2015 Women’s NCAA Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2015 WOMEN’S NCAA DI CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, March 19 – Saturday, March 21
• Greensboro Aquatic Center – Greensboro, NC
• Prelims 11AM/Finals 7PM (Eastern Time)
• Defending Champion: Georgia (2x) – results
• NCAA Championship Central
• Live stream: All prelims & Thursday finals (Other sessions will be on ESPN3)
• Live results

California did what they needed this morning to pull ahead in the team race. They are projected to score just over 200 points compared to Georgia, who is only projected to score 142 points. With Georgia’s 10 point lead from day 1, if placing holds from prelims, they will end up in second after tonight’s session, 50 points behind California.

If everything goes Georgia’s way tomorrow during prelims, there is a possibility for them to outscore California by 40-50 points, which would create an incredible two-team race for the NCAA championship title tomorrow. California has looked really good throughout the meet, however. They are not going to make it easy for Georgia to gain any ground on them.

Tonight will be very important for both teams. California will need to stretch out their lead as far as they can, and Georgia needs to try to keep them within 40 points if they want to be able to win tomorrow.

200 MEDLEY RELAY – FINALS

• NCAA – 1:34.24 – California – 2012
• Championship – 1:34.24 – California – 2012
• American – 1:34.24 – California – 2012
• US Open – 1:34.24 – California – 2012
• 2014 Champion: Stanford – 1:34.95

California picks up another relay victory with their time of 1:35.15. Rachel Bootsma lead off with an incredible 23.39 backstroke split to put the in the lead after the first leg. They lead through the butterfly until Kelsi Worrell powered past them with a 21.96 butterfly split. Farida Osman ran down Louisville’s freestyle to take the win, however, with a 21.09 freestyle split. The Louisville Cardinals finished second with their time of 1:35.75.

Stanford left their top breaststroke, Sarah Haase, out of their prelim relay and they missed the A final. They won the B final with a time that would have beat California by .05 at 1:35.10. The fastest time in the country this season leaves them in ninth.

Tennessee finished third, dropping a half of a second to touch the wall at 1:36.29. Virginia finished just behind them in fourth at 1:36.84.

Fifth place went to Georgia, which will hurt them in the team race. They posted a time of 1:36.90.

Texas finished sixth at 1:36.93, Missouri finished seventh at 1:37.35, and Florida Gulf Coast was 8th at 1:37.55.

400 IM – FINALS

• NCAA – 3:56.43 – Katinka Hosszu, USC – 2012
• Championship – 3:56.43 – Katinka Hosszu, USC – 2012
• American – 3:57.89 – Caitlin Leverenz, California – 2012
• US Open – 3:56.43 – Katinka Hosszu – 2012
• 2014 Champion: Maya DiRado, Stanford – 3:58.12

Texas A&M’s Sarah Henry powered through the final leg of her 400 IM to win the NCAA Title with her time of 4:02.47. She dropped close to half of a second to win tonight’s race.

Georgia made a huge move in team scores by finishing second and third in this final. Hali Flickinger almost ran down Henry in the final 25 but finished second at 4:02.73, dropping almost two seconds from her morning swim. Her teammate, Amber McDermott, finished third at 4:03.34. That could have been the bump Georgia needed to stay with California.

Louisville’s Tanja Kyliainen moved up a few spots to finish fourth in 4:03.51. Madisyn Cox from Texas was just behind her with her time of 4:03.63.

Minnesota’s Brooke Zeiger was sixth at 4:05.27, Amanda Carner from Tennessee was seventh at 4:05.97, and Jessica Thielmann from Florida rounded out the final with her time of 4:07.55.

Nevada’s Yawen Li dropped close to two seconds to win the B final of the 400 IM with her time of 4:05.56. California’s Kelly Naze also made a big jump from 8th to 2nd in the heat with her time of 4:07.07.

100 BUTTERFLY – FINALS

• NCAA – 49.89 – Kelsi Worrell, Louisville – 2015
• Championship – 49.89 – Kelsi Worrell, Louisville – 2015
• American – 49.89 – Kelsi Worrell, Louisville – 2015
• US Open – 49.89 – Kelsi Worrell, Louisville – 2015
• 2014 Champion – Felicia Lee, Stanford – 51.27

Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell made history for the second time today, breaking her own American record to win the NCAA title with her new record time of 49.81. She is first female NCAA champion ever from the University of Louisville.

Denver’s Sam Corea dropped from her prelim time to finish second with her time of 50.86.

USC’s Kendyl Stewart finished third at 50.92, dropping a little from her prelim swim. The final swimmer under 51 seconds was California’s Farida Osman at 50.94.

Natalie Hinds from Florida picked up fifth place with her time of 51.30, and Tina Bechtel from Kentucky was sixth at 51.68.

Missouri’s Dani Barbiea added a seventh place finish at 51.73 and Florida State’s Chelsea Britt rounded out the A final with her time of 52.49.

Rachel Bootsma made another big move for California by stepping up to win the B final with her time of 51.53. Georiga’s Lauren Harrington finished second in the heat at 51.79.

200 FREESTYLE – FINALS

• NCAA – 1:40.31 – Missy Franklin, California – 2014
• Championship – 1:40.31 – Missy Franklin, California – 2014
• American – 1:40.31 – Missy Franklin, California – 2014
• US Open – 1:40.31 – Missy Franklin, California – 2014
• 2014 Champion – Missy Franklin, California – 1:40.31

With the third American record of the day, Missy Franklin becomes the first woman in history to break the 1:40 barrier in the 200 freestyle with her time of 1:39.10. She was out a full second faster than last year at the 100 yard mark.

