The Pack swimming and diving team blew the East Carolina Pirates out of the water Wednesday night at Casey Natatorium, jumping out to an early advantage and never letting go.
‘East Carolina is a good program, one of the tops in their conference. I’m sure they’re tired and training hard,’ head coach Brooks Teal said. ‘We were expecting a bit of a closer meet, but I was impressed with how we came out and raced hard from the very beginning, which was something we really stressed.’
The women finished with a final score of 145-91 and improved to 6-1 on the season. The men’s team recovered from a disappointing loss against Georgia Tech last weekend and put together a 151-80 win, bringing it to 4-1 overall.
Junior Dan Forsythe, who helped his 200 yard medley relay team to a win, said as the evening progressed, any frustration left over from the Georgia Tech meet evaporated.
‘We were really disappointed with the result on Saturday, but obviously this was a good meet for us and we’re going to try and turn it around,’ Forsythe said. ‘We’re looking forward to getting a little rest in a few weeks for ACCs. Everyone’s feeling good and overall, the attitude is positive.’
Freshman Hudson Rains won both the one- and three-meter dives with scores of 310.65 and 351.90, respectively. Freshman Hannah Hopkins won the women’s three-meter dive while freshman Kirstyn Shepler took third place.
Senior Patrice Dason tied the eighth-fastest 100 backstroke time in school history with a 57.57 and won her race. Even though it isn’t one of her usual events, Teal said she has been focusing on it lately.
Dason called her personal best time ‘exciting.’
‘I haven’t swum the 100 back in a while but I know it’s one of the events I’m going to be swimming at ACCs, so it was great to go out there and get my best time ever,’ Dason said. ‘It felt really good this time.’
The Pack won both 200-medley relays and free relays, with Morgan Robertson, Anna Linkenauger, Dason and Ashley Richter clocking in at 1:44.13 for the women’s medley and Ben Mechak, Forsythe, Mike Seiferth and Conor Brennan finishing 1:34.06.
State’s women’s team has made a habit this season of beating teams that have given them trouble in the past. The Pack’s female swimmers tied Georgia Tech at ACCs last season, but won all but one event last weekend. State last faced ECU Oct. 20, 2007, and suffered a 174-124 loss while the men beat the Pirates convincingly.
This one, however, wasn’t even close for either party. According to Dason, everyone on her team is ‘on their A-game right now.’
‘I can not even explain how exciting this year is. Everyone is so confident,’ Dason said. ‘They’re put into an event, and they could be switched into another event without knowing it, but they do what they have to do to win.’
Teal said this willingness to work has led to one of the most promising Januarys in recent memory for both teams.
‘In past seasons, we have swum very well through November and then struggled in January,’ Teal said. ‘This is a credit to the kids; they’re working very hard.’
State will host Clemson this Saturday at 11 a.m.
‘It’s a good motivational boost,’ Forsythe said. ‘It’ll give us some momentum going into this weekend. Hopefully we can carry that through.’ ‘
