Photo courtesy of Ashley Worden
Raleigh, North Carolina’s Ashley Worden has announced her verbal commitment to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for the class of 2023. She will begin in the fall of 2019 with fellow commit Morgan Miller.
“I’m beyond thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at Virginia Tech. The coaching staff, team, and overall campus environment is amazing and already feels like home. I would like to thank my coaches, teammates, friends, and family for their love and support. Can’t wait to be part of such an amazing team. GO HOKIES!!!”
Worden is a rising senior at Cardinal Gibbons High School, whom she represented at the 2018 NCHSAA 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships. There she won a swim-off in the 100 fly to compete in the championship final, where she finished 8th in 57.86. She was also 12th in the 200 IM (2:09.00) and contributed to a pair of Cardinal Gibbons relays. Wooden does her year-round swimming with Marlins of Raleigh. She has had a particularly strong spring of her junior year, going best times in the 500/1000/1650 free, 100 back, 50/100/200 fly, and 400 IM. Notably, she notched PBs in the 500 free, 50 fly, and 200 fly at NCSA Spring Championships, finishing 20th in the 200 fly with a U.S. Open cut of 1:59.43, her first foray into the sub-2:00 zone. Worden kicked off long course season with a new PB in the 200m fly as well, going 2:17.52 at Charlotte UltraSwim.
Worden told SwimSwam that she was excited about the new coaching staff at Virginia Tech (N.B.: Sergio Lopez was named head coach in April, after having spent two years as associate head coach at Auburn), saying: “Coach Sergio and Coach Josh were a huge part of my decision making process. When I met with Sergio this week, I knew he was the perfect coach for me and he is going to accomplish amazing things with the VT Swimming and Diving program. I could feel the momentum growing and the excitement from the team.”
Top SCY times:
- 200 fly – 1:59.43
- 100 fly – 02
- 400 IM – 4:28.58A
- 200 IM – 2:08.03
- 1650 free – 17:21.47
- 1000 free – 10:26.01
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
What does an “02” 100 Fly mean?
faster than 03 but slower than 01