Emma Muzzy: “Didn’t Think About Times At All” Before 200 Back (Video)

2019 ACC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday-Sauturday, February 20-23rd
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion (2018): Virginia (1x)
• 2019 Champion: NC State
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• Live Results
• Live Video: Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
• Championship Central

Reported by Robert Gibbs.

200 BACK FINALS

1. Emma Muzzy (NC State) – 1:51.66
2. Megan Moroney (UVA) – 1:51.98
3. Emma Seiberlich (UVA) – 1:52.54

NC State freshman Emma Muzzy ran down UVA’s Megan Moroney on the final few strokes, surged ahead at the finish, and touched in 1:51.66 to take the victory. Moroney was in the lead at the halfway point, and appeared to have the event sewed up after splitting 28.00 on the 3rd leg, but she faded to a 29.88 on the final 50 while Muzzy closed in 28.30. UVA swept the next three spots, with Moroney touching 2nd in 1:51.98, and Emma Seiberlich taking 3rd in 1:52.54.

400 IM FINALS

1. Kathleen Moore (NC State) – 4:05.24
2. Makayla Sargent (NC State) – 4:06.19
3. Emma Muzzy (NC State) – 4:06.89

Call it the #BernadinoEffect? NC State absolutely rocked this event, sweeping the top four spots and picking up a whopping 162 points, rocketing them out to a 139-point lead over Louisville.

Defending champion Reka Gyorgy of Virginia Tech looked to be in control through the first half of the race, but the Wolfpack women began creeping up on her during the breaststroke leg, and she just could not hold them off. She would end up in 5th, touching in 4:08.72, over four seconds slower than her winning time from last year.

NC State’s Makayla Sargent took over the lead during the breaststroke leg, but teammate Kathleen Moore out split her down the stretch, with Moore touching first in 4:05.24. Sargent held on to finish 2nd in 4:06.19, followed by freshman Emma Muzzy (4:06.89) and 200 IM winner Julia Poole (4:07.65).

NC State earned a whopping 162 points in this event, dramatically altering the look of the team race, as they went from a 14 point lead over UVA to a 139 point over Louisville.

100 BACK FINALS

1. Elise Haan (NC State) – 51.43
2. Megan Moroney (UVA) – 51.96
3. Carly Quast (Notre Dame) – 52.06

Elise Haan successfully defended her title in this event; she was 51.43 tonight after going 50.75 last year, but that was still more than enough as she defeated UVA’s Megan Moroney by over half a second.

Notre’s Dame Carly Quast swam to a personal best time of 52.06 for 3rd, just ahead of a pair of Duke swimmers, Alyssa Marsh (52.18) and Madeline Hess (52.27). Neither UVA’s Caroline Gmelich (52.71) nor NC State’s Emma Muzzy (53.35) could quite match their times from this morning. UVA’s Marcella Maguire appeared to slip off the start, putting her immediately about a body length behind, and she couldn’t quite make up the distance, finishing 8th in 54.01, almost two seconds slower than her time from this morning.

UVA has made up a ton of points over the last three events, and they’ve narrowed NC State’s lead to 18 points, while opening up a 102 point lead over Louisville. Each of those three schools has a woman in the platform diving finals, so barring any DQs in the 400 medley relay, we shouldn’t see any massive shift in scores heading into tomorrow.

Final Team Scores:

1. North Carolina State University 1353
2. Virginia, University of 1282
3. Louisville, University of 1146
4. Notre Dame, University of 909.5
5. Duke University 764
6. Florida State University 727
7. North Carolina, University of, 700.5
8. VA Tech 477.5
9. Georgia Institute of Technolog 360
10. Pittsburgh, University of 334
11. University of Miami (Florida) 293.5
12. Boston College 154