Harpeth Hall senior Gretchen Walsh finished her high school career on Sunday with a 47.55 in the 100 freestyle in Knoxville as the Virginia commit was a half second off the national high school record that she holds at 46.98 set last year. Walsh holds the national high school records in both the 50 and 100 free as her 200 free relay lead-off today was a 21.65, just off the 21.59 record that she holds.
Her 200 free relay won the state title with a 1:35.05 as the team of Lexi Stewart (25.50), Margaret Petty (23.73) and Annie Lea Choate (24.17) won ahead of second place Ravenwood High School. Harpeth Hall also won the 400 free relay with Walsh anchoring in 47.14 as the team of Petty (52.46), Stewart (55.43) and Choate (52.31) won at 3:27.34 over Paige High School at 3:27.59.
Gretchen Walsh will be an immediate contributor at the University of Virginia as her 100 free time today would have been fifth at NCAAs this year, and her 50 free putting her sixth. Walsh will help Virginia continue its dominance at the national level as the Cavaliers won the 2021 national title, backing up their 2020 performance when they were seeded to win on the psych sheet before the meet got cancelled.
The Cavaliers were seeded first in all five relays this season but finished second in four of them. With Walsh on the team next year, they could find themselves on top of the podium in a few more relays as she could fill any weaknesses Virginia may have.