The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1481002
46 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Competition Elevates Men's Program Like the Wolfpack women's team, the men's squad has a returning national champ in the 100 backstroke. Senior Kacper Stokowski claimed his first NCAA title last March and will be look- ing to build on that performance this coming season. "I think the next step for Kacper is to get more well-rounded in three events," Holloway said. "He was the champion in the 100, but we need to get his 200 backstroke up closer to where his 100 is, and he needs to develop a third event so we can use him better at the NCAA Championships. "He's pretty big on medley relays. The next step is to take that success in the 100 and try to implement it in a more well-rounded area." Holloway said he expects the Wolf- pack to be strong again in the relays and distance freestyle events. Three of the team's veterans — senior Ross Dant and juniors Will Gallant and James Plage — were among a contingent of seven Wolfpack swimmers who were named to the USA Swimming National Team in September. "Those three guys are leading a pretty good group of distance freestylers who scored big points for us at the confer- ence level but also scored a lot of points for us at the NCAA level," Holloway said. "That's a big area for us." Gallant had a noteworthy summer af- ter placing second in the 1,650 freestyle at NCAAs last March. At the Phillips 66 National Championships in California this past July, he finished the 1,500-me- ter freestyle race in 14:57.08 to win the event. It was the third-fastest time by any American swimmer this year, and the Indiana transfer credited his train- ing partners at NC State for his success. "It's a very good group," Gallant said, citing Dant, Plage and junior Owen Lloyd. "It gets competitive in practice — we're always there battling it out." As with the women's team, there is an abundance of veteran returnees on the men's side who are expected to help bring the younger swimmers along and keep the program's recent success going. "I think we have a lot of senior lead- ership this year," Holloway said. "I would say we're a team that's got a lit- tle bit of everything. Each class has its pocket where they really help the pro- gram. Where one class may be a little bit weaker in some area, another class fills in the gap." One of the keys to the team's success, Holloway said, is the high level of com- petition within the program. "I think with the training group that those guys have, if you're off a day in training, you'll get beat," he said. "They keep elevating each other." ■ Under coach Braden Holloway's leadership, the Wolfpack has won nine ACC swimming and diving titles — seven by the men and two by the women. The men are No. 4 and the women No. 5 in the preseason national rankings. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS Senior Kacper Stokowski claimed his first NCAA title last season, winning the 100-yard backstroke to pace the Wolfpack men to a fourth-place team showing. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS