Despite taking a surprising second place to open the night to Cal in the 200 freestyle relay, Virginia seemed hardly deterred as Alex Walsh in her first ever individual race at the NCAA championships won the 200 IM in dominant fashion at 1:51.87. Walsh won ahead of a fairly young field with only two seniors as Georgia sophomore Zoie Hartman (1:53.34), who is making her NCAA debut in her second year of school finished in runner-up with Cal’s Alicia Wilson (1:54.51) in third place to keep her team in second place in the team standings.
Walsh seemed to get some pressure early in the race from Cal’s Wilson and Wisconsin freshman Phoebe Bacon as Walsh turned first at the 100 with a 52.3 to Bacon’s 52.6 and Wilson’s 52.9, but much like Paige Madden in the A-Final before, Walsh nailed the back half with a 32.5 on the third 50, with only Hartman out-splitting her at 32.3 on breaststroke. With that second lead at the 150, Walsh was able to have a victory lap on the last 50 with a 27.02 freestyle split, faster than anyone else in the field.
“My goal has always been to be 1:51-1:50, that American record,” Alex Walsh said after the race. “I think me and Kate Douglass are both looking at it. Coming to Virginia, I have been doing a lot more endurance-based training and I think that really showed. I am am grateful to being a part of such a great group of women who are pushing every day in practice. I knew I had the capability of splitting faster on by backstroke, so I was like. ‘I am going to send it in the first half and make it as fast as I could possibly make it … with the ability to still come home strong.”
Bacon ended up fourth at 1:54.55 in her NCAA individual debut as she will factor into the 100 and 200 back later on in the week. Virginia picked up big points with Ella Nelson in fifth at 1:54.74 with NC State’s Julia Poole just behind at 1:55.60. Texas’ Kelly Pash (1:55.72) and Ohio State’s Kristen Romano (1:56.07) also competed in the final.
This win by Alex Walsh is Virginia’s first ever NCAA title in the 200 IM and the first outside of a freestyle event as she is the first freshman to win an NCAA title in this event since Stanford’s Ella Eastin won in 2016. The time is still not a best time for Walsh who was a 1:51.5 earlier this season at ACCs to sit fifth on the all-time list.
Event 4 Women 200 Yard IM
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 1:50.67 3/15/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Meet: M 1:50.67 3/15/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
American: A 1:50.67 3/15/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
US Open: O 1:50.67 3/15/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Pool: P 1:51.36 2/20/2020 Kate Douglass, Virginia
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Walsh, Alex FR Virginia 1:54.62 1:51.87 20
r:+0.74 24.73 52.31 (27.58)
1:24.85 (32.54) 1:51.87 (27.02)
2 Hartman, Zoie SO Georgia 1:55.03 1:53.34 17
r:+0.81 25.38 53.59 (28.21)
1:25.92 (32.33) 1:53.34 (27.42)
3 Wilson, Alicia JR California 1:54.97 1:54.51 16
r:+0.67 24.37 52.94 (28.57)
1:26.36 (33.42) 1:54.51 (28.15)
4 Bacon, Phoebe FR Wisconsin 1:55.58 1:54.55 15
r:+0.68 24.50 52.60 (28.10)
1:27.16 (34.56) 1:54.55 (27.39)
5 Nelson, Ella SO Virginia 1:55.00 1:54.74 14
r:+0.67 25.45 54.56 (29.11)
1:27.29 (32.73) 1:54.74 (27.45)
6 Poole, Julia SR NC State 1:55.70 1:55.60 13
r:+0.68 25.49 54.53 (29.04)
1:27.64 (33.11) 1:55.60 (27.96)
7 Pash, Kelly SO Texas 1:55.55 1:55.72 12
r:+0.68 24.99 53.53 (28.54)
1:27.96 (34.43) 1:55.72 (27.76)
8 Romano, Kristen SR Ohio St 1:56.12 1:56.07 11
r:+0.73 24.93 53.57 (28.64)
1:27.86 (34.29) 1:56.07 (28.21)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Hay, Abby SO Louisville 1:56.53 1:56.02 9
r:+0.71 24.83 53.80 (28.97)
1:27.52 (33.72) 1:56.02 (28.50)
10 Pearl, Vanessa JR Florida 1:56.47 1:56.30 7
r:+0.68 25.62 54.86 (29.24)
1:28.30 (33.44) 1:56.30 (28.00)
11 Poole, Lauren SO Kentucky 1:57.11 1:56.75 6
r:+0.72 25.15 54.26 (29.11)
1:28.27 (34.01) 1:56.75 (28.48)
12 Sorenson, Sophie JR Kentucky 1:57.13 1:57.00 5
r:+0.73 25.61 54.14 (28.53)
1:29.41 (35.27) 1:57.00 (27.59)
13 Golding, Kathleen SO Florida 1:56.91 1:57.36 4
r:+0.68 25.31 54.52 (29.21)
1:29.25 (34.73) 1:57.36 (28.11)
14 Watson, Sarah JR Akron 1:56.85 1:57.43 3
r:+0.67 24.49 55.40 (30.91)
1:29.35 (33.95) 1:57.43 (28.08)
15 Yager, Alexis SR Tennessee 1:56.73 1:57.65 2
r:+0.72 25.62 55.41 (29.79)
1:29.09 (33.68) 1:57.65 (28.56)
16 Sacha, Ioanna SR Houston 1:56.79 1:57.92 1
r:+0.73 26.12 54.88 (28.76)
1:29.33 (34.45) 1:57.92 (28.59)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 4 1. Virginia 130 2. California 107 3. Ohio St 75 4. Texas 73 5. Georgia 68 6. Alabama 59 7. NC State 58 7. Stanford 58 9. Kentucky 45 10. Florida 43 11. Louisville 33 12. Michigan 31 13. Missouri 30 14. UNC 24 15. Tennessee 23 15. Wisconsin 23 17. Indiana 12 18. Virginia Tech 11 19. Texas A&M 10 20. Northwestern 6 21. Southern California 4 22. Nebraska 3 22. Akron 3 24. Houston 1
