The Wolfpacker

September 2017

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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22 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK "I just say this as humbly as possible, it didn't surprise me. I've been playing against these guys since high school. I played them in college. They knew what I was capable of, and I knew what I was capable of as well. So I just went out there and was playing my game." ■ Former NC State point guard Dennis Smith Jr. on playing well in the NBA's Las Vegas summer league in July (The New York Daily News) "I think the last year has been a pretty big roller-coaster ride for him. It was kind of a weird time after Rio, because you come from the pinnacle of swimming, but the cool thing was it allowed him to focus more on just the team and not have as much pressure individually." — NC State swimming coach Braden Holloway on the junior year of star Olympic swimmer Ryan Held (The Raleigh News & Observer) "If NC State can turn even one of 2016's close losses into a W and avoid a head- scratching toe stub on the order of its 21-14 home loss to Boston College, it's hard to imagine 2017 not being [head coach Dave] Doeren's most fruitful campaign in Raleigh to date." — Writer Chris Johnson on picking NC State as one of his five sleepers in college football (SI.com) "Most football players are used to running 40 yards at a time, but with track you learn to play through that and run longer and faster as time goes on. Football helps track in that you have a next-play-up mentality. If you have a bad race but make the finals, you go: 'Oh well, this is what I'm going to do.' Track and football have really taught me to compete. It could be chess, checkers or video games, I don't want to lose." — NC State junior running back Nyheim Hines on his balance of doing foot- ball and track and field (TheWolfpacker.com) "We haven't even touched what we can do. I know what this team can do, and ev- erybody on this team knows what we can do. I'm excited to go out there and unleash it on everybody and show the world what we do." — NC State senior defensive end Bradley Chubb on expectations this season (The Raleigh News & Observer) "I don't really think it's that different. It's the same field, the same uprights. I do have the experience from the time I was at Virginia Tech, so although I didn't get to play there I got to experience the game day and how that preparation is." — New redshirt junior kicker Carson Wise on adjusting to NC State (The Technician) "Yes, NC State should be very good up front on defense this year. But the back end? Well, that's a bigger question after three of last year's starters departed. [Sopho- more cornerback Nick] McCloud looks to be the option to step in for Jack Tocho at corner, and his ceiling is high. He got a start last year against Vanderbilt in NC State's bowl game, and he was one of just two true freshmen to see action on defense for the Wolfpack." — ACC blogger David Hale on NC State's biggest wild card going into the season (ESPN.com) "It has put me in the best shape I've been in my life, and we haven't even scratched the surface to what he says we can be. To this point, I feel like our team has been in the best shape that I've seen us in since I've been at State. It's tough, it's challenging, but it's something that's necessary in order to win." — NC State redshirt junior wing Torin Dorn on offseason workouts (The Winston-Salem Journal) PHOTO BY DANNY BOLLINGER/ COURTESY MAVS.COM QUOTING THE PACK Elise Haan, Swimming The junior from Naples, Fla., and former transfer from Florida Gulf Coast made a quick impact at NC State, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 100 and 200 backstroke and then earning honorable mention All-America honors in the 100. She was also All-ACC in both races, but she could be in line for a bigger campaign this year based on her summer results. She won the 100 back at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships in East Meadow, N.Y., finishing in 1:00.59. Her time of 1:00.02 at the World Championship Trials in that race ranked as 22nd fastest in the world this year. Aislin Konig, Basketball The Vancouver, British Columbia, prod - uct played for the Canadian U19 Women's National Team this summer and helped it win the bronze medal at the 2017 FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup, the highest ever finish for Team Canada at the event. She averaged 10.7 points, 3.4 assists and 2.7 re - bounds in seven games, and scored 32 points while shooting 10 of 15 on threes in a four-point win over Latvia. She averaged 7.1 points per game as a freshman last season for the Wolfpack despite missing two months with an injury. Will Marciniak, Rifle At the National Rifle Association Nationals in Bristol, Ind., the junior from Sewaren, N.J., won the prone championship of the small- bore in the high junior competition with a score of 4,785, just 14 points shy of the overall champion in the event. He also took bronze in the conventional three-position champion- ship in the smallbore and the metric three- position grand aggregate, both in the high junior division. Finally, he finished sixth in the Iron Man Match, which is an aggregate of prone and conventional three-position events. Justin Ress, Swimming Ress, a junior, made a worldwide splash when he completed the 50-meter backstroke at the U.S. National Championships/World Championship Trials in 24.41 seconds. The Cary, N.C., native beat a star-studded field that included a pair of former Olympic champions with what was the fastest time in the world when he posted it June 29. It also stood as the best-ever time at the U.S. Championships, breaking the mark that had been held since 2013 by former Olympic bronze medal - ist David Plummer. At the FINA World Championships July 29-30 in Budapest, Hungary, Ress posted a 24.77 time that was good for sixth. Andreas Vazaios, Swimming The senior from Greece reached the semi- finals of the 200-meter individual medley at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and then set a new Greek national record with a time of 1:57.98, finishing ninth and just missing a berth into the finals by one spot. He then swam the leadoff leg of the 800 freestyle relay and turned in a time of 1:47.48, which was one second faster than the Greek record he had already held in the 200 free. The Athens native was part of the NCAA 800 freestyle relay national title for the Pack last spring and was an All-American in the 200 butterfly and 100 backstroke. He won the ACC title in the 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley. ■ PACK PERFORMERS

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