NCAA Division I Women’s Championships: Virginia’s Leah Smith Vaults to 5th All Time With Dominant 1650 Free
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Virginia’s Leah Smith added the 1650-yard freestyle title to her win in the 500-yard free at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships.
Smith uncorked a dominant time of 15:34.46 for the victory. That’s Virginia’s third title in the mile with Cara Lane going back to back in 2000 and 2001. Before Smith’s 500-yard free title, those had been the only NCAA titles for the female Cavaliers.
Leah Smith, Virginia
On winning two titles
“I owe it all to my coaches and teammates. They push me every day, and I think last year left me a little bit hungry. I was out for redemption because I didn’t have the best meet. So, this year, my teammates and I have all been really positive, and we’re trying to make history.”
Smith vaulted to fifth all time in the event’s history. She had been 11th all time with a 15:42.04 last year.
All Time 1650 Free
Rank | Name | Time |
---|---|---|
1 | Katie Ledecky | 15:13.30 |
2 | Katie Hoff | 15:24.35 |
3 | Brittany MacLean | 15:27.84 |
4 | Kate Ziegler | 15:29.15 |
5 | Leah Smith | 15:34.46 |
Smith won the title by exactly 12 seconds as California’s Cierra Runge finished second in 15:46.66. Florida’s Jessica Thielmann managed to take third in 15:46.68 in what proved to be a close battle for second.
Smith’s 12-second victory is pretty impressive, but doesn’t come close to Janet Evans’ NCAA record for the largest margin of victory.
In 1990, Evans of Stanford threw down a 15:39.14, still ranking her eighth all time, to beat Texas’ Andrea Hayes (16:04.08) by 24.94 seconds.
Surprisingly, defending NCAA champion and NCAA record holder Brittany MacLean wound up taking ninth overall in 15:59.12.
California held the team lead 400.5-335.5 over Georgia following the 1650.
1 Smith, Leah SO Virginia-VA 15:42.75 15:34.46 D1-A 20 r:+0.81 25.61 53.20 (27.59) 1:21.34 (28.14) 1:49.58 (28.24) 2:17.89 (28.31) 2:46.31 (28.42) 3:14.55 (28.24) 3:43.10 (28.55) 4:11.45 (28.35) 4:39.99 (28.54) 5:08.33 (28.34) 5:36.73 (28.40) 6:05.19 (28.46) 6:33.85 (28.66) 7:02.59 (28.74) 7:31.37 (28.78) 8:00.08 (28.71) 8:28.53 (28.45) 8:57.33 (28.80) 9:26.06 (28.73) 9:54.87 (28.81) 10:23.68 (28.81) 10:52.41 (28.73) 11:21.18 (28.77) 11:49.82 (28.64) 12:18.51 (28.69) 12:46.97 (28.46) 13:15.33 (28.36) 13:43.71 (28.38) 14:12.16 (28.45) 14:40.43 (28.27) 15:08.32 (27.89) 15:34.46 (26.14) 2 Runge, Cierra FR California-PC 15:40.17 15:46.46 D1-A 17 r:+0.82 25.96 54.17 (28.21) 1:22.64 (28.47) 1:51.12 (28.48) 2:19.59 (28.47) 2:48.14 (28.55) 3:16.67 (28.53) 3:45.33 (28.66) 4:14.00 (28.67) 4:42.71 (28.71) 5:11.30 (28.59) 5:39.85 (28.55) 6:08.43 (28.58) 6:37.18 (28.75) 7:05.85 (28.67) 7:34.55 (28.70) 8:03.44 (28.89) 8:32.40 (28.96) 9:01.12 (28.72) 9:30.18 (29.06) 9:59.26 (29.08) 10:28.32 (29.06) 10:57.20 (28.88) 11:26.25 (29.05) 11:55.18 (28.93) 12:24.20 (29.02) 12:53.31 (29.11) 13:22.63 (29.32) 13:51.97 (29.34) 14:21.18 (29.21) 14:50.23 (29.05) 15:19.09 (28.86) 15:46.46 (27.37) 3 Thielmann, Jess JR Florida-FL 15:47.95 15:46.68 D1-A 16 r:+0.77 26.75 55.10 (28.35) 1:23.76 (28.66) 1:52.40 (28.64) 2:21.20 (28.80) 2:50.11 (28.91) 3:19.01 (28.90) 3:47.93 (28.92) 4:16.62 (28.69) 4:45.37 (28.75) 5:14.24 (28.87) 5:43.02 (28.78) 6:11.80 (28.78) 6:40.57 (28.77) 7:09.50 (28.93) 7:38.26 (28.76) 8:06.99 (28.73) 8:35.99 (29.00) 9:04.78 (28.79) 9:33.60 (28.82) 10:02.28 (28.68) 10:30.89 (28.61) 10:59.79 (28.90) 11:28.40 (28.61) 11:57.38 (28.98) 12:26.03 (28.65) 12:54.71 (28.68) 13:23.59 (28.88) 13:52.62 (29.03) 14:21.66 (29.04) 14:50.71 (29.05) 15:19.66 (28.95) 15:46.68 (27.02) 4 Henry, Sarah SR Texas A&M-GU 15:53.43 15:46.83 D1-A 15 r:+0.83 26.85 55.30 (28.45) 1:23.97 (28.67) 1:52.84 (28.87) 2:21.66 (28.82) 2:50.67 (29.01) 3:19.55 (28.88) 3:48.45 (28.90) 4:17.41 (28.96) 4:46.29 (28.88) 5:15.06 (28.77) 5:44.01 (28.95) 6:12.71 (28.70) 6:41.36 (28.65) 7:10.28 (28.92) 7:39.41 (29.13) 8:08.29 (28.88) 8:37.31 (29.02) 9:06.29 (28.98) 9:35.39 (29.10) 10:04.40 (29.01) 10:33.44 (29.04) 11:02.56 (29.12) 11:31.41 (28.85) 12:00.31 (28.90) 12:29.31 (29.00) 12:58.03 (28.72) 13:26.67 (28.64) 13:55.28 (28.61) 14:24.12 (28.84) 14:52.81 (28.69) 15:20.29 (27.48) 15:46.83 (26.54) 5 McDermott, Ambe SR Georgia-GA 15:49.79 15:53.19 D1-A 14 r:+0.92 25.69 53.97 (28.28) 1:22.39 (28.42) 1:51.19 (28.80) 2:19.80 (28.61) 2:48.58 (28.78) 3:17.32 (28.74) 3:46.03 (28.71) 4:14.75 (28.72) 4:43.57 (28.82) 5:12.46 (28.89) 5:41.31 (28.85) 6:10.13 (28.82) 6:39.21 (29.08) 7:08.19 (28.98) 7:37.09 (28.90) 8:06.30 (29.21) 8:35.62 (29.32) 9:04.73 (29.11) 9:33.90 (29.17) 10:03.07 (29.17) 10:32.22 (29.15) 11:01.48 (29.26) 11:30.68 (29.20) 11:59.87 (29.19) 12:29.16 (29.29) 12:58.48 (29.32) 13:27.80 (29.32) 13:57.15 (29.35) 14:26.41 (29.26) 14:55.55 (29.14) 15:24.83 (29.28) 15:53.19 (28.36) 6 Zilinskas, Rach SO Georgia-GA 16:08.58 15:55.22 D1-A 13 r:+0.81 27.20 56.22 (29.02) 1:25.19 (28.97) 1:54.23 (29.04) 2:23.30 (29.07) 2:52.39 (29.09) 3:21.49 (29.10) 3:50.42 (28.93) 4:19.44 (29.02) 4:48.26 (28.82) 5:17.26 (29.00) 5:46.31 (29.05) 6:15.35 (29.04) 6:44.34 (28.99) 7:13.36 (29.02) 7:42.21 (28.85) 8:11.22 (29.01) 8:40.17 (28.95) 9:09.10 (28.93) 9:37.84 (28.74) 10:06.68 (28.84) 10:35.30 (28.62) 11:03.96 (28.66) 11:32.76 (28.80) 12:01.51 (28.75) 12:30.65 (29.14) 12:59.73 (29.08) 13:28.99 (29.26) 13:58.22 (29.23) 14:27.58 (29.36) 14:57.03 (29.45) 15:26.47 (29.44) 15:55.22 (28.75) 7 Harrison, Sammy JR Oregon State-OR 15:54.61 15:56.01 D1-A 12 r:+0.76 26.33 54.90 (28.57) 1:23.86 (28.96) 1:53.01 (29.15) 2:21.92 (28.91) 2:50.87 (28.95) 3:19.93 (29.06) 3:49.10 (29.17) 4:18.14 (29.04) 4:47.26 (29.12) 5:16.31 (29.05) 5:45.48 (29.17) 6:14.74 (29.26) 6:43.81 (29.07) 7:12.94 (29.13) 7:41.93 (28.99) 8:11.14 (29.21) 8:40.48 (29.34) 9:09.49 (29.01) 9:38.80 (29.31) 10:07.79 (28.99) 10:36.60 (28.81) 11:05.59 (28.99) 11:34.44 (28.85) 12:03.58 (29.14) 12:32.41 (28.83) 13:01.54 (29.13) 13:30.90 (29.36) 14:00.32 (29.42) 14:29.75 (29.43) 14:59.13 (29.38) 15:28.09 (28.96) 15:56.01 (27.92) 8 Brandon, Bonnie JR Arizona-AZ 15:48.35 15:56.60 D1-B 11 r:+0.79 25.76 54.21 (28.45) 1:22.97 (28.76) 1:51.70 (28.73) 2:20.67 (28.97) 2:49.64 (28.97) 3:18.73 (29.09) 3:47.62 (28.89) 4:16.70 (29.08) 4:45.75 (29.05) 5:14.80 (29.05) 5:43.82 (29.02) 6:12.92 (29.10) 6:42.25 (29.33) 7:11.57 (29.32) 7:40.96 (29.39) 8:10.27 (29.31) 8:39.76 (29.49) 9:08.93 (29.17) 9:38.18 (29.25) 10:07.26 (29.08) 10:36.24 (28.98) 11:05.35 (29.11) 11:34.41 (29.06) 12:03.63 (29.22) 12:32.71 (29.08) 13:01.82 (29.11) 13:31.23 (29.41) 14:00.63 (29.40) 14:29.66 (29.03) 14:58.95 (29.29) 15:28.17 (29.22) 15:56.60 (28.43)
1. California 400.5 2. Georgia 335.5 3. Stanford 264 4. Virginia 188 5. Texas A&M 168.5 6. Louisville 151 7. Southern California 128 8. Texas 120 9. Tennessee 110 10. Arizona 93 11. Missouri 90 12. Indiana 82 12. Florida 82 14. Minnesota 66 15. Wisconsin 62 16. NC State 51 17. Penn State 50 18. UNC 45.5 19. Kentucky 44 20. Notre Dame 40 21. Florida Gulf Coast 37.5 22. Auburn 34 23. Florida State 30 24. University of Miami (Florida) 26 24. UCLA 26 26. So. Methodist 25.5 27. Purdue 24 27. Miami University (Ohio) 24 29. Michigan 20 30. Denver 17 30. Alabama 17 32. Nevada 16 33. Virginia Tech 13 34. Oregon State 12 34. Illinois State University 12 36. Iowa 10 37. Lsu 8 38. Ohio State 5 39. San Diego State 4 39. Kansas 4 39. Hawaii (W) 4 42. Arkansas 2 42. Pittsburgh 2 44. Cincinnati 1
2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving, Live Results – Results