North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
UNC Invitational Day 3
NC State Sweeps Top Team Finishes at UNC Invite
12/5/2020 8:27:00 PM | Swimming
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Wolfpack men's and women's swimming teams both capped off the weekend with first-place team finishes at the Janis Hape Dowd UNC Invite on Saturday evening.
The fourth-ranked Pack men won their side of the meet with 1,077.5 total points, beating out No. 23 North Carolina (747 points), No. 11 Virginia Tech (579.5 points) and Duke (432 points).
The No. 7 Wolfpack women posted 1,067.5 total points to defeat No. 17 Virginia Tech (657 points), No. 23 North Carolina (530 points) and No. 16 Duke (519.5 points).
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS:
As has become routine, NC State's distance swimmers dominated the 1,650-yard freestyle on Saturday night. Six Pack men were in the top heat, and those swimmers took the top six spots each with NCAA provisional cuts. Eric Knowles (14:48.06) led the 1-2-3 podium sweep with Ross Dant (14:49.72) and James Plage (15:03.32).
Yara Hierath kicked off the night session with a victory of her own in the mile. She clocked in with a final time of 16:07.92, which is good for an NCAA B cut and seventh in program history. Kay Foley joined her on the podium with a third-place finish in 16:33.02.
Katharine Berkoff posted her second NCAA A cut in as many days as she won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:50.20. The performance moved her time to second in program history. Freshman Michael Moore went on to crack the NC State all-time top 10 with his win on the men's side, as he touched in 1:42.66.
The Wolfpack women also impressed in the 200-yard breaststroke with Andrea Podmanikova (1st - 2:06.99) and Abby Arens (2nd - 2:08.21) leading the way. Podmanikova's time was just split seconds off of an NCAA A cut, and both women moved their way into the top five of the NC State record books. The Pack now has seven current swimmers ranked in the top 10 of the all-time 200-yard breaststroke list.
RELAY HIGHLIGHTS:
NC State capped off the evening with electric performances in the 400-yard medley relay.
On the women's side, Berkoff (48.58), Kylee Alons (48.25), Heather Maccausland (48.75) and Julia Poole (48.76) combined for a time of 3:14.34 to take home the victory. The mark was an NCAA qualifying mark, and they beat out the next fastest team by nearly two seconds.
The Pack men also earned a top finish in the meet-ending race, edging out rival UNC by .74 seconds. Hunter Tapp (42.70) led the way with a 100 split that put him in the top 10 of the NC State record book, and Luke Miller (42.86), Luke Sobolewski (43.50) and Knowles (42.97) followed him as the squad won in 2:52.03.
UP NEXT:
The remainder of NC State's 2020-21 slate will be released at a later date.
WOMEN'S TOP FINISHERS:
1,650 freestyle: Yara Hierath (1st - 16:07.92)
200 backstroke: Katharine Berkoff (1st - 1:50.20)
100 freestyle: Kylee Alons (1st - 48.97)
200 breaststroke: Andrea Podmanikova (1st - 2:06.99)
200 butterfly: Megan Pulley (8th - 2:00.62)
400 freestyle relay: Berkoff, Alons, Maccausland, Poole (1st - 3:14.34)
MEN'S TOP FINISHERS:
1,650 freestyle: Eric Knowles (1st - 14:48.06)
200 backstroke: Michael Moore (1st - 1:42.66)
100 freestyle: Hunter Tapp (3rd - 42.99)
200 breaststroke: Jack Moranetz (3rd - 1:57.35)
200 butterfly: Zach Brown (3rd - 1:42.57)
400 freestyle relay: Tapp, Miller, Sobolewski, Knowles (1st - 2:44.31)
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