Pack Adds Gold Medals in 100 Back, 400 Medley Relay on Third Day of ACC Championships

Friday, March 1

Greensboro, N.C.

ALL DAY

NC State

ACC Championships (Men's Swimming)

Photo by: Chris Baird

Pack Adds Gold Medals in 100 Back, 400 Medley Relay on Third Day of ACC Championships

3/1/2019 9:50:00 PM | Swimming

Day Three Results (PDF)

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Wolfpack men took first place in a pair of events and finished on the podium a total of six times on the third day of competition at the 2019 ACC Championships to bolster its lead headed into the final day of competition at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Coleman Stewart picked up a record-setting win in the 100-yard backstroke, and NC State won the 400-yard medley relay to add to its medal count.

The Pack stands in first place with 919.5 points as it goes into the last day of action at the conference championships on Saturday. Louisville follows behind in second place with 784 points, and Virginia sits in third place with 695 points. NC State has finished on the podium a total of 12 times over the course of the ACC Championships and has secured four gold medals through three days of competition.

100 BACK:
Coleman Stewart came out on fire in the 100-yard backstroke as he set an ACC, program, pool and meet record in the prelims with a blistering 44.44. The mark was not only an NCAA A cut, the only A cut clocked in the prelims, but was also the fourth-fastest collegiate time in history.

Despite it being his fourth race of the day, Stewart went on to post the exact same time in the A final to secure his second ACC title in a row in the 100-yard backstroke.

Another ACC title for @packswimdive! @cstew180 repeats as ACC champ in the 100 back!

Watch live: https://t.co/i8NIiXGyPY // #GoPack #STATEment pic.twitter.com/4bU6lvC6YQ
— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) March 2, 2019

The Wolfpack junior now stands atop the nation in the event.

After opening his night in the A final of the 100-yard butterfly, Hensley added another A final to his Friday evening, where he posted the fastest 100-yard backstroke time of his career. His 45.59 was good for fifth place and moved him to No. 3 in program history.

Mark McGlaughlin posted personal bests in both of his 100-yard backstroke races today as he took 10th overall with a 46.34 in the B final, and James Bretscher clocked in at 46.60 for 15th overall. Jacob Johnson also moved into the all-time top 10 at NC State with his 46.87 in the prelims and went on to swim a 47.06 to top the C final to place 17th overall.

400 MEDLEY RELAY:
The Pack closed out its evening with a meet record in the 400-yard medley relay as Stewart, Daniel Graber, Nyls Korstanje and Giovanni Izzo posted a 3:03.26 for the win.

Make it another ACC relay title for the @packswimdive men! The 400 Medley Relay team of @cstew180, @graberdan1, @nylskorstanje and @cioffani claimed top honors to close out Friday night! // #GoPack #STATEment pic.twitter.com/DWnv4FxQRu
— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) March 2, 2019

Stewart led off by yet again breaking his 100-yard backstroke record with his lead-off leg as he went 44.36 to kick off action for the Pack. Graber clocked the fastest 100-yard breaststroke split across all relay teams, a 51.89. Korstanje went 44.94 in the butterfly, and Izzo closed out with a 42.07 freestyle to touch the wall for the win.

100 BUTTERFLY:
After clocking the only NCAA A cut of the prelims, Stewart went on to improve his time in the evening's A final where he took silver, clocking in at 45.09. He was joined on the podium by senior Hensley, who posted back-to-back lifetime bests in the event and touched the wall in 45.33 in the A final for third place.

James Bretscher also qualified for the A final, where he took seventh place in 45.88.

Korstanje and Izzo held down the fort for the Pack men in the B final, both posting lifetime bests in the event to go 1-3 in the consolation final. Korstanje clocked in at 45.62 for the top finish in the heat, and Izzo touched in 45.92.

400 IM:
Eric Knowles added his second podium finish in as many days as he took home a silver medal in the 400-yard individual medley. The sophomore was in sixth place after three legs of the race, but Knowles kicked it into high gear over the final 100 yards of freestyle to move his way into second place. His time of 3:42.09 was the best of his career and moved him to second in program history.

Jack McIntyre also impressed down the stretch as he came from behind to secure the top finish in the B final in 3:45.27 to place ninth overall, and Gil Kiesler went 3:49.21 in the C final to also post points for the Pack.

200 FREE:
The Pack saw two of its men qualify for the A final in the 200-yard freestyle. Andreas Vazaios swam his fastest time of the season in the event and was the Pack's top finisher, earning a bronze medal with his 1:33.72 time. Fellow senior Justin Ress took eighth in the A final in 1:34.74.

Jacob Johnson (1:36.05) and Jacob Molacek (1:36.71) both saw action in the C final, where they placed 19th and 23rd overall, respectively.

100 BREASTSTROKE:
After posting the fastest time of his career in the prelims, a 52.72 that moved him to second in program history, Graber finished just off the podium in the A final. The Wolfpack senior touched the wall in 52.74 for fourth place.

Rafal Kusto wrote himself into NC State's top 10 list as he clocked a personal-best 53.55 in the B final to place 13th overall.

UP NEXT:
NC State's men will wrap up competition at the 2019 ACC Championships with a final day of action on Saturday. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m., the 1650-yard freestyle heats will be raced beginning at 4 p.m., and the finals session is set to start at 6 p.m. Saturday's finals session will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra.

#GoPack | @packswimdive