Starting Wednesday evening with the 800 freestyle relay at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships held in nearby Greensboro, N.C., NC State will be looking for its first ever podium finish in the team standings (top four) and individual national champion swimmer.

SwimSwam.com has NC State’s women’s swimmers finishing in second place, behind ACC champ Virginia, prior to diving points being added, which will likely knock the Wolfpack back some in the standings.

A quick breakdown of how points are awarded:

• For relays, points are doubled, which is why they are huge. Winner of A-finals (top eight) gets 40 points, second place gets 34 points and then it goes down by two points after that through eighth place (22 points).

The B-finals (9-16 after prelims) winner gets 18 points, followed by 14 points for runner-up and then it goes down by two points until last place in the B-finals, which nets two points.

• For individuals, same format just half the points.

Here’s a preview by event in order they are swam:

800 freestyle relay:

Virginia is the favorite here, but NC State is capable of being a top four team in the A-finals, which would be the goal.

SwimSwam projection for NC State: Fifth

200 freestyle relay:

The scratch of sophomore Heather Maccausland on the relay team is a bit of a blow because while Virginia is the favorite, NC State could have been a strong contender. How well they can replace Maccausland is a question mark, but the Pack should still be a strong A-finalist.

SwimSwam projection: Seventh

500 freestyle:

Senior Kate Moore has the sixth fastest time in the country entering this race. Two years ago, Moore reached the B finals and was 15th overall. She’s certainly good enough to reach the A-finals and would really help State maximize its points total if she did.

She swam second to Virginia star Paige Madden in this race at the ACC meet.

SwimSwam projection: Moore in fifth

200 IM:

Senior Julia Poole has the fifth fastest time in the country entering the meet, while freshman Abby Arens (10th) and junior Emma Muzzy (15th) both are prominent factors for the Wolfpack.

Ideally, all three NC State swimmers would score points here. This is a race where the Pack has the potential to pile up significant scoring compared to the rest of the field. Virginia and Alabama are the only other top teams expected to do well here.

SwimSwam projection: Poole in seventh

50 freestyle:

This is another strong race for NC State, with junior Kylee Alons (ACC champ) and sophomore Katharine Berkoff both having swam top 10 times nationally this year — Alons fifth and Berkoff ninth.

If both could get into A-finals, that would be big for the Pack’s finishing chances. Among the top teams, almost all of them have strong swimmers in this race, so NC State wants to get what it can here.

SwimSwam projection: Alons in third

400 medley relay:

Between Barkoff in the backstroke leg and junior breaststroker Sophie Hansson, NC State has two of the fastest 100-yarders in the country. The issue is that Alons is the only top-level 100 freestyler and butterfly swimmer the Pack has.

Hansson has done some freestyle sprints before (she will swim in the 50 free) and the Pack has another good breaststroke swimmer in potential All-American junior Andrea Podmanikova.

The goal here is to be a potential top-five finish.

SwimSwam projection: Fourth

400 IM

This is another good opportunity race for NC State. Moore (sixth) and Muzzy (eighth) are both among the fastest in the country thus far this year. Moore is a two-time ACC champ in this race and was second-place this year.

It would be huge if both could get into the A-finals. That’s because some of the other top programs — Virginia, Cal and Texas — have pretty strong presences in this race, but teams like Alabama, Georgia and Michigan do not.

SwimSwam projection: Moore in fourth

100 butterfly

Alons is NC State’s only qualifier in this race, and she had the fifth fastest time in the country. The goal would be to be an A-finalist, because this is a race where some teams, Virginia, Cal, Texas, Alabama and Michigan, have the potential to get big points. The higher Alons finishes, the more she offsets that.

SwimSwam projection: Alons in fifth

200 freestyle:

Poole was 17th fastest in the country in the race this year. If she could sneak into the B-finals, that would be a boost in a race where NC State is not counting on any points, but teams like Virginia, Cal, Texas, Alabama and Georgia will be.

SwimSwam projection: No A-finalists

100 breaststroke:

This is a big race for NC State. As many as four swimmers could conceivably get into the A or B finals, with Hansson being a national title contender and Podmanikova a potential A-finalist.

If senior Olivia Celegan and Arens can get into the B-finals (more likely for Calegan), that would be great for the Wolfpack. If it reaches its full potential, relative to the other top teams, this a race that would really help the Pack.

SwimSwam projection: Hansson in first and Podmanikova in seventh

100 backstroke:

Berkoff had the second fastest time in the country going into the meet, so expectations are high for her in this race. But she will also likely be the Pack’s only points producer. The higher Berkoff finishes the better since Cal, Texas and Georgia are strong here.

SwimSwam projection: Berkoff in fourth

200 medley relay:

This is a strong race for NC State, but it would have been nice to have Maccausland potentially swim the 50 free to allow Alons to focus on the 50 fly leg. Still. NC State can hope for a top-four finish here.

SwimSwam projection: NC State in second

1650 freestyle:

Only one swimmer for NC State in the mile, and its freshman Yara Hierath. She’s capable of scoring, but realistically for the Pack you’ll take whatever she may get you. Relative to other teams this is a weaker point for NC State.

SwimSwam projection: NA

200 backstroke:

NC State though can quickly add points back with this race. NC State may have the potential to score the most of any team in the 200 back, along with Alabama. Muzzy and Berkoff need to be the A-finalists, and they are expected to be as potential top-five finishers. Muzzy won this race at the ACC meet with Berkoff in second.

If Moore could get into the A-finals that would be big.

SwimSwam projection: Berkoff in fourth and Muzzy in fifth

100 freestyle:

Alons is the only swimmer for NC State here, but she is a potential top-five finisher. Getting her into the A-finals is the goal here. That could help the Pack keep pace with top teams outside of Alabama, who has a strong presence in this race.

SwimSwam projection: Alons in sixth

200 breaststroke:

This could be another huge race for NC State. Texas and Georgia could also score well here, but NC State has the national title favorite in Hansson, and Podmanikova is a good bet to contend for top-five.

If Arens and Poole could get into the B-finals, that would be significant for NC State’s standing because…

SwimSwam projection: Hansson in first and Podmanikova in sixth

200 butterfly:

NC State is getting nothing here. No qualifiers.

400 freestyle relay:

And realistically NC State is hoping to be a B-finalist in this relay.

SwimSwam projection: NC State not an A-finalist

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