NC State Dominates Friday Finals with Five ACC Championship Titles
2/18/2022 10:14:00 PM | Swimming
ATLANTA, GA. – The NC State Wolfpack absolutely dominated night four of the 2022 ACC Championships, picking up five Conference Championship titles, one relay silver, and two bronze medals.
Looking ahead to the final day of competition, the Pack men lead the way by 193 points over second place Louisville. The Wolfpack women picked up big points to make up lost ground. The NC State women sit 35.5 points behind the Virginia Cavaliers.Â
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200 BUTTERFLY:
Sophomore Abby Arens brought the energy for the Wolfpack during the first event of Friday's Finals session. She put together an ACC Championship winning time of 1:54.11 which stands as a lifetime best time and stands as the fastest time in NC State program history. Freshmen twins Grace Sheble and Caroline Sheble joined her in tonight's event with Grace finishing sixth (1:55.50) and Caroline finishing 20th (1:58.24).
Freshman standout Aiden Hayes continued the momentum with his third place finish in the 200-yard butterfly. His time of 1:40.39 automatically qualifies him for NCAA Championships and is now logged as the second fastest performance in school history. Noah Bowers finished just off of the podium in fourth place with a new personal best time of 1:41.91 and Noah Henderson hung on for sixth with his time of 1:42.36, just .10 off of the fastest time of his career. Luke Miller scored big points in the B Final with his best time of 1:41.40.
100 BACKSTROKE:
Katharine Berkoff garnered three-peat status in the 100-yard backstroke with the victorious time of 49.41 earning her four records - a pool record, ACC Championship Meet Record, ACC Conference Record and an NC State Progran Record. Kylee Alons narrowly missed the podium with her 51.15 fourth place finish for fourth all-time in NC State program history.Â
Emma Muzzy and Katey Lewicki blasted it from the B and C Finals, both of them winning their respected heat. Muzzy swam 51.82 and Lewicki 52.87, both marking as best times and earning spots on NC State's top-ten record book.
Kacper Stokowski was the only man breaking 45 seconds with his time of 44.74, earning him the ACC Championship title. The finish makes his victory occurrence the second in a row with his gold medal finish of 44.82 at last year's ACC Championships. Hunter Tapp contributed by points with his fifth place finish (46.18).
100 BREASTSTROKE:
Sophie Hansson remains supreme in the 100 breaststroke, earring the fourth title in a row in the event. Her time of 56.72 aquired a new pool record, ACC Championship Record, ACC Conference Record, and a Program Record for the Pack. Andrea Podmanikova joined Hansson on the podium for third place, breaking the 58 second barrier for the first time for the second fastest time in school history (57.90). Heather MacCausland swam her way to fifth place (59.47) and senior Maddie Smith recorded a new best time from the B Final for 12th (1:00.61).Â
On the men's side, Rafal Kusto put together a 51.86 finish, earning him a new NC State School Record and ninth place. If he swam in the A Final, his time would have placed him in the fifth spot. Freshman Arsenio Bustos put up a 52.77 to take 12th and 4th in program history.
400 MEDLEY RELAY:
Katharine Berkoff (49.75), Sophie Hansson (56.96), Kylee Alons (49.80), and Abbey Webb (48.27) put up the second fastest time in program history with their second place finishing time of 3:24.78.Â
The Pack men capped off the night with an ACC Championship title in the 400 medley relay (3:01.88). Kacper Stokowski (44.39). Rafal Kusto (51.55), Nyls Korstanje (44.52), and Sam Hoover (41.42) put together the second fastest time in program history, with Hoover making up ground and out-touching Louisville by .14 of a second.
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DIVING:
Patrick O'Brien, Matt Sexton, and Bayne Bennett competed in the men's platform event to wrap up the men's diving portion of the Championship. Patrick O'Brien finished with 280.10 points taking 16th. Matt Sexton claimed 18th with a score of 276.60 points and Bayne Bennett scored 250.95 points for 23rd.
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UP NEXT:
The Wolfpack men and women return on Saturday for the final day of competition with prelims beginning at 10 a.m. and finals starting at 6 p.m. Mile heats are slate to start at 3:30 p.m. The ACC Network Extra is set to cover the full day of competition.
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