NC State vs. Georgia vs. Duke
- Nov. 3-4, 2023
- Willis R. Carey Aquatic Center
- SCY (25 yards)
- Meet the results
- Team points
- Men:
- No. 5 NC State 151.5, No. 10 Georgia 148.5
- No. 5 NC State 246, Duke 53
- No. 10 Georgia 243, Duke 56
- Women:
- No. 14 Georgia 161, No. 5 NC State 137
- No. 5 NC State 151, No. 16 Duke 149
- No. 14 Georgia 155, No. 16 Duke 143
- Men:
NC State senior Luke Miller shut down a few eye-popping bests to lead the men of No. 5 Wolfpack in a 151.5-148.5 victory over No. 10 at Georgia on Friday night.
NC State also crushed Duke, 246-53, as part of a dual meet, while No. 14 Georgia women posted solid wins against No. 5 NC State (161-137) and No. 16 Duke (155- 143). The Blue Devil women had a strong showing, taking on the Bulldogs and Wolfpack (151-149 loss) down to the final stretch.
Let’s start with Miller: The sprint specialist started his day with a 19.99 butterfly split on NC State’s victorious 200 medley relay (1:23.61) and Quintin McCarty (21.21 backstroke), Sam Hoover (23.66 Breaststroke), and Drew Salls (18.75 freestyle). Only Arizona State has been faster in the event so far this season (1:22.37).
After that, Miller was arrested along with his teammate Noah Henderson first in the 50 free, touching in a time of 19.18 that ranked 2nd in the NCAA behind Jack Dolan (19.02). Miller advanced in each of her races with a nation-leading time of 44.17 in the 100 fly, dropping a few tenths off her previous bests in both the 100 fly and 50 free from March. She finished her session with a 41.46 anchor on the Wolfpack’s 400 free relay (2:49.50), registering the fastest split in the field.
The Wolfpack men won the 1000 free, sweeping the field thankfully Lance Norris (8:51.60), Owen Lloyd (8:53, 42) and Ross Dant (8:55, 17). Norris and Lloyd are now ranked 4th and 5th in the NCAA, respectively, behind Dant’s third-place 8:51.33 from earlier this season.
There were many bright spots for the Georgia men during their close loss in Raleigh. Jake Magahey posted a 4:15.07 500 free which ranks 2nd in the NCAA back Leon Marchand (4:14.34) while throwing down a personal best of 1:43.88 in the 200 fly, which ranks 6th in the NCAA this season. The 2021 NCAA champion in the 500 free, Magahey saw dramatic improvement in the 200 fly this season. He entered his senior season this fall with a lifetime best of 1:47.12 from 2019 and went 1:45.37 last week.
Georgia freshman Thomas Koskithe younger brother of the former Bulldog All-American Matias Koski, made his stamp on the show early on. He swam 1:33.71 in the 200 free, a new lifetime best (previous was 1:33.85 from March at the team meet).
He is starting to develop some of that range that his older brother is known for, and is now ranked 3rd in the NCAA this season in back. Rafael Miroslaw (Indiana – 1:33.42) and Julian Hill (Arizona State – 1:33.51).
Second Georgia Ruard van Renen, a transfer from Southern Illinois who was the leading mid-major scorer at the NCAAs last season, recorded the second-fastest 100 back time at the NCAAs this season with a winning time of 45.19. He is now ranked 5th in program history.
The other top 5 times this season came with the fifth year Bulldogs Ian Groom in 200 back (1:40.27, No. 4 in NCAA), junior Reese Branzell in the 100 free (42.55, No. 4 in the NCAA), and the fifth year Zach Hills in the 200 IM (1:44.85, No. 5 in the NCAA).
Women’s Recap
Fresh from winning two gold medals and a silver for Team USA at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, the Georgia junior. Rachel Stege earned the 500 free title in 4:44.86 while also placing third in the 1000 free (9:47.15) behind the Bulldog junior Abby McCullough (9:43.71) and Dune Coetzee (9:42, 19). Coetzee’s season best of 9:35.69 in the 1000 free ranks 5th in the NCAA this season and Stege’s season best of 9:37.37 ranks 6th.
Stege leads a resurgent Georgia women’s freestyle team reminiscent of those who led the program to seven NCAA titles (including those where the head coach. Stefanie Williams-Moreno he was a member of the group).
It also included a win in the 200 by Coetzee (1:47.20, beating Duke star Sally Foley in 1:47.70) as a freshman. Helena Jones In the 100 free (49.00), the Bulldog women won all but one of the freestyle events at the meet. They too to be ruled 400 free relay in 3:17.96, with NC State 2nd in 3:20.00 – more than two seconds behind. The Georgia relay included a lead leg of 49.18 from Jones.
Jones’s 100 free was a career best, though he had a 48.12 relay split from the Arizona State meet. He came out of high school with a personal best time of 49.04, and has been knocking on the door of that swim until his big win this weekend.
Georgia for the fifth year Zoe Hartman moved on to victory in the 200 IM with a time of 1:57.79, which ranked her No. 6 in the NCAA this season.
NC State’s women were led by seniors Katharine Berkoff, who earned first place in the 100 back (51.84) and 50 free (22.56). His season bests in the 100 back and 50 free are 50.83 and 22.34, respectively. That 50 free win was the only freestyle event Georgia did not win.
The Duke women got off to a hot start with a win in the 200 medley relay (1:38.75) while also picking up individual wins in both the breaststroke and butterfly events. Kaelyn Gridley led the way by sweeping the 100 breast (1:00.56) and 200 breast (2:11.05), placing 6th at NCAAs last season as a freshman (2:06.26). A Turkish official Aleyna Ozkan won the 100 fly (52.94), second Martina Peroni touched 1st in the 200 fly (1:58.30), and Ali Pfaff brought home the win in the 200 back (1:56.47) for the Blue Devils.
Duke and Georgia will get a rematch with the Wolfpack in a few weeks at the NC State Invite starting Nov. 16-18 at the Greenboro Aquatic Center.
