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NCAA Women’s Championships: Emma Sticklen Leads Three Texas A-Finalists in 200 Fly; Regan Smith Makes Second Final of Day
The University of Texas sits in third place heading into the final day of the NCAA Women’s Championships despite recording zero top-two finishes so far, but Texas will be poised for its best event yet in the 200 butterfly. A trio of Longhorns qualified for the A-final, and leading the way was sophomore Emma Sticklen.
Sticklen swam a 1:51.45 in prelims, and teammates Kelly Pash (sixth, 1:52.42) and Olivia Bray (seventh, 1:52.61) also got into the championship heat. The Longhorns will score at least 36 points in this event and possibly more than 50 as they attempt a final-day charge to try to catch Stanford for second place in the team race.
Sticklen needed every bit of her outstanding swim to hold off Georgia’s Dakota Luther and Stanford’s Regan Smith in the final heat. Luther ended up qualifying second in 1:51.64, and Smith was third in 1:51.76. For Smith, the swim came just an hour after she earned the top time in the 200 backstroke prelims. The Olympic silver medalist in the 200-meter fly and the second-fastest swimmer ever in the 200-yard fly, Smith was only in fourth place in her heat at the halfway point before accelerating down the stretch.
Meanwhile, defending national champion Olivia Carter of Michigan qualified fourth in 1:51.86, and just behind her was Virginia’s Alex Walsh, who has already won two titles this week in the 200 IM and 400 IM. Walsh finished in 1:51.90, and the versatile sophomore will have a chance to win a third individual title in the evening session. Eighth place went to Cal’s Rachel Klinker in 1:53.37.
The heats were so fast that seven of the top eight swimmers eclipsed the 1:52.87 that Bray swam to finish second at the NCAA Championships last season.
Event 19 Women 200 Yard Butterfly
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NCAA: N 1:49.51 2/24/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Meet: M 1:50.01 3/17/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
American: A 1:49.51 2/24/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
US Open: O 1:49.51 2/24/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Pool: P 1:50.61 3/19/2016 Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Sticklen, Emma SO Texas 1:51.45
r:+0.66 24.66 52.96 (28.30)
1:21.49 (28.53) 1:51.45 (29.96)
2 Luther, Dakota SR Georgia 1:51.64
r:+0.67 25.30 53.48 (28.18)
1:22.20 (28.72) 1:51.64 (29.44)
3 Smith, Regan FR Stanford 1:51.76
r:+0.68 25.46 54.27 (28.81)
1:22.89 (28.62) 1:51.76 (28.87)
4 Carter, Olivia SR Michigan 1:51.86
r:+0.63 25.25 53.66 (28.41)
1:22.19 (28.53) 1:51.86 (29.67)
5 Walsh, Alex SO Virginia 1:51.90
r:+0.76 24.92 53.19 (28.27)
1:22.02 (28.83) 1:51.90 (29.88)
6 Pash, Kelly JR Texas 1:52.42
r:+0.67 25.19 53.94 (28.75)
1:22.64 (28.70) 1:52.42 (29.78)
7 Bray, Olivia SO Texas 1:52.61
r:+0.70 24.59 52.84 (28.25)
1:22.16 (29.32) 1:52.61 (30.45)
8 Klinker, Rachel JR California 1:53.37
r:+0.70 25.63 53.61 (27.98)
1:22.84 (29.23) 1:53.37 (30.53)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
9 Gaines, Riley SR Kentucky 1:53.63
r:+0.65 25.42 53.98 (28.56)
1:23.31 (29.33) 1:53.63 (30.32)
9 Nordmann, Lillie FR Stanford 1:53.63
r:+0.67 25.45 54.18 (28.73)
1:23.33 (29.15) 1:53.63 (30.30)
11 Harter, Abby SO Virginia 1:53.89
r:+0.71 25.29 53.32 (28.03)
1:22.63 (29.31) 1:53.89 (31.26)
12 Looney, Lindsay JR ASU 1:54.04
r:+0.66 25.51 54.22 (28.71)
1:23.45 (29.23) 1:54.04 (30.59)
13 Hay, Abby JR Louisville 1:54.70
r:+0.70 25.48 54.33 (28.85)
1:24.38 (30.05) 1:54.70 (30.32)
14 Sheble, Grace FR NCSU 1:54.75
r:+0.67 25.91 54.82 (28.91)
1:24.55 (29.73) 1:54.75 (30.20)
15 Ulett, Tristen SO Louisville 1:54.81
r:+0.78 25.58 54.55 (28.97)
1:24.27 (29.72) 1:54.81 (30.54)
16 Kraus, Alena SR Louisville 1:54.83
r:+0.68 25.38 54.00 (28.62)
1:23.88 (29.88) 1:54.83 (30.95)
