Wolfpack Wins Five Events on First Day of IU Invitational

Thursday, November 15

Bloomington, IN

ALL DAY

NC State

IU Invitational

Wolfpack Wins Five Events on First Day of IU Invitational

11/15/2018 8:32:00 PM | Swimming

@packswimdive

Both squads in second place after first day of competition in Bloomington.

November 15, 2018

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Wolfpack picked up wins in five events as the No. 3/7 NC State men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened competition at the IU Invitational Thursday.

Justin Ress (50-yard freestyle) and Andreas Vazaios (200-yard individual medley) earned individual wins for the Wolfpack men, and NC State won three of the four relays that were contested on the first day of the meet.

After day one, both Wolfpack squads sit in second place. The Wolfpack men tallied 413.5 points to trail leader and host No. 2 Indiana (542 points), and the Pack women tallied 428.5 points to find themselves just behind No. 8 Louisville (436 points).

RELAY HIGHLIGHTS:
The Wolfpack came out firing in the night session, sweeping the 200-yard freestyle relay finals as both the men and the women took first place in the event. Kylee Alons, Ky-lee Perry, Elise Haan and Sirena Rowe clocked the nation's second-fastest time of 1:27.64 to take the win. The mark also wrote them into the NC State history book as it stands third overall in program history.

NC State's men followed suit as Nyls Korstanje, Justin Ress, Jacob Molacek and Giovanni Izzo took first place with the nation's fastest 200-yard freestyle relay time of 1:16.41.

The Pack men closed out competition with a win in the final race of the night. Andreas Vazaios, Daniel Graber, Coleman Stewart and Ress placed first in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:04.88.

All three of NC State's relay wins came with times that meet NCAA qualifying standards.

TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:
Vazaios was the Wolfpack's first individual to pick up a win at the IU Invitational. He continued his unbeaten streak in the 200-yard individual medley, taking home gold in 1:43.02. Molacek joined him on the podium in the event with a lifetime best of 1:43.78 for second place.

Ress swam his fastest 50-yard freestyle race of the season, touching the wall in 19.38 for the win.

NC State had multiple individuals qualify for each A final after solid performances in the prelims. The morning was highlighted by the Pack sprinters as Perry (21.80) and Korstanje (19.29) swam the nation's fastest 50-yard freestyle times of the season. Perry's time tied her lifetime best and program record and was just .06 seconds away from an NCAA A cut.

Perry went on to take second place in the A final (22.03), and Rowe placed third with a 22.26 time that moved her into third place in program history.

DIVING:
All four of the Wolfpack divers advanced to Thursday evening's finals after finishing in the top 10 in the prelims. On the men's side, Holt Gray was the top finisher, tallying 295.65 points for sixth place, and Michelle Schlossmacher Smith took 10th overall for the women with a score of 218.55.

UP NEXT:
The IU Invitational continues Friday with the second of three days of action. The prelims begin at 9 a.m., with the finals once again set to start at 5 p.m.

MEN'S TOP FINISHERS: