ACCs Day Two Highlighted by 1-2-3-4 500 Free Finish, Eight Medals

2/16/2022 10:50:00 PM | Swimming

ATLANTA, GA. -- NC State loaded up on points during the second day of ACC Championships, highlighted by the Pack men finishing in the first, second, third, and fourth places in the 500-yard freestyle.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY:

The Wolfpack women relay of Katharine Berkoff (21.63), Kylee Alons (21.11), Sophie Hansson (21.81), and Heather MacCausland (21.96) secured the team's second relay silver of the meet with their 1:26.51 finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. This mark is two full seconds under the NCAA A Cut and stands as the third fastest time in program history.

On the men's side, the Pack put together a 1:14.59 finish, falling just .12 behind Virginia for second place. All four men contributed a sub-19 second split, with freshman David Curtiss' 18.79 leadoff from a flat start.

500 FREESTYLE:

The Wolfpack distance group remains unstoppable. On the men's side, Ross Dant, James Plage, Will Gallant, and Eric Knowles contributed major points to sweep the first, second, third, and fourth place spots. Dant's victory is good for an NCAA A cut, second all-time in program history, and is a new best time by two seconds. Plage and Gallant also dropped significant time from their previous lifetime best in both prelims and finals.

On the women's side, Yara Hierath (4:44.61), Kay Foley (4:44.84), and Brooke Travis (4:45.29) rounded out the A final with their efforts. All three ladies swam below the NCAA B cut standard and their times stand in the top 10 all-time performances in the event at NC State.

200 IM:

The Wolfpack women had a strong showing in the 200-yard IM, led by Abby Arens' third place finishing time of 1:55.16. She was followed by Kate Moore (6th, 1:56.01), Grace Sheble (1:56.08), and Julia Poole (1:56.27). Freshman Annabel Crush (1:56.85) and senior Emma Muzzy (1:57.00) also contributed points from the B Final.

On the men's side, NC State saw five men in the A final. Giovanni Izzo brought home the bronze medal, dropping almost three full seconds from his previous best time. He now marks third all-time in program history. Freshmen Sam Hoover (1:44.13) and Arsenio Bustos (1:44.14) contributed big points for the Pack with their fifth and sixth place finishes. Michael Moore (1:44.44) and Noah Bowers (1:44.55) rounded out the heat with their seventh and eighth place finishes.

50 FREESTYLE:

In the women's 50-yard freestyle, Katharine Berkoff missed the podium by .21 with her fourth place finishing time of 21.66. Senior Kylee Alons touched just .05 seconds behind Berkoff (21.71) for fifth place and Sophie Hansson (22.15) won the B final. Heather MacCausland dropped .01 from her morning swim to finish fourteenth (22.55), bringing in more points for the Wolfpack women.

To cap off the evening, freshman David Curtiss earned the first ACC Championship of his career in the 50-yard freestyle with his time of 18.74 seconds, marking a new NCAA A cut. Curtiss swam the event three times during Day Two of the Championship and threw down a sub-19 second swim each time, putting himself in the No. 2 all-time spot in team history. Nyls Korstanje (5th, 19.06) and Noah Henderson (6th, 19.12) rounded out the heat for the Pack.

DIVING:

Bayne Bennett, Patrick O'Brien, and Matt Sexton represented the Pack on the men's one-meter. Bennett scored 305.45 to finish 9th, while O'Brien finished 15th (286.95) and Sexton landed in 34th (232.75). The women will be back in action on the three-meter during Thursday's prelims session.

UP NEXT:

The Pack returns to the pool on Thursday for the third day of competition at the ACC Championships. Prelims are set for a 10 a.m. start, with finals beginning at 6 p.m. The ACC Network Extra will be live all day.

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