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NCAA Women’s Championships: Alex Walsh, Emma Weyant Pace 400 IM Heats as Virginia Momentum Continues
The swimming portion of the NCAA Women’s Championships has been all about the Virginia Cavaliers so far. Virginia has won four out of six events so far while finishing second in the other two races to open up a significant lead in the team competition, and that dominance looks set to continue as Virginia swimmers went 1-2 in the first race of Friday morning.
Fresh off an American-record-breaking performance in the 200 IM and then a key leg on Virginia’s victorious 200 freestyle relay, Alex Walsh was back in the pool Friday morning for the 400 IM, and she dominated her heat to put up the top qualifying performance. Walsh was challenged by Louisville’s Abby Hay on the butterfly leg, but she quickly pulled ahead on the backstroke and breaststroke.
Walsh slowed down on the freestyle leg, likely content to save her best swim for the final, and she touched in 4:01.74, just a few tenths off her lifetime best of 4:01.40 from the Tennessee Invitational in November. Meanwhile, fellow Cavalier Emma Weyant closed the gap on Walsh on the freestyle before finishing second in the heat in 4:03.46. Weyant, who swam a huge lifetime best to place second in the 500 free, earned lane five for the final.
Tennessee’s Ellen Walshe, the third overall seed coming into the meet, was coming off a disappointing performance in Friday’s 200 IM when she finished 16th, but she bounced back nicely in the 400 IM. In the first circle-seeded heat, Walshe was even with her heat through 300 yards before pulling ahead and opening up a bodylength lead on the freestyle. She ended up finishing in 4:03.60 to qualify third.
The No. 4 qualifier was the defending NCAA champion, Stanford’s Brooke Forde. Forde was in sixth place in her heat at the halfway point before surging on breaststroke and freestyle. She touched in 4:04.25. Just behind Forde were Florida’s Mabel Zavaros (4:04.43) and Kentucky teammates Bailey Bonnett (4:04.86) and Lauren Poole (4:04.87). Virginia’s Ella Nelson, the runnerup in the event last season, finished in 4:05.47 to squeak into the final as the No. 8 seed.
Event 8 Women 400 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Meet: M 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
American: A 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
US Open: O 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Pool: P 3:58.40 3/18/2016 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Walsh, Alex SO Virginia 4:01.74
r:+0.75 25.61 54.69 (29.08)
1:25.50 (30.81) 1:55.05 (29.55)
2:29.12 (34.07) 3:03.99 (34.87)
3:33.35 (29.36) 4:01.74 (28.39)
2 Weyant, Emma FR Virginia 4:03.46
r:+0.69 26.72 56.84 (30.12)
1:27.85 (31.01) 1:58.03 (30.18)
2:32.84 (34.81) 3:07.73 (34.89)
3:36.07 (28.34) 4:03.46 (27.39)
3 Walshe, Ellen FR Tennessee 4:03.60
r:+0.64 25.97 56.34 (30.37)
1:27.47 (31.13) 1:57.95 (30.48)
2:32.47 (34.52) 3:07.20 (34.73)
3:35.82 (28.62) 4:03.60 (27.78)
4 Forde, Brooke 5Y Stanford 4:04.25
r:+0.70 26.73 56.40 (29.67)
1:28.84 (32.44) 1:59.84 (31.00)
2:33.88 (34.04) 3:08.21 (34.33)
3:37.10 (28.89) 4:04.25 (27.15)
5 Zavaros, Mabel SO Florida 4:04.43
r:+0.68 25.80 55.03 (29.23)
1:26.30 (31.27) 1:57.08 (30.78)
2:32.70 (35.62) 3:08.68 (35.98)
3:37.45 (28.77) 4:04.43 (26.98)
6 Bonnett, Bailey 5Y Kentucky 4:04.86
r:+0.64 26.50 56.46 (29.96)
1:27.89 (31.43) 1:58.53 (30.64)
2:32.02 (33.49) 3:06.47 (34.45)
3:36.09 (29.62) 4:04.86 (28.77)
7 Poole, Lauren JR Kentucky 4:04.87
r:+0.71 26.34 56.40 (30.06)
1:27.50 (31.10) 1:57.95 (30.45)
2:32.51 (34.56) 3:07.19 (34.68)
3:36.77 (29.58) 4:04.87 (28.10)
8 Nelson, Ella JR Virginia 4:05.47
r:+0.65 26.55 56.20 (29.65)
1:28.69 (32.49) 2:00.13 (31.44)
2:34.35 (34.22) 3:08.71 (34.36)
3:37.54 (28.83) 4:05.47 (27.93)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
9 Romano, Kristen 5Y Ohio St 4:06.00
r:+0.75 26.06 55.69 (29.63)
1:27.10 (31.41) 1:58.20 (31.10)
2:32.85 (34.65) 3:08.27 (35.42)
3:37.69 (29.42) 4:06.00 (28.31)
10 Gyorgy, Reka 5Y VT 4:06.48
r:+0.66 26.46 56.25 (29.79)
1:27.20 (30.95) 1:57.71 (30.51)
2:32.94 (35.23) 3:09.21 (36.27)
3:38.62 (29.41) 4:06.48 (27.86)
11 Van Berkom, Megan SO Minnesota 4:06.81
r:+0.70 26.30 55.52 (29.22)
1:27.24 (31.72) 1:58.51 (31.27)
2:32.91 (34.40) 3:08.31 (35.40)
3:37.79 (29.48) 4:06.81 (29.02)
12 Hay, Abby JR Louisville 4:07.18
r:+0.71 25.31 54.20 (28.89)
1:25.56 (31.36) 1:57.38 (31.82)
2:32.41 (35.03) 3:07.68 (35.27)
3:37.88 (30.20) 4:07.18 (29.30)
13 Yager, Alexis 5Y Tennessee 4:07.35
r:+0.71 26.61 57.00 (30.39)
1:29.13 (32.13) 2:00.44 (31.31)
2:34.22 (33.78) 3:08.99 (34.77)
3:38.68 (29.69) 4:07.35 (28.67)
14 Pasadyn, Felicia SR Harvard 4:08.25
r:+0.68 25.42 54.79 (29.37)
1:26.06 (31.27) 1:56.75 (30.69)
2:33.11 (36.36) 3:10.20 (37.09)
3:39.72 (29.52) 4:08.25 (28.53)
15 Davey, Gillian JR Kentucky 4:08.27
r:+0.68 26.74 57.21 (30.47)
1:30.04 (32.83) 2:02.63 (32.59)
2:35.67 (33.04) 3:09.61 (33.94)
3:39.52 (29.91) 4:08.27 (28.75)
16 Polonsky, Leah FR California 4:08.55
r:+0.67 26.09 55.86 (29.77)
1:27.17 (31.31) 1:58.28 (31.11)
2:32.80 (34.52) 3:08.43 (35.63)
3:39.70 (31.27) 4:08.55 (28.85)
