The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1493632
10 ■ THE WOLFPACKER MATT CARTER T he NC State men's swimming and diving team is the powerhouse of the ACC, but even by the Wolfpack's lofty standards what the squad accom- plished in Greensboro, N.C., during the conference title meet Feb. 14-18 was his- toric. The team broke its own record set a year ago by tallying 1,615 points — a whopping 607 points ahead of Virginia Tech, which came in second with 1,008. The men's team captured 10 event ti- tles and 11 additional medals on its way to winning the conference championship for the eighth time in the past nine years. The depth of the team was on display in the relays, where NC State swept all five races, including establishing an ACC re- cord in the 400-yard medley, which com- bines all four strokes, each at a distance of 100 yards. Five different swimmers also took home individual titles. That included sopho- more Arsenio Bustos setting a meet record by winning the 200 individual medley (IM) in a time of 1:40.31, which was the second-fastest in school history. Super senior Giovanni Izzo was third in that race as well as in the 100 backstroke. Bustos was part of the No. 1 swimming recruiting class in the country in 2021, and one of his classmates also won his first league title. Sophomore Aiden Hayes took first in the 200 butterfly, and like Bustos, he did so with the second-fastest time for the race in school history. Hayes also took second place in the 100 butterfly. Defending 100 backstroke national champion Kacper Stokowski, a senior, won his third consecutive ACC title in the race. Stokowski also swam leadoff legs for the 200 and 400 medley relay teams, both of which took first place, and he was second in the 200 backstroke. NC State also dominated the distance freestyle swims. Four of the top eight swimmers in the 500 were Wolfpackers, led by junior James Plage, who won the conference title after finishing second in the meet a year ago. Junior Will Gallant, who was fourth be- hind Plage in the 500, took first place in the 1,650 freestyle. Senior Ross Dant was third, and junior Owen Lloyd was fifth. Plage came in seventh. Other notable performances included senior Mason Hunter setting an NC State record while finishing third in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 51.57 seconds. Hunter was on both medley-winning re- lay teams. Seniors Bartosz Piszczorowicz (200 free) and Noah Bowers (200 butterfly) took second in their respective events and helped the 800 freestyle relay team capture first place. Junior Luke Miller was on four of five relay teams and nearly notched medals in the 100 and 200 freestyle events and the 200 butterfly, finishing fourth in each of those races. On the women's side, NC State fin- ished second to top-ranked Virginia for the fourth consecutive season. Junior Abby Arens (200 butterfly), se- nior Katharine Berkoff (100 backstroke) and freshman Kennedy Noble (200 back- stroke) all took home individual titles. Berkoff is the two-time defending NCAA champion in her marquee race. She was also third in the 100 freestyle and fourth in the 50 free. The teams will now begin to taper for the NCAA Championships. The women will head to Knoxville March 15-18, and on March 22-25 the men will be in Min- neapolis. The Wolfpack women have fin- ished second and fifth the past two years at nationals, while the men's team has been fourth in six of the past eight NCAA meets. ■ T R A C K I N G THE PACK Wolfpack Men Cruise To Title At ACC Swimming And Diving Meet Coach Braden Holloway (right) received the ACC championship trophy from league commissioner Jim Phillips (left) after leading NC State to its eighth conference crown in the past nine years. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS