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In what came as no surprise, Stanford sophomore Katie Ledecky easily defended her NCAA title in the 500 with a 4:26.57. She was a little off her NCAA record of 4:24.06 from last season, but she defended her title and led a 1-2 finish with Stanford teammate and fellow sophomore Katie Drabot.
Drabot finished in second at 4:34.86 in a tight race ahead of Arizona’s Kirsten Jacobsen (4:35.04) and Virginia’s Jen Marrkand (4:35.21).
This is the biggest margin for a swimmer in the 500, as the previous margin was 5.91 seconds with Caroline Burckle of Florida winning over Maggie Bird of Auburn in 2008 in the same Ohio State pool ten years later.
This is the second year in a row Ledecky has won the 500 and is Stanford’s ninth win all-time in the 500 as she joins Janet Evans (1990, 1991), Jessica Foschi (2001), Lisa Jacob (1993) and Marybeth Linzmeier (1982-1984) as winners in the event for the Cardinal.
Event 3 Women 500 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
American: A 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
U.S. Open: O 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Meet: C 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Pool: P 4:26.46 11/18/2016Katie Ledecky, Stanford
4:36.30 AUTO NCAA A Standard
4:47.79 CONS NCAA B Standard
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== A - Final ===
1 Katie Ledecky SO Stanford 4:29.73 4:26.57 20
r:+0.68 24.71 51.19 (26.48)
1:18.18 (26.99) 1:44.76 (26.58)
2:11.94 (27.18) 2:39.08 (27.14)
3:06.11 (27.03) 3:33.26 (27.15)
4:00.28 (27.02) 4:26.57 (26.29)
2 Katie Drabot SO Stanford 4:36.68 4:34.86 17
r:+0.72 25.56 52.79 (27.23)
1:20.71 (27.92) 1:49.14 (28.43)
2:17.27 (28.13) 2:44.63 (27.36)
3:12.28 (27.65) 3:40.13 (27.85)
4:07.95 (27.82) 4:34.86 (26.91)
3 Kirsten Jacobse SO Arizona 4:36.07 4:35.04 16
r:+0.77 25.16 52.78 (27.62)
1:20.73 (27.95) 1:48.98 (28.25)
2:17.16 (28.18) 2:45.11 (27.95)
3:12.79 (27.68) 3:40.40 (27.61)
4:08.07 (27.67) 4:35.04 (26.97)
4 Jen Marrkand SR Virginia 4:35.53 4:35.21 15
r:+0.65 25.62 53.55 (27.93)
1:21.53 (27.98) 1:49.60 (28.07)
2:17.66 (28.06) 2:45.42 (27.76)
3:13.36 (27.94) 3:41.11 (27.75)
4:08.59 (27.48) 4:35.21 (26.62)
5 Kaersten Meitz SR Purdue 4:35.82 4:36.83 14
r:+0.83 26.51 54.67 (28.16)
1:22.93 (28.26) 1:51.32 (28.39)
2:19.32 (28.00) 2:47.07 (27.75)
3:14.84 (27.77) 3:42.45 (27.61)
4:10.01 (27.56) 4:36.83 (26.82)
6 Evie Pfeifer FR Texas 4:37.12 4:36.96 13
r:+0.77 26.38 54.46 (28.08)
1:22.79 (28.33) 1:51.14 (28.35)
2:19.24 (28.10) 2:47.24 (28.00)
3:15.08 (27.84) 3:42.86 (27.78)
4:10.42 (27.56) 4:36.96 (26.54)
7 Hannah Moore SR NCState 4:37.25 4:37.78 12
r:+0.73 25.57 53.07 (27.50)
1:20.92 (27.85) 1:49.14 (28.22)
2:17.40 (28.26) 2:45.55 (28.15)
3:13.93 (28.38) 3:42.22 (28.29)
4:10.49 (28.27) 4:37.78 (27.29)
8 G Ryan SR Michigan 4:36.42 4:42.46 11
r:+0.70 26.41 54.69 (28.28)
1:23.09 (28.40) 1:51.62 (28.53)
2:20.10 (28.48) 2:48.71 (28.61)
3:17.42 (28.71) 3:46.00 (28.58)
4:14.61 (28.61) 4:42.46 (27.85)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 3 1. Stanford 124 2. Michigan 78 3. Virginia 69 4. California 66 5. Texas 63 6. Tennessee 62 7. Louisville 59 8. Georgia 39 9. Arizona 30 10. Ohio St 24 11. Minnesota 22 12. Southern Cal 20 13. NC State 18 13. Texas A&M 18 15. UNC 14 15. Purdue 14 17. Kentucky 12 18. Missouri 10 19. Penn St 9 20. Wisconsin 8 21. UCLA 6 22. Auburn 4 22. Alabama 4 24. Indiana 2
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My 11 year old daughter was thrilled to watch Katie swim tonight. So inspiring to the next generation. She is crazy amazing!