The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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116 ■ THE WOLFPACKER petition at the USA Diving Winter National Championships. "Our upperclassmen have been through this process," Holloway noted. "They just want it. They are adding a guiding light to what they want to see, and the freshmen are just following along the trail. "A lot of these girls are really choosing to do what's right outside of the pool, and it's helping them in the pool." For Holloway, the win at USC was proof of the hard work paying dividends. "The goal was to get our girls to the next level," he said. "We set up that women's only trip to go up against a really good team. "The girls knew if we are making this big trip out there, let's go make it happen. Let's go win this thing. "Once we got up early on Southern Cal, they got a higher level of confidence each and every event. They saw what this team could achieve and it was like a snowball affect." ■ Three To Watch Senior Riki Bonnema Bonnema had a breakthrough season last year in the freestyle sprints. She won the ACC cham- pionship in the 50 free in meet-record time and followed that up with All-America honors in the race at the NCAA Championships. Bonnema owns the ACC record in the 50 free swim and is an integral part on the fastest freestyle relay teams in NC State history. Her triumph at the ACC meet also represented the first individual title for a women's swimmer under head coach Braden Holloway. Fifth-Year Senior Rachel Mumma The Pack's accomplished diver is building momentum on the one-meter board. She set a school scoring record in the event a year ago at the Nike Cup and then bettered that against UNC in a dual meet. She qualified for honorable mention All-America accolades at the NCAA Championships and competed in the World Uni - versity Games for Team USA over the summer. Mumma was the United States' best finisher in the one-meter dive. Junior Alexia Zevnik She is a strong candidate to score individual points at the NCAA Championships meet. Zevnik set school records in the 100 freestyle, 100 back- stroke, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley at last season's ACC Championships, and was All- ACC and a NCAA qualifier in the 100 and 200 backstroke swims. ■ By The Numbers 13 Wins at the meet against Southern Cal and Hawaii, out of 18 events. 12 Individual school records held by current NCSU swimmers and divers. 6 Members of last year's women's swimming and diving team that were named to the ACC All- Academic Team. ■ Key Meets • Vs. Texas, Nov. 14 — Pack swimming fans will get to see a high level of competition when the Long- horns' men's and women's teams come to Raleigh. The Texas women finished seventh at last year's NCAA Championships. • Vs. Virginia, Jan. 22 — The Cavs were the ACC's top finisher last year at the NCAA Champion- ships, placing fifth. • At North Carolina, Jan. 29 — The final meet of the regular season will be at State's archrival in Chapel Hill. UNC finished 19th at the NCAA Championships in 2015. Newcomer To Watch Lindsay Morrow — The Colorado state re- cord holder for the 4-A classification in the 100 backstroke had a strong meet for NC State when it defeated USC and Hawaii on the West Coast. Mor- row finished second in the 200 individual medley behind teammate, junior Alexia Zevnik, and fourth in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes. Fifth-year senior Rachel Mumma was an honorable mention All-American in the one-meter dive last year and has posted the best score in school history in the event. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS