes this season.
In the 200 back he finished first six of the seven times that he has swam in the event. In the 200 fly he has won two of the three times he has swam with the other time being a second place finish. He has finished first three times and second two times in the five times that he has swam the 200 IM this year. He has won each of the three times that he swam the 400 IM this season.
Lester Carries Momentum into ACC Championships: Andrew Lester won a pair of events in the final regular season match of the year at Clemson. He won the 500 free with a time of 4:34.62 and won the 1650 free with a time of 16:05.37.
This season he has posted the top time in 1000 free and the 1650 free. He has won the 500 free three times this season and has won the 1000 free four of the five times he has swam it this year. He has also won the 1650 free in both of the times that he competed in it this season.
Cowling-Bunga: Senior Steve Cowling will enter his final ACC Championship looking to capture his second career individual title and earn All-ACC honors for the fourth time in his career. Cowling won the 100 back in 2005 at the ACC Championships and was a member of the 200 medley relay team that set an ACC record in 2006 and won the event in both the 2005 and 2006 ACC Championships.
This season Cowling has been special once again, leading the team in the 100 back (an event that he holds the third fastest time in school history in) and the 100 fly, as well as being a fixture on four of the five relay teams. He is also second on the team in the 200 IM and the 100 freestyle.
Roney Continues Improving: Junior Jack Roney has continued to improve over his career at NC State. As a freshman in 2005 he was named the Most Improved Swimmer, which is given to the man who has demonstrated the strongest focus and dedication.
This season he has continued that improvement by posting the top time in the 100 and 200 breast. He has finished either first or second four out of the six times he has swam the 200 breast this season.
Women's Swimming and Diving Compete at ACC Championships: The women's swimming and diving team competed last week at the ACC Championships. The team finished in 10th place with 123.5 points.
Anna Linkenauger won the consolation final in the 400 IM with a time of 4:22.45, which is the fastest time of the year in that event. That time was good enough for a "B" qualifying time for the NCAA Championships. Martha Marino swam the top time of the year in the 100 breaststroke. Kristen Andrea-Davies finished third in the platform dive. The 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams also posted top times for the year.
