It was a quiet bus ride home for the men's and women's swimming teams on Friday night, as both squads lost to North Carolina State.
The Wolfpack women defeated Duke 150-91, and N.C. State's men prevailed 150-87 in the dual meets in Raleigh.
"We had some good swims," senior Janet Jenkin said. "But our fatigue showed at the end of the meet."
The Blue Devils may have come home with a loss, but a few of Duke's swimmers were successful in the meet. Leslie King, a freshmen from Maryland, won the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 10:39. Junior Susan Kresel emerged victorious in the 200 freestyle, and she also won the 100 freestyle.
Peter Mackrill, a senior diver from Oslo, Norway, qualified for NCAAs by scoring 290.4 points--barely surpassing the necessary total of 290 points. Mackrill was pleasantly surprised that he qualified this early in the season, and he now plans to set his sights on the Atlantic Coast Conference meet in February.
"This will really take the pressure off of me for the rest of the dual meet season," Mackrill said.
The Blue Devils were not void of exceptional performances as the score might suggest. Junior James Martens, who did not compete last year due to a shoulder surgery, came back shining. Martens achieved personal bests in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events.
Sophomore Lisa Pohl made a substantial improvement in her 200 backstroke, dropping six seconds from her performance at the Old Dominion meet two weekends ago.
Sophomore Randy Savino swam the 200 butterfly for the first time at this competition, placing fifth in a time of 2:24.
"It's really a good starting point for me," Savino said.
Although the Blue Devils were unable to come away with team victories this weekend, Duke's swimmers felt that the N.C. State meet provided them with valuable experience.
"It was good to be exposed to the ACC for the first time," Jenkin said. "It was good for the freshmen to see what they will be up against at the end of the year."
The men's and women's teams will hit the road again this weekend when they travel to Maryland. The women are now 1-1 (0-1 in the ACC) and the men are 0-2 (0-1 in the conference).
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