NC State Lands Key Verbal Commit from NCAP Sprinter Katie Mack

Katie Mack of Nation’s Capital Swim Club (NCAP) has verbally committed to the NC State Wolfpack.

Mack is a key pickup for NC State, a pure sprint freestyler with impactful talent across every other stroke/discipline but breaststroke.

TOP TIMES

• 50y free – 22.60
• 100y free – 49.06
• 200y free – 1:47.93
• 100y back – 53.96
• 200y back – 1:56.94
• 100y fly – 54.17
• 200y IM – 1:59.61
• 400y IM – 4:15.16

For how strong of a sprint freestyler she is, Mack is also a valuable backstroker and IM’er and a strong 100 butterflier, too. A true Swiss army knife of a swimmer, Mack could prove to be an asset across a large number of different events and relay legs. Her solid times in the 200 free and 400 IM suggest an important level of endurance, too.

Mack would’ve scored in the C final in the 50 free at the 2018 ACC Championships, though the spread was pretty tight — 6th in prelims was a 22.31, while 24th was 22.70. She would’ve actually been a B finalist in the 400 IM and 100 free at the 2018 meet, in addition to a C finalist in the 200 free, 100 fly, 200 IM, and 200 back.

The NC State women just lost top sprinter Courtney Caldwell, who transferred to USC, and were hampered by 2017 graduations and an injured Ky-lee Perry. It showed, as the Wolfpack women went from 2017 200 and 400 free relay champions to finishing just 5th and 7th, respectively, in 2018. Only two women broke 49 on their 400 free relay, while there were no sub-22 splits on their 200 free relay in 2018. Moreover, sprinters Lexie Lupton and Elise Haan are both set to exhaust their NCAA eligibility after this season.

Thus, Mack projects to be a really important pickup for NC State, not just in terms of her individual scoring capabilities, but perhaps more so for her relay potential. She will get to train with Perry and Vasiliki Baka for a year, Sirena Rowe and Olivia Calegan for two, and 2018 freshman Kylee Alons for three.

Mack joins Parker Timken, Elle Giesler, Faith Hefner, Kay Foley, and Maddy Flickinger in the NC State class of 2023.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].