North Carolina State women’s and men’s teams traveled to Princeton, New Jersey on Friday to take on the Tigers at DeNunzio Pool. The Wolfpack proved too much for their hosts; the women’ beat Princeton 190-105 while the men won, 180-113.
Women’s Meet
NC State set the tone early on with at 1-2 sweep of the medley relay. The “A” team of Alexia Zevnik (25.65), Kayla Brumbaum (28.11), Ashlyn Koletic (23.92), and Riki Bonnema (22.43) beat their teammates Hanna Freyman, Lauren Poli, Krista Duffield, and Lotta Nevalainen, 1:40.11 to 1:43.61. Princeton’s “A” relay (Shirley Wang, Olivia Chan, Elsa Welshofer, and Madelyn Veith) finished in 1:44.50, despite a very fast 23.05 split from Welshofer.
NC State’s Rachel Muller won both the 1000 and 500 free in decisive fashion. Her 10:00.49 in the 1000 was 18 seconds faster than the nearest competitor, Princeton’s Mary Kate Davis. Isabel Shipman and Reese Iriondo came in after Davis. In the 500, Muller touched in 4:55.50. Princeton’s Claire McIlmail (5:04.03) and Welshofer (5:04.21) were second and third.
The 200 free was a thriller, with the four leaders turning exactly together at the 150. NC State’s Natalie Labonge had the edge over the last 50 and got the win in 1:50.36, just 8/100 ahead of Princeton’s Nikki Larson. Labonge also won the 100 free, going 50.58. Larson was third in 51.13, a mere 1/10 behind NC State’s Nevalainen.
Zevnik racked up big points for the Wolfpack by leading 1-2-3 sweeps of both the 100 back (54.21) and 200 back (1:57.51). Wang (57.50) was the fastest Tiger in the shorter distance, while Lindsay Temple (2:04.62) led the Princeton contingent in the 200.
NC State’s Brumbaum won both breaststrokes in clear water. She went 1:02.36 in the 100, more than 3 seconds in front of teammate Poli and Princeton’s Chan, and 2:15.93 in the 200. Chan was runner-up, a full 7 seconds behind with 2:22.74.
In the 200 fly, Lydia Jones of NC State went 2:01.42 for the win. Second place went to her teammate Katelyn Linker in 2:03.84, while Princeton’s Beverly Nguyen (2:04.22) was third. The 100 fly was a much tighter race, as NC State’s Duffield touched out teammate Koletic by 1/100, 55.19 to 55.20. The Tigers’ Larson wasn’t far behind, touching in 55.59 for third.
Bonnema led a 1-2-3 Wolfpack sweep in the 50 free, winning in 22.99. The first Tiger to the wall was Veith in 23.71.
Chan (2:06.07) took home the first-place points in the 200 IM for Princeton. Addisynn Bursch (2:02.07) and Zevnik (2:03.83) of NC State swam exhibition.
Rachael Mumma from NC State won both diving events, scoring 326.25 points on 3-meter boards and 324.22 on 1-meter. Princeton’s Caitlin Chambers was runner-up both times.
The Tigers won the final 400 free relay uncontested, as NC State swam exhibition. McIlmail (52.41), Larson (51.00), Veith (51.49), and Katie Diller (51.14) combined for 3:26.04.
Final Scores
North Carolina State University 190 – 105 Princeton University
Men’s Meet
Princeton’s Class of 2015 on Senior Day against NC State, 1/9/15. Photo courtesy of Mauricio Gonzalez Aranda
The Tiger men fared no better than the women against a powerful North Carolina State squad, but they did manage two individual victories: senior diver Michael Manhard won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events with 302.47 and 316.20 points, respectively.
The Wolfpack began with a victory in the 200 medley relay, as Andreas Schiellerup (22.33), Derek Hren (24.68), Soeren Dahl (21.14), and David Williams (19.63) combined for 1:27.78. Princeton came in second with 1:28.42 from Michael Strand (22.45), Teo D’Alessandro (24.80), Connor Maher (21.18), and Julian Mackrel (19.99).
Anton Ipsen twice led a Wolfpack trio to the wall; first in the 1000 with 9:01.99, then in the 500 with 4:24.86. Teammates Austin Snyder (9:19.44) and Adam Linker (9:20.30) trailed Ipsen in the 1000 and Princeton’s Zach Ridout (9:53.43) was fourth. Linker (4:33.75) and Alex Hamilton (4:38.89) were second and third in the 500, while Lance Rutkin (4:43.92) scored first for Princeton.
NC State’s Dahl took the 200 free in 1:37.24 with a very strong second half. Princeton’s D’Alessandro came in second with 1:38.64. Dahl finished second in the 100 free to teammate Ryan Held, 44.58 to 45.15. Alexander Lewis was the fastest Tiger in that race at 46.32.
Hennessy Stuart of NC State won both the 100 and 200 backstroke events. At 47.94, his 100 was .05 faster than that of his teammate, Schiellerup. Princeton’s Michael Strand slipped in at third with 49.43. The 200 saw Stuart come out ahead of teammate Stephen Coetzer, 1:46.14 to 1:47.85. Maher of Princeton had a nice second half, coming from behind to take third place with 1:49.02.
The Wolfpack’s Hren took home both breaststroke victories. He went 55.48 to Byron Sanborn of Princeton’s 56.29 in the 100, and 2:02.72 to Brett Usinger’s 2:03.92 in the 200.
In the fly, NC State’s Christian McCurdy placed first in the 200 and second in the 100. He blew the field away with his third 50 in the 200, touching in 1:46.18 to Corey Okubo of Princeton’s second-place 1:48.36. In the 100, McCurdy took it out but couldn’t hold on; teammate Dahl outsplit him by .5 over the second 50 and won 48.55 to 48.64. D’Alessandro went 50.44 to place fourth for Princeton. McCurdy also had the fastest 400 IM of the afternoon, going 3:53.04 in exhibition. Okubo’s 3:54.34 scored the first-place points for the Tigers.
The Princeton quartet of Ben Schafer (20.92), Maher (20.06), Lewis (20.41), and Mackrel (19.97) won the 200 free relay, although they finished second to exhibitioning Held, Schiellerup, Scott Johnson, and Williams, 1:20.81 to 1:21.36.
Final Scores
North Carolina State University 180 – 113 Princeton University
No Bilis?
Photo Credit Mauricio Gonzalez Aranda