The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1389905
JULY/AUGUST 2021 ■ 53 enough to rank with the best of the best. "It's definitely a high-end class for sure," SwimSwam.com's Jared Anderson said. "… I'd be pretty surprised if they were out- side the top three classes nationally." NC State head coach Braden Holloway's remarkable rebuild of the Wolfpack's pro- gram from the bottom of the ACC to the nation's elite, with four straight top-four finishes at the NCAA Championships prior to this year, was done on the strength of a group of fast sprinters that could add valu- able relay points to the mix. This class, in a way, is a return to those roots for Holloway. Aidan Hayes (the top-ranked prospect in SwimSwam's rankings), Sam Hoover (No. 7) and Garrett Boone (No. 18) all fit the profile of valuable relay performers given their success in the 100 and 200 freestyle swims. So does international signee Noe Ponti from Switzerland, while Arsenio Bus- tos (No. 12) brings coveted versatility. David Curtiss (No. 11) is a potentially elite-level freestyle sprinter and finished sixth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100-meter free (high schools and colleges compete in yards, not meters). Curtiss, a native of Yardley, Pa., broke the national high school record for the 50 free by swimming it in 19.11 seconds. Hayes, from Norman, Okla., is the headliner of the class. He broke 2016 Olympic gold medal-winning Joseph Schooling's high school national re- cord for the 100 butterfly, and his time of 19.20 seconds in the 50 freestyle at the Oklahoma state championship meet was nearly good enough to qualify for the A-finals at this year's NCAA Championships. Boone is a Charlotte native who has a good backstroke in addition to his free- style prowess. He was the state of North Carolina's Outstanding Male Swimmer at the 4-A state meet after winning titles in the 50 free and 100 backstroke this year. Then there is Ponti, who already holds Switzerland's national record in both the 100 and 200 butterfly plus the 800 freestyle. "Looking at his times, he would be in the range of a top 10 recruit, definitely," Ander- son said of Ponti. "His sprint freestyles up to the 200 are really good. He's going to be another guy that does the relays early. "He might be a butterflier who swims all the free relays, because his 200 butterfly is really good." ■ Male Coach Of The Year: Elliott Avent, Baseball There's probably a hundred different reasons why baseball coach Elliott Avent is considered the 2020- 21 NC State Male Coach of the Year, but this one should be near the top of the list. On Saturday night, June 26, after the most confusing, disappointing and infuriating day in NC State athletics history, Avent was on the bus from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Doak Field at Dail Park, with staff and players, each of them carrying the weight of being booted from the College World Series in the middle of the night with little in the way of explanation. It could have been like a scene from "Bull Durham," a desolate and dark parking lot with a few parents and girlfriends sitting on the hoods of their cars awaiting a sulking team's arrival. Instead, someone told Avent that nearly 2,000 Wolfpack fans were lined up to greet the team, in a community show of support. Avent could have told the staff at the field to back all those fans away onto a crowded side street and do a quick ride by with a few waves of the hands, to keep the fans away from his disappointed team. Instead, he told the athletics staff on hand to throw open the gates, turn on the lights and let every fan find a comfortable seat in the stadium where his team plays. Standing on the field, Avent and his team basked in the celebration of a championship that wasn't. He said a few words, then let everyone who wanted to address the crowd. It was a scene reminiscent of Reynolds Coliseum greeting the 1974 and '83 men's basketball championship teams. That Avent — four wins shy of 900 wins in his NC State career with a total of 1,120 overall — has been through hell and back the last two years has been well-chronicled, losing close friends and family. That his team was denied a chance to play for the College World Series title is written about in detail on other pages of this issue. What should always be remembered is that for every disappointment, Avent and his team had an answer in the unusual COVID-shortened season. After the coach lost his father, Jack, in January, his team lost eight of its first nine ACC games. However, the Pack bounced back in the latter half of the season when it appeared that it wouldn't qualify for the ACC Championships, much less an NCAA Regional. Not only did the Wolfpack make it to the ACCs, it played in the title game, losing a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to Duke. It swept through the NCAA Ruston (La.) Region, only to face No. 1 Arkansas in the NCAA Fayetteville (Ark.) Super Regional. After losing the opening game 21-2, it appeared the most unusual season would quickly end. Two one-run victories later — the second over one of college baseball's most successful pitchers, Kevin Kopps — and the Pack was headed to Omaha for the third College World Series appearance in program history. After beating Stanford in the opener and Vanderbilt star pitcher Jack Leiter in the second game, the Pack was in prime position to make its first appearance in the championship series. That's when all hell broke loose. However, it didn't detract from how Avent pulled his team through difficult circumstances all season long — and how, when it all came to an end, the first people he thought of were the fans that have been support- ive of him throughout his quarter cen- tury as head coach of his alma mater. — Tim Peeler Avent guided the Wolfpack baseball team to the program's third appearance in the College World Series and had it on the verge of reaching the championship series before a COVID outbreak prematurely ended its season. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS