2017 Women’s NCAA Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2017 WOMEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 15 – Saturday, March 18
• IUPUI Natatorium – Indianapolis, IN
• Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
• Defending Champion: Georgia (results)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Event Previews
• Live stream: Wednesday/Thursday Prelims & Finals, Friday/Saturday Prelims / Friday/Saturday finals on ESPN3
• Friday Prelims Heat Sheet
• Live Results

The 2017 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships continue this morning at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis with prelims of the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 200 medley relay, and 3-meter diving.

One of the most anticipated races of the meet is the 200 free, which will feature Stanford teammates Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel, as well as Louisville standout Mallory Comerford. Stanford’s Ella Eastin will be chasing Ledecky’s American Record in the 400 IM while looking to defend her title against Texas’ Madisyn Cox. In the 100 back, Cal’s Kathleen Baker and Stanford’s Ally Howe, who became just the 2nd and 3rd swimmers to ever break 50 seconds in the event, will battle a loaded field for the title.

WOMEN’S 400 IM

• NCAA record: Katinka Hosszu (2012)- 3:56.54
• American record: Katie Ledecky (2017)- 3:57.68
• U.S. Open record: Katinka Hosszu (2012)- 3:56.54
• Championship Record: Katinka Hosszu (2012)- 3:56.54
• 2016 NCAA Champion: Ella Eastin (Stanford)- 3:58.40

1. Ella Eastin (Stanford)- 4:03.47
2. Sydney Pickrem (Texas A&M)- 4:03.63
3. Madisyn Cox (Texas)- 4:04.03
4. Bethany Galat (Texas A&M)- 4:04.65
5. Bailey Andison (Denver)- 4:04.84
6. Lindsey Clary (Ohio State)-
7. Reka Gyorgy (Virginia Tech)- 4:05.87
8. Sharli Brady (Missouri)- 4:06.00

Top seed Ella Eastin (Stanford), the defending champion in this race, cruised through prelims ahead of Texas A&M’s Sydney Pickrem, as the two finished in a pair of 4:03s. The Aggies will have 2 in the final, as Bethany Galat touched with the 4th fastest time. Texas’ Madisyn Cox also looked very smooth this morning to pick up 3rd.

Summit League champ Bailey Andison will represent Denver in the final after putting up a personal best 4:04.84. Ohio State’s Lindsey Clary, who finished 2nd in this race last season, came in at 6th behind her.

Last season’s 3rd place finisher, Georgia’s Emily Cameron, just missed out with a 4:06.59 for 9th place. 2016 All-Americans Lisa Bratton (4:09.71) and Brooke Zeiger (4:11.99) will also be missing from the final after placing 2nd and 31st respectively.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY

• NCAA record: Kelsi Worrell (2016)- 49.43
• American record: Kelsi Worrell (2016)- 49.43
• U.S. Open record: Kelsi Worrell (2016)- 49.43
• Championship Record: Kelsi Worrell (2016)- 49.43
• 2016 NCAA Champion: Kelsi Worrell (Louisville), 49.43

1. Noemie Thomas (Cal)- 50.71
2. Louise Hansson (USC)- 50.74
3. (T-3) Hellen Moffitt (UNC)- 50.77
4. (T-3) Farida Osman (Cal)- 50.77
5. (T-5) Janet Hu (Stanford)- 51.09
6. (T-5) Sarah Gibson (Texas A&M)- 51.09
7. Gia Dalesandro (Indiana)- 51.27
8. Liz Li (Ohio State) 51.45

It looks to be anyone’s race tonight in the 100 fly, as 4 women were bunched together in the 50.7-range and it took a 51-low to qualify 8th. Leading the way was Cal’s Noemie Thomas, but Pac-12 champ Louise Hansson, a USC freshman, was just a nail behind. Cal will have 2 in the final, as Farida Osman, who placed 3rd last season, tied with UNC All-American Hellen Moffitt for 3rd.

Texas A&M’s Sarah Gibson, the defending runner-up, tied with Stanford’s Janet Hu, the fastest swimmer in the nation this year, for 5th place.

Georgia’s Chelsea Britt and Auburn’s Haley Black tied with a pair of 51.47s for 9th, just missin the championship final by 2 hundredths. A trio of freshman came in behind them to qualify for the B final: Cal’s Maddie Murphy (51.74), Georgia’s Veronica Burchill (51.87), and Louisville’s Grace Oglesby (51.97).

WOMEN’S 200 FREE

• NCAA record: Missy Franklin (2015)- 1:39.10
• American record: Missy Franklin (2015)- 1:39.10
• U.S. Open record: Missy Franklin (2015)- 1:39.10
• Championship Record: Missy Franklin (2015)- 1:39.10
• 2016 NCAA Champion: Brittany MacLean (Georgia)- 1:42.42

1. Simone Manuel (Stanford)- 1:41.81
2. Katie Ledecky (Stanford)- 1:42.02
3. Leah Smith (Virginia)- 1:42.86
4. Mallory Comerford (Louisville)- 1:42.99
5. Siobhan Haughey (Michigan)- 1:43.03
6. Jackie Keire (Cincinatti)- 1:43.27
7. Gabby DeLoof (Michigan)- 1:43.50
8. Claire Rasmus (Texas A&M)- 1:43.73

The battle between Stanford’s Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky will take place in the center of the pool tonight, but Virginia’s Leah Smith and Louisville’s Mallory Comerford will look to shake things up at their sides. Manuel was the only swimmer sub-1:42 this morning, but nobody looked to be anywhere near 100% effort in the heats.

Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey, a 2016 All-American in this race, will return to the final this season, qualifying 5th just ahead of Cincinatti’s Jackie Keire.

Cal’s Katie McLaughlin just missed the championship final, turning in a 1:43.75 for 9th place. Georgia’s Meaghan Raab (1:43.78) cleared the 1:44-barrier for the first time to qualify 10th. Also swimming in the B final will be Stanford’s Lia Neal (1:44.17) and Katie Drabot (1:44.60).

WOMEN’S 100 BREAST

• NCAA Record: Lilly King (2017)- 56.30
• American Record: Lilly King (2017)- 56.30
• U.S. Open Record: Lilly King (2017)- 56.30
• Championship Record: Lilly King (2016)- 56.85
• 2016 Champion: Lilly King (Indiana)- 56.85

1. Lilly King (Indiana)- 57.38
2. Lindsey Horejsi (Minnesota)- 58.23
3. Natalie Pierce (Florida State)- 58.38
4. Kayla Brumbaum (NC State)- 58.54
5. Laura Simon (Virginia)- 58.58
6. Andee Cottrell (Louisville)- 58.65
7. Katharine Ross (Missouri)- 59.00
8. Emma Sougstad (Iowa)- 59.06

Lilly King looks untouchable in this race, and will look to break her own American Record after cruising to a 57.38 this morning and topping the field by nearly a full second. The battle for 2nd should be a close one. Minnesota’s Lindsey Horejsi and Florida State’s Natalie Pierce were both 58-low, while NC State’s Kayla Brumbaum, Virginia’s Laura Simon, and Louisville’s Andee Cottrell came in a couple of tenths back in the 58-mid range.

Minnesota’s Kierra Smith was just hundredths shy of making the top 8, touching with the 9th fastest time in 59.09 ahead of UMBC’s Emily Escobedo (59.15) and Texas A&M’s Jorie Caneta (59.16).

WOMEN’S 100 BACK

• NCAA record: Ally Howe (2017)- 49.69
• American record: Ally Howe (2017)- 49.69
• U.S. Open record: Ally Howe (2017)- 49.69
• Championship Record: Kathleen Baker (2017)- 49.80
• 2016 NCAA Champion: Rachel Bootsma (Cal)- 50.28

1. Olivia Smoliga (Georgia)- 50.31
2. Hannah Stevens (Missouri)- 50.61
3. Kathleen Baker (Cal)- 50.63
4. Janet Hu (Stanford)- 50.75
5. Ally Howe (Stanford)- 50.80
6. Hellen Moffitt (North Carolina)- 50.94
7. Nadine Laemmler (Missouri)- 50.96
8. Claire Adams (Texas)- 51.10

Georgia’s Olivia Smoliga roared to a personal best 50.31 to lead prelims, knocking a couple of tenths off her former best time of 50.58 from last month’s SEC Championships. Tonight, she’ll be challenged by Cal’s Kathleen Baker, who, despite Cal’s relay DQ, set a Pool Record of 49.80 on the 100 back leadoff split. American Record holder Ally Howe, who blazed to a 49.69 at the Pac-12 Championships, will also be in the mix after qualifying 5th.

Missouri’s Hannah Stevens will look to pull off the upset after blasting a lifetime best 50.61 in prelims. That knocked 2 tenths off her former best 50.81 from SECs. Texas’ Claire Adams will be the only freshman in the field after qualifying 8th, dropping a few hundredths to post a best time in 51.10.

The B final in this race is also loaded with big names, including Cal’s Amy Bilquist (51.35), Texas’ Tasija Karosas (51.41), NC State’s Alexia Zevnik (51.43), Tennessee’s Kira Toussaint (51.54), and Kentucky’s Danielle Galyer (51.68).

WOMEN’S 200 MEDLEY RELAY

• NCAA record: Stanford (2016)- 1:34.15
• American record: Stanford (2016)- 1:34.15
• U.S. Open record: Stanford (2016)- 1:34.15
• Championship Record: Cal (2012)- 1:34.24
• 2016 NCAA Champion: Stanford (Howe, Haase, Hu, Neal)-1:34.81

1. Texas A&M- 1:35.59
2. NC State- 1:35.77
3. Cal- 1:35.93
4. Arizona- 1:36.02
5. Indiana- 1:36.06
6. Missouri- 1:36.17
7. USC- 1:36.18
8. Stanford- 1:36.24

Texas A&M’s Sarah Gibson popped a 22.97 fly split to help her team take top seed for finals. NC State was narrowly behind, getting a blistering 26.06 breast split from Kayla Brumbaum and a 21.32 anchor from freshman Ky-Lee Perry.

Cal was also under 1:36 this morning, with Noemie Thomas posting a 22.56 on the fly split. The Bears will likely change things up tonight, as they have the option of using Farida Osman on the free leg and Kathleen Baker on the back leg.

Stanford just squeaked into the final at 8th, 5 hundredths ahead of Texas’ 1:36.29 for 9th place.

Fastest splits of the field:

• Back- Olivia Smoliga (Georgia), 23.88
• Breast- Kayla Brumbaum (NC State), 26.06
• Fly- Noemie Thomas (Cal), 22.56
• Free- Katrina Konopka (Arizona), 21.30