Stanford’s Simone Manuel finished second with a time of 1:41.45. Her teammate, Lia Neal, finished just behind her in third at 1:42.65.

California’s second swimmer, Cierra Runge, reached in for fourth with a half second drop to post a 1:43.23. Cal’s third finalist, Caroline Piehl, picked up 8th place points with her 1:44.30.

Indiana’s Kennedy Goss added a fifth place finish at 1:43.52, followed by USC’s Chelsea Chenault at 1:43.90 and Leah Smith from Virginia in seventh with a 1:44.00.

Cal’s Camille Cheng dropped more than a second to win the B final with a time of 1:42.82. Penn State’s Alyson Ackman was second in the heat at 1:43.79.

100 BREASTSTROKE– FINALS

• NCAA – 57.23 – Breeja Larson, Texas A&M – 57.23
• Championship – 57.23 – Breeja Larson, Texas A&M – 57.23
• American – 57.23 – Breeja Larson – 57.23
• US Open – 57.23 – Breeja Larson – 57.23
• 2014 Champion – Breeja Larson, Texas A&M – 57.23

Stanford picks up another event win with a 58.32 from Sarah Haase, sweeping both the A and B finals. She was just off of her time from this morning, but it was enough to win the NCAA Title.

Alabama’s Kaylin Burchell dropped a half of a second to improve to second with her time of 58.38.

Notre Dame’s 200 breaststroke American record holder, Emma Reaney, finished third with almost a full second drop to 58.43.

Virginia’s Laura Simon added fourth place points with a time of 58.53. Tennessee’s Molly Hannis was fifth with a 58.77. Gretchen Jaques from Texas was just behind her in sixth with a 58.81.

Minnesota’s Kierra Smith finished seventh at 59.02 and SMU’s Rachel Nicol rounded out the final with her time of 59.89.

Stanford’s Katie Olsen dropped from her morning swim to win the B final with a 59.28. Texas A&M’s Bethany Galat finished second in the heat at 59.44.

100 BACKSTROKE – FINALS

• NCAA – 49.97 – Natalie Coughlin, California – 2002
• Championship – 49.97 – Natalie Coughlin, California – 2002
• American – 49.97 – Natalie Coughlin –  2002
• US Open – 49.97 – Natalie Coughlin – 2002
• 2014 Champion – Paige Miller, Texas A&M – 50.77

California’s Rachel Bootsma upset Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew to win the A final of the 100 backstroke with the third fastest swim of all time, 50.03. Bartholomew finished second with a time of 50.96.

Bootsma’s teammate, Melanie Klaren, finished third at 51.31. She was just ahead of Indiana’s Brookyln Snodgrass. Snodgrass finished fourth at 51.39.

Georgia’s Olivia Smoliga and California’s Liz Pelton tied for fifth at 51.67. The final was very tight. They were only .02 ahead of Stanford’s seventh place finisher, Ally Howe. Howe reached in with a time of 51.69.

Florida Gulf Coast’s Kira Toussaint rounded out the A final with her time of 52.92.

USC’s Hannah Weiss won the B final with her time of 51.60. Texas’ Tsaija Karosas was second in the heat at 51.76.

3 Meter Diving

Minnesota’s Yu Zhou put up the highest score of the night to win the 3 meter diving with a score of 410.25. Miami (OH)’s Pei Lin added second place points with a score of 4:09.70.

Stanford added 16 points for a third place finish from Kassidy Cook with 393.5 points.

Maria Polyakova was fourth for UCLA at 392.00, Thea Vock was fifth for Miami (FL) with 371.20 points, and Virginia Tech’s Kaylea Arnett finished sixth at 360.90.

Jessica Parratto finished seventh for Indiana at 340.95 and Samantha Pickens rounded out the final for Arizona with 318 points.

Missouri’s Lauren Reedy had the highest score during B final with 363.00 points.

800 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINALS

• NCAA – 6:50.18 – California – 2015
• Championship – 6:50.18 – California – 2015
• American – 6:50.18 – California – 2015
• US Open – 6:50.18 – California – 2015
• 2014 Champion: California – 6:54.94

California posted the fastest time of the day to win the event, just missing their American record from the Pac 12 championships. Their final time was 6:50.99.

California – 6:50.99

• Runge – 24.56 – 26.22 – 26.96 – 26.82 – 1:44.56
• Cheng – 23.74 – 26.05 – 26.78 – 27.12 – 1:43.69
• Pelton – 23.80 – 26.01 – 26.30 – 26.58 – 1:42.69
• Franklin – 22.52 – 25.09 – (47.61) – 26.05 – 26.38 – 1:40.05

Stanford added a second place finish with their time of 6:54.68. They were the only other team to break 7 minutes.

Georgia finished third at 7:00.39 and Texas A&M was fourth at 7:00.94. USC picked up a fifth place finish with their time of 7:01.03 and Indiana finished sixth at 7:02.61.

Penn State finished eighth with a 7:03.07 and Arizona rounded out the top 8 with their time of 7:03.48.

Team Scores After Day 2:

1. California – 383.5
2. Georgia – 299.5
3. Stanford – 264
4. Virginia – 168
5. Texas A&M – 153.5
6. Louisville – 151
7. USC – 128
8. Texas – 115
9. Tennessee – 110
10. Missouri – 90
11. Indiana – 82
12. Arizona – 81