North Carolina State University Athletics
Women's Swimming & Diving Outlook
10/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
RALEIGH, N.C. - As the NC State swimming and diving program looks to begin its season tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 3, with its annual Red & White Scrimmage, GoPack.com takes a look at head coach Brooks Teal’s women’s team. The scrimmage will be held at Casey Natatorium on campus, beginning at 4:30 p.m.
An experienced core of veterans coupled with a talented mix of incoming freshmen has the women’s swimming and diving program headed in the right direction during the 2008-09 campaign. With 11 juniors, eight freshmen, five seniors and five sophomores, each student-athlete will be called upon to compete throughout the year.
Sprint Freestyle
In the sprint freestyle events Ashley Richter, Lucy Lindsey and Erica Smith combine for three top-10 times in school history. Last year Smith posted a 23.86 in the 50 freestyle, good for eighth all-time, while Lindsey (51.45) and Richter (51.63) offered fourth- and seventh-place showings in the 100 freestyle. Patrice Dason also stands as one of the leaders of the group, having posted both the second-best time on the season in the 50 freestyle last year (23.94), as well as the third-best clip in the 100 freestyle (53.47). Danielle Caruso, Erin Gray, Chelsa Messinger, Amanda Panty, Nancy Radloff, Morgan Robertson, and Meghan Thompson will all look to make contributions of their own.
Mid-distance Freestyle
Lindsey and Richter also highlight the Pack’s mid-distance freestyle corps, each having top-10 times in school history in the 200 freestyle. Richter’s 1:51.77 came at the 2008 ACC meet, while Lindsey has swam a 1:51.34. Jennifer Kopenitz made a splash for State last year, posting the top time in the 500 freestyle (5:02.66) and the third-best showing in the 200 freestyle (1:54.14). Maresa Like-Mathews and Anna Linkenauger both serve as dependable swimmers, posting the second- and third-best times respectively in the 500 freestyle. Brianna Grover, Taryn Shelley and Erica Waters also stand as viable options for head coach Brooks Teal.
Distance Freestyle
Linkenauger, Like-Mathews and Shelley are the top returnees among the distance freestyle rotation. Linkenauger’s 10:27.58 was the best showing on the roster in the 1000 freestyle last year, while Like-Mathews’ 17:29.05 was the standard in the 1650 freestyle. Shelley and Kathryn Creech also posted promising showings, while newcomer Maggie McEnerney will have her shot this season.
Butterfly
Several big-time producers highlight a very capable butterfly unit, with Kathryn Pegg, Linkenauger, Kopenitz, Dason, Grover, Like-Mathews and Creech leading the charge. Dason is the top returner in the 100 butterfly with a 55.54, good for second in the school record books, and Kopenitz 2:04.22 is ninth best all-time in the 200 butterfly. Like-Mathews also posted 2:04.00 last spring. McEnerney, Robertson, Thompson and Jessica McBroom will get their own taste of the fierce ACC competition in 2008-09.
Backstroke
Five combined top-10 marks in the 100 and 200 backstroke remain on the roster this year between the leadership of Kopenitz, Smith and Dason. Smith holds the second-best mark in the 100 backstroke and the fourth-best in the 200 backstroke, while Kopenitz stands second all-time in the 200 backstroke and sixth in the 100. Dason’s 58.31 is good for 10th in the 100. Linkenauger has also collected a personal best time of 2:03.00 in the 200 backstroke. Allison Hagan, Kayla Ricedorf, Katie Robinson, Messinger and Panty add plenty of talented depth.
Breaststroke
Jessica Ward set a new school record in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:17.63 last year, later showing off her talents at the Canadian Olympic Swim Trials. Linkenauger is third all-time in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:19.50, which was the second-best time on the squad last year behind Ward’s mark. Sarah Merritt posted the second best time in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke last year, while Jessica Stewart added numerous sterling performances.
Individual Medley
The individual medley should continue to be one the top scoring events for the Pack, especially with the leadership and history of valuable performances under the belts of Kopenitz, Linkenauger and Creech. Kopenitz established a new NC State record in the 400 IM last year with a 4:20.91, and also owns the seventh-best mark in the 200 IM with a 2:05.42. Linkenauger has the second- and fourth-best times in the school record books in the 200 IM and 400 IM respectively, while Creech’s 4:28.28 is the 10th-best mark ever in the 400 IM. Like-Mathews, Merritt, Ricedorf, Shelley and Ward each own a wealth of experience in IM events, while McBroom will bring something new to the table.
Diving
The talented duo of Chelsea Ale and Kristin Davies will conduct all of the diving duties for the Pack this season. Davies earned All-ACC honors in the platform dive and picked up honorable mention All-America status last year with a 13th-place showing at the NCAA Championships. She owns the school record in the platform dive with a 309.95 score, while Ale posted the best scores on the team in both the 1-meter (303.83) and 3-meter (293.02) dives a year ago.
