History Made! Wolfpack Wins 400 Medley Relay NCAA Title
3/18/2021 10:12:00 PM | Swimming
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Wolfpack women made history on day two of the 2021 NCAA Championships by claiming the first-ever swimming national title in program history.
Katharine Berkoff, Sophie Hansson, Kylee Alons and Julia Poole teamed up for the first-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay in record-setting fashion. Their winning time of 3:24.59 is now the fastest in NCAA history, beating out the previous time of 3:25.09 set by Stanford in 2018, and also established a new US Open record.
#WW DID IT. FIRST SWIMMING NCAA TITLE IN PROGRAM HISTORY!! 🏆 #GoPack pic.twitter.com/atjuKDTvgU
— NC State Swimming & Diving (@packswimdive) March 19, 2021
Both of NC State's relays and four individuals garnered First Team All-America honors with their top-eight finishes on Thursday night.
Through two days of competition at the national meet, NC State sits in second place as a team with 124 points behind Virginia's 184 points.
400 MEDLEY RELAY:
The Wolfpack looked absolutely phenomenal from start to finish in its title-winning relay at the end of the night. Berkoff led off with the fastest 100-yard backstroke mark of her career, a 50.07 that she swam after coming into the meet with a personal best of 50.40.
Hansson's 57.01 breaststroke split built up a lead of nearly a body length for the Pack, and Alons put together an impressive 49.29 butterfly leg to send Poole into the water with a significant lead. She swam a 48.22 freestyle that was more than enough to hold off any other contenders and secure the victory.
200 FREE RELAY:
NC State racked up its first trophy of the national meet in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with its squad finishing third out of the final heat.
Berkoff led off with a personal-best 21.81 split, followed by Alons (21.27), Sirena Rowe (21.47) and Hansson (21.72). Their 1:26.27 relay mark was the second-fastest in the event in program history.
50 FREE:
For the second NCAA Championships meet in a row, the Wolfpack women had two A finalists in the 50-yard freestyle to rack up big points. The Pack was the only program with two A finalists in the event.
Alons set a new program record in the prelims with a time of 21.50, and she went on to clock in at 21.51 in the A final for fourth place. She finished a spot higher than her No. 5 seed coming into the meet.
Berkoff also improved on her seeding by qualifying for the A final where she placed seventh in 21.96. That time marked her fastest non-relay 50-yard freestyle time of the season.
500 FREE:
After swimming in the consolation final in 2019, senior Kate Moore made her first career appearance in the 500-yard freestyle A final. Moore dropped time from the prelims to the final, and her mark of 4:39.71 was good for sixth place and All-America honors.
Additional prelim results: Yara Hierath (26th - 4:45.37)
200 IM:
Julia Poole also added the top 200-yard individual medley NCAA finish of her career, also placing sixth in that event. After clocking a 1:55.70 in the prelims, she touched in 1:55.60 in the A final.
Additional prelim results: Emma Muzzy (23rd - 1:57.59), Abby Arens (45th - 1:59.40)
UP NEXT:
The Pack returns to the pool on Friday for more action at the NCAA Championships. Prelims are set for a 10 a.m. start, with the finals session beginning at 6 p.m. Both sessions can be streamed live on WatchESPN.
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