Unfortunately for N.C. State, it had little to do with the actual competition.
On Friday's Senior Day, both the UNC men's and women's teams made quick work of their Wolfpack counterparts. The No. 12 women were victorious 179-112, while the No. 21 men cruised to a 193.5-94.5 win.
All-American Katie Hathaway's last meet at Koury Natatorium was somewhat routine. Her times in 100- and 200-yard breakstroke wins didn't come close to beating her own school records, but considering the emotion of the meet, they might as well have been world records.
"My head was in about 100 different places today," Hathaway said. "I didn't think I was going to cry at all, but at the beginning of the meet, I started to get a little emotional."
Hathaway was hardly the only one feeling the emotion of Senior Day.
"It's emotional for old farts as well as other people," said UNC coach Frank Comfort. "I've never taken her great swimming for granted. We've been fortunate to have her."
Sophomore Jessi Perruquet added two individual wins for the Tar Heel women (7-2, 4-1 in the ACC), who saw just about everything go their way.
The only downside to the win against the Wolfpack (3-4, 2-3) was the impromptu "senior relay" team of Hathaway, Jennie Gardner, Stefanie Rulis and Molly Sullivan placing a mere second in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
"We went and asked Frank, 'Do you mind if we do a senior relay?'" Hathaway said. "But we weren't just doing it to win. We were just swimming to swim together."