North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
ACC Championship (M Swimming)
Pack Men Place Second in Tight Race at 2021 ACC Championships
2/27/2021 8:51:00 PM | Swimming
GREENSBORO, N.C. – With the team title coming down to placements on the last relay, the NC State men's swimming and diving team came away from the 2021 ACC Championships with a second-place finish.
The Pack ended the meet with 1,179 points as a team, finishing just two points behind Louisville's 1,181 points. Just 10 points separated the two teams headed into the 400-yard freestyle relay, and NC State was victorious in the last race of the meet. The Cards, however, managed to secure silver to earn just enough points to clinch the team title and snap the Pack's six-year winning streak.
The Wolfpack put together a balanced attack, collecting three event titles from the conference meet and earned a combined eight podium finishes over the last four days. In total, the Pack had a total of 55 swims score points in the A, B or C finals of this week's championship meet (4 relays, 51 individual swims).
Gold (3)
• 800 freestyle relay: Miller, Knowles, Gezmis, Tapp (6:12.68)
• 100 backstroke: Kacper Stokowski (44.82)
• 400 freestyle relay: Miller, Tapp, Izzo, Stokowski (2:48.19)
Silver (3)
• 500 freestyle: Ross Dant (4:12.54)
• 200 freestyle relay: Henderson, Tapp, Izzo, Stokowski (1:16.33)
• 1,650 freestyle: Ross Dant (14:35.73)
Bronze (2)
• 400 IM: Erge Gezmis (3:43.47)
• 200 freestyle: Luke Miller (1:32.93 – 1:32.28 meet record in prelims)
400 FREE RELAY:
NC State stepped up to the plate in the 400-yard freestyle relay to add one final gold medal to its conference meet resume. The Pack's winning time of 2:48.19 beat out the rest of its head by over a second.
Luke Miller led off with a 42.52 split, the fastest of his career, and Hunter Tapp went 41.66 to give NC State the edge halfway through the race. An explosive start by Giovanni Izzo kicked off a 42.06 split from the junior during which he extended the Pack's lead to nearly a body length, and Kacper Stokowski closed out the win with a 41.95 anchor.
These men stepped up to the plate and got the W.
— NC State Swimming & Diving (@packswimdive) February 28, 2021
A look back at the 400 free relay 🥇: pic.twitter.com/ZitALldWyJ
1650 FREESTYLE:
Sophomore Ross Dant kicked off a Saturday back-to-back double by securing his second medal of the meet in the 1,650-yard freestyle. His time of 14:35.73 clocked in at second place, bettered his collegiate-best mark that ranks second in program history and was an NCAA A cut.
All four of the Pack's distance swimmers finished in the top 11 to rack up some points for NC State in the event. Eric Knowles (15:09.24) placed eighth overall, followed by James Page (15:12.19) in ninth and Curtis Wiltsey (15:13.75) coming in at 11th after swimming in the earlier heats.
200 BUTTERFLY:
NC State racked up some big points in the 200-yard butterfly finals, with three A finalists and a total of six swimmers scoring points.
Zach Brown (1:42.13) finished just off the podium in fourth place with the fastest time of his career, with Noah Henderson (1:44.45) and Noah Bowers (1:45.01) coming in at seventh and eighth.
• B finalist: Erge Gezmis (1:44.60, 9th)
• C finalists: John Healy (1:46.34, 21st), Curtis Wiltsey (1:47.41, 24th)
200 BACKSTROKE:
After winning the 100-yard backstroke on Friday night, Kacper Stokowski was the top finisher for the Pack in the 200-yard backstroke. His time of 1:41.11 in the A final moved him to fifth in program history. John Healy joined him in the top heat with an eighth-place finish in 1:43.79.
• B finalists: Michael Moore (1:42.86, 13th), Zachary Cram (1:45.22, 15th), Ross Dant (1:47.95, 16th)
100 FREESTYLE:
Hunter Tapp dropped time in both the prelims and the championship final of the 100-yard freestyle. His ca reer-best 42.51 during the evening session clocked in at fifth place, making him the seventh-fastest 100 free swimmer in NC State history.
• B finalists: Giovanni Izzo (42.74, 9th), Luke Miller (42.96, 12th)
• C finalist: Luke Sobolewski (44.26, 24th)
200 BREASTSTROKE:
Rafal Kusto set a new program record in the 200-yard breaststroke on Saturday night. After clocking in just off the mark in the prelims, he went 1:54.67 in the B final to take ownership of the No. 1 spot in NC State history. He placed 13th overall. Jack Moranetz (1:56.70, 15th) also swam a collegiate-best time in the B final.
#GoPack | @packswimdive
Players Mentioned
