The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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40 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER t the end of night three of the NCAA Men's Swim- ming and Diving Cham- p i o n s h i p s, N C S ta te stood in sixth place. The top four receive a plat- form finish, which results in bringing home a tro- phy for the program. The Pack was going to have to rally on the last night of the meet to claim hard- ware, and on the first finals of the day, a statement was made that nearly culmi- nated with NC State getting onto the po- dium. I n t h e 1 ,6 5 0 - yard freestyle, also known as the mile, junior Will Gallant swam the fastest time, winning the event in 14:28.94. S e c o n d fa s te s t ? His teammate, se- nior Ross Dant at 1 4 : 3 0. 3 2 . J u n i o r Owen Lloyd (11th place) also added to the team's total. Then in the final individual race of the night, sophomore Aiden Hayes rallied for a national title in the 200 butterfly, with his senior teammate Noah Bowers not far behind in sixth place. Just like that, NC State had vaulted into fourth place, but Indiana's strong diving program loomed in the ensuing platform dive. The Hoosiers took first and third in- dividually and inched ahead of the Wolf- pack by 9.5 points. All that was left was the 400-freestyle relay, and NC State would need to finish five spots higher than Indiana. The Pack came in fourth, two places ahead of the Hoosiers, and a mere 4.5 points away from a platform finish. Nevertheless, the fifth-place showing capped yet another huge season for head coach Braden Holloway, who has seen his men's program place in the top five in six of the past seven NCAA meets. The Wolf- pack also won a second consecutive ACC title and its eighth in nine years. The two individual national titles com- bined with the 200-medley relay quartet that opened the NCAA meet with a cham- pionship to give the Wolfpack its most NCAA triumphs in one meet since 2018. As a result, the swimming and diving team is honored as The Wolfpacker's Male Team Of The Year. Other notable performances from the year including wrestling winning a fifth straight ACC title and the basketball squad returning to the NCAA Tourna- ment after a five-year absence. However, along with women's cross country, NC State's men's swimming and diving program has become the most nationally elite team on campus. What's impressive is how Holloway's program continues to set new hallmarks. This year was the 1-2 finish by Gallant and Dant. The duo are primarily coached by legendary swimming mentor Mark Bernardino, who was selected to the 2023 class of the American Swim Coaches As- sociation Hall of Fame in April. During his tenure as head coach at Virginia, Bernardino had six individual NCAA champions and 13 Olympians. He is now the associate swimming and diving coach for NC State. "He's coached national champions four straight decades," Holloway noted. "That was a big moment of going first and sec- ond. He's never had that. Will and Ross took pride in that with Mark." The long-distance swimmers stood out on this year's team. Dant made the A- finals (top eight swimmers from prelims) of the 500 freestyle, while Gallant was in the B-finals. Junior James Plage just missed the cut in that race and was only two places away from scoring in the mile. "There are days where James beats them all," Holloway noted. "They come in every day knowing that, 'OK, we're go- ing at it. I have to be good today or I don't have a chance to win in practice.'" In addition to the long-distance swim- m i n g , N C S ta te showcased its ver- satility by setting p o o l a n d N CA A meet records in the 200 medley relay. Senior backstroke a ce K a c p e r S to - kowski, fifth-year senior breaststroke spec ialist Maso n Hunter, senior but- terfly swimmer Nyls Korstanje and soph- omore freestyler sprinter David Curtiss combined for a blistering time of 1:20.67, which would have also qualified for the American record had all four swimmers been U.S. citizens. Stokowski would later finish second in the 100 backstroke in his attempt to re- peat as national champion. He also quali- fied for the A-finals in the 200 version of the race. He has decided to return for another season with the Wolfpack, using the extra year of eligibility provided by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hayes enjoyed a breakout in the butter- fly races, capturing the NCAA title in the 200 and finishing sixth in the 100. The 2023 NCAA meet was a continu- ation of NC State's excellence in men's swimming, and there is unlikely to be a drop-off ahead. Holloway has already secured com- mitments from the nation's No. 1 (Kaii Winkler from Miami) and No. 2 (Daniel Diehl from Cumberland, Md.) swimmers in the 2024 class, according to Swim- Swam.com. ■ Sophomore Aiden Hayes won a national crown in the 200-yard butterfly, helping lift the Wolfpack to a fifth-place team finish at the NCAA Championships. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS A 2022-23 YEAR IN REVIEW TEAMS OF THE YEAR MALE TEAM OF THE YEAR STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE NC State Men's Swimming And Diving Maintains Elite Status