200-Yard Backstroke
Ohio State’s Kelsey Moran proved a cut above in heat one, winning easily in 1:56.65. Stanford sophomore Annemaire Thayer rolled to a solid win in heat two (1:54.38). Texas A&M’s Melanie Mclure chased down the field on the final 50 to win heat three in a season-best time of 1:54.38. A&M made it two for two with a lifetime-best out of Tess Simpson in heat four (1:53.67). 100 back runner-up Sinead Russel l of Florida eased to a win in a great time of 1:51.80 followed by Stanford’s Maya DiRado (1:52.85) and Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew (1:52.94). Florida’s Elizabeth Beisel (1:52.83) slowly wore down Cal’s Melanie Klaren (1:52.98) and Arizona’s Bonnie Brandon (1:53.33) to get the win in heat six. Cal’s Elizabeth Pelton proved why she’s a heavy favorite tonight by going 1:49.62, topping Missouri’s Dominique Bouchard (1:50.94) and USC’s Kendyl Stewart (1:52.03).
100-Yard Freestyle
Lots of scratches showing up in the heats of the 100 free. UNC-Wilmington’s Carly Tanner wins heat one in 49.76. Julia Anderson of Stanford (49.70) won a tight race over Cal’s Camille Cheng (49.85) in heat two. Wisconsin’s Ivy Martin (49.17) earned a wire-to-wire win hitting the wall ahead of UNC’s Lauren Earp (49.48). Texas A&M’s Erica Dittmer and UCLA’s Ting Wen Quah tied for first with the exact same time as Ivy Martin in the previous heat (49.17). Arizona’s Kaitlyn Flederbach (48.81) chased down Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell (49.10) on the final 25 to win heat five. Buffalo’s Brittney Kuras, who scored in the 50 on Thursday, won heat six in a new leading time of 48.79, chasing down Auburn’s Hannah Riordan (48.96) and Tennessee’s Caroline Simmons (48.98). The ante gets upped in heat seven as Florida’s Natalie Hinds (48.04) and Cal’s Rachel Acker (48.06) got it rolling with Maddy Schafer (48.71) not far behind. It was all Georgia in heat eight with Megan Romano (47.68) and Allison Schmitt (48.04) posting the top two times while Florida’s Ellese Zalewski was third (48.20). Arizona’s Margo Geer absolutely smoked the final heat in 47.17 with Tennessee’s Lindsay Gendron (48.18) second and Georgia’s Shannon Vreeland third (48.20).
200-Yard Breaststroke
Auburn sophomore Abigail Duncan wins heat one easily in 2:13.21. LSU’s Torrey Bussey (2:12.06) grabbed the win right at the wall over San Diego State’s Katelyn Weddle (4:12.18) and Arizona’s Ellyn Baumgardner (4:12.42). Villanova senior Erin Malone (2:09.45) turned in a huge swim to win heat three over Indiana’s Bronwyn Pasloski (2:11.00). Another small school win in heat four as Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Emily McClellan (2:09.75) takes it over Penn State’s Melissa Rodriguez (2:10.29). Minnesota’s Haley Spencer (2:07.61) took control of heat five on the final 50 and pulled Texas A&M’s Ashley McGregor (2:08.18) with her as they got past early leader Katie Meili of Columbia (2:08.63). Stanford’s Andrea Kropp (2:07.61) surprised both Laura Sogar of Texas (4:08.23) and Caitlin Leverenz of Cal (4:08.24) in heat six. Texas A&M’s Breeja Larson (2:06.32) went out pretty fast on her first 100 and held on at the end to grab the win over Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney (2:07.00) who turned in a lifetime-best swim. Georgia’s Annie Zhu grabbed third in 2:08.09 giving the Bulldogs yet another big girl final swim tonight.
200-Yard Butterfly
In an all-freshman first heat, Tennessee’s Mary Griffith won in a best time of 1:58.59. Virginia sophomore Sarah White(1:56.54) turned in her lifetime-best in winning heat two over Penn State’s Merritt Krawczyk (1:57.81). The U’s Lucy Worrall (1:57.32) won in heat three as Penn State takes second for the second heat in a row thanks to junior Chelsea Weedman ( 1:57.85). Cal Poly’s Rachel O’Brien (1:56.78) turns in a strong swim to get the win over Louisville freshman Devon Bibault (58.09) in heat four. USC’s Jasmine Tosky held off a feisty heat five to grab the win in 1:54.03. Louisville sophomore Tanja Kylliainen (1:54.33) and UNC’s Meredith Hoover (1:54.47) came in right behind Tosky. UNC continued a strong event as Carolyn Blalock (1:54.75) topped Georgia’s Hali Flickinger (1:55.39) and Ohio State’s Shannon Draves (1:55.80). A&M’s Cammile Adams (1:54.18) erased a sizable first half deficit to grab the top spot in the final heat over Cal’s Rachel Bootsma (1:54.92) and West Virginia’s Mandie Nugent (1:55.23).
400-Yard Freestyle Relay
Ohio State (3:18.41) wins heat one over San Diego State (3:19.70). Arizona (3:13.42) turned a tight race into an easy win thanks to a solid anchor from Margo Geer. Tennessee (3:13.96) and Texas (3:14.88) took second and third. Florida (3:13.53) got a big win over Cal (3:14.30) and Texas A&M (3:15.48) in heat three thanks to a big anchor out of Natalie Hinds. Georgia (3:12.65) won a shootout in the final heat over Stanford (3:12.90) after yet another strong anchor leg, this time by Megan Romano. After everything shook out, it turns out A&M and Minnesota tied for the eighth spot. Swim-off anyone? And the Aggies take the win in 3:13.85 to Minnesota’s 3:14.68.
Who should feel good coming out of the final morning:
Georgia. It’s pretty much all over in the team race as the Dawgs got it done in a big way this morning. Only a catastrophe will keep them from clinching their first team title since 2005 tonight.
Florida. The Gators are primed to make a charge up the team standings tonight after strong efforts in the 200 back and 100 free.
Margo Geer, Arizona and Elizabeth Pelton, California. These two ladies looked in a class by themselves in the 100 free and 200 back, respectively. Those two events are theirs to lose tonight.
Who could have felt better coming out of the morning:
California. It looks like their two year reign may be coming to an end despite a terrific day on Friday. The Bears only got a single qualifier in each of the ‘A’ finals and nearly had defending 200 breast champ Caitlin Leverenz miss the chance to defend her title.
Tennessee. The Vols still had a puncher’s chance entering the morning but with only two individual night swims on the docket, their chances at a huge upset are toast.
Stanford. Only an eighth place finish from Maya DiRado in the 200 back prevented the Cardinal from not having any individual ‘A’ finalists tonight. The Cardinal tied for ninth in the 100 free while Katie Olsen (15th in the 200 breast) is their only other individual swim tonight.
It looks like the top three spots are solidified between Georgia, California and Tennessee in that order but there will be quite a battle for the final team trophy tonight between Arizona and Texas A&M. Stay tuned!