After beating Princeton men’s and women’s teams on Friday, NC State headed west for dual meets at Villanova in Philadelphia on Saturday. There the Wolfpack men beat their hosts 170-85, while the women prevailed 173.5-87.5 over the Wildcats. Results here.
NC State women kicked things off with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay: Lotta Nevalainen (27.08), Ashlyn Koletic (29.86) Lydia Jones (25.98), and Natalie Labonge (23.05) were first to the wall in 1:45.97. The Wolfpack quartet of Soeren Dahl (24.05), Derek Hren (25.33), Andreas Schiellerup (22.00), and Scott Johnson (20.60) won the men’s contest in 1:31.98.
Rachel Muller won the 1000 free for the Wolfpack, touching in 10:16.98; Villanova’s Emily Mayo (10:23.06) and Caitlin Daday (10:27.94) finished second and third. Christian McCurdy (9:34.85) led a 1-2-3 Wolfpack finish in the men’s race. Harrison Rodts was the fastest Wildcat in the heat.
Alexia Zevnik of NC State won both the 200 free (1:52.63) and the 100 free (50.72). The 200 was a particularly exciting race, with the top three finishers touching nearly simultaneously; in fact, Katrin Heider of Villanova and Addisynn Bursch did come in together, tying for second place with 1:52.99 each. Zevnik’s 100 free was more straightforward, as she won with a half-second margin. David Williams won the men’s 200 free in 1:40.65 over Wolfpack teammate Anton Ipsen (1:41.90).
Koletic placed first in the 100 back with 56.09 and was first to the wall with 2:07.17 in the 200 IM, although she swam the latter as exhibition. Her teammate Stephen Coetzer won the men’s race in 50.76. The top Wildcat finishers were Gabrielle Daigneault and Michael Rodriguez. Daigneault was again third in the 200 back with 2:06.10; NC State’s Nevalainen won the event in 2:04.28. In the men’s race, Rodriguez finished first among Wildcat swimmers but was fifth overall. Ryan Wilkinson placed first with 1:50.39.
Kayla Brumbaum and Hren were the 100 breast winners with respective times of 1:03.62 and 56.70. Villanova’s Olivia Cacciatore and Tyler Nussbaum led their respective teammates’ efforts. In the 200, NC State’s Bursch won the women’s event with 2:24.40 while Adam Linker placed first among the men, going 2:12.99. His teammate Ben Cono, swimming exhibition, logged the fastest time with 2:07.72. Cacciatore’s 2:29.78 and Tony Sipala’s 2:16.11 were the Wildcats’ top efforts.
The 200 fly went to NC State’s Lydia Jones (2:04.71) and Austin Snyder (1:53.56). Mackenzie Niness (2:09.31) and Jake Hoin (2:02.92) each placed third for the Wildcats. The 100 fly was one of the more exciting women’s races of the day. Fiona Hardie of Villanova used an excellent back half to overpower NC State’s Lauren Poli, 58.43 to 58.55. With NC State’s men swimming exhibition, Villanova’s Murphy Smith scored in the top spot with 55.08. The fastest time belonged to NC State’s Williams (50.09).
Wolfpack teammates Riki Bonnema (23.56) and Johnson (21.12) won the women’s and men’s 50 free, respectively. Without diving events to break up the sprint races, it was a different duo at the top of the 100 free: Zevnik (50.72) and Dahl (45.93). Dahl won his race by .03 over teammate Schiellerup.
In the 500 free, Muller and Mayo traded stroke for stroke for 20 laps. Muller touched first in 4:57.40, with Mayo just behind in 4:57.68. Villanova’s Daday (5:06.53) and Christine Sullivan (5:10.36) were next. Greg Cino of Villanova won the men’s event in 5:00.81, with NC State’s Alex Hamilton (4:39.02), McCurdy (4:42.14), and Noah Franz (4:52.63) swimming exhibition.
Wildcat Sara Jurek out-touched teammate Daigneault to win the 200 IM, 2:10.12 to 2:10.58. Koletic’s 2:07.17 exhibition swim was the top time. Villanova’s Nussbaum went 2:05.94 to earn 9 points in the men’s race, while the Wolfpack’s Coetzer won the heat in 1:51.65.
Scores – Women
North Carolina State University 173.5 – 87.5 Villanova University
Scores – Men
North Carolina State University 170 – 85 Villanova University