NCAA Women’s Championships: Gretchen Walsh Ties 50 Free Record, Leads Virginia to 200 Free Relay Win Over Spirited Louisville Surge
Immediately after her victory in the 50 freestyle earlier in the evening, Gretchen Walsh admitted she was slightly disappointed to have fallen short of her best time, even if the aforementioned mark was the fastest time ever recorded. But Walsh took out her frustrations just over an hour later as she led off the Cavaliers’ 200 freestyle relay and, for the fourth consecutive year, led her team to a national victory in the event.
On the leadoff leg, Walsh finished in 20.37 to match her American, NCAA and U.S. Open marks in the 50 free to the hundredth. The 22-year-old now owns the 10 fastest performances ever recorded as she repeated the exact 25-yard splits she swam in her initial record-setting effort one year ago. From there, Virginia might have been expected to cruise to the win, but the Cavaliers had to work extra hard on the back end as veteran Louisville swimmers ate into the gap.
In the individual 50 free final earlier in the session, Virginia’s Claire Curzan finished second while Louisville’s Julia Dennis was third, but when they faced off again in the relay, Dennis split 20.63 to Curzan’s 21.18 to pull within a second. Gabi Albiero and Ella Welch continued pressing, but Cavaliers veteran Maxine Parker and freshman Anna Moesch had enough to get to the wall in 1:24.45, 69-hundredths ahead of Louisville’s time of 1:25.04.
Third place went to Stanford’s team of Torri Huske, Lucy Thomas, Gigi Johnson and Amy Tang in 1:25.69. Huske led off in 20.92 to become the fifth woman ever under 21 in the event, joining Walsh, Maggie Mac Neil, Kate Douglass and Abbey Weitzeil. Michigan, anchored by Lindsay Flynn in 21.29, was just behind in 1:26.04 while Indiana’s Kristina Paegle came home in 21.05 to deliver a fifth-place result for her team.
Virginia owns the NCAA and U.S. Open records in all five relays contested on the college level. The sprint marks fell to the Cavaliers’ regime long ago, and the 800 free relay mark joined the collection at last month’s ACC Championships as Walsh and Curzan each made rare appearances on that squad. At the national level, Walsh has stuck with the 200 and 400-yard relays and helped her team win in all 14 opportunities during her career.
“It’s been really cool to be a part of that,” Walsh said. “I think relays are arguably just as important as individual titles. It means a lot, and it means a lot to our program and what we’ve created in terms of the NCAA records we have now. That legacy that we have is really cool to be a part of. I’m happy I’ve been able to contribute to it.
The Cavaliers won this 200 free relay without utilizing the services of Alex Walsh, Gretchen’s older sister. The additions of Curzan and Moesch to the roster this season allowed UVA to save Alex for the remaining four relays and two upcoming individual events while losing virtually nothing.
The triumph gave Virginia 225 points at the conclusion of day two, a 47-point edge over Stanford. That total is slightly more points than Virginia had achieved at the end of Thursday’s action during their four previous national-title runs.
The advantage is likely to grow with both Walsh sisters, Curzan and Katie Grimes all favored for individual wins over the remaining two days and Virginia expected to crush the field in both 400-yard relays. However, Stanford has impressed thus far, including in the Cardinal’s third-place finish in this event, and the team sits second with 178 points. Texas is third with 152, followed by Louisville (106.5) and Indiana (102).
“I think we’ve been focusing on just having really high goals for ourselves,” Parker said. “(Virginia head coach) Todd (DeSorbo) has been telling us to reach for the stars. If you reach for the stars and you land on the moon, you still did great. Just having high expectations, high goals, and if you aren’t all the way there, it’s still a great meet.
Event 7 Women 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
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NCAA: N 1:23.63 2/21/2024 Virginia
J Nocentini, G Walsh, A Walsh, M Parker
Meet: M 1:24.05 3/21/2024 Virginia
J Nocentini, G Walsh, A Walsh, M Parker
American: A 1:23.87 2/15/2023 Virginia
K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh
US Open: O 1:23.63 2/21/2024 Virginia
J Nocentini, G Walsh, A Walsh, M Parker
School Seed Finals Points
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1 Virginia 1:24.03 1:24.45 40
1) Walsh, Gretchen SR 2) r:0.57 Curzan, Claire JR
3) r:0.20 Parker, Maxine 5Y 4) r:0.08 Moesch, Anna FR
r:+0.72 9.88 20.37 (20.37)
30.47 (10.10) 41.55 (21.18)
51.82 (10.27) 1:03.11 (21.56)
1:13.16 (10.05) 1:24.45 (21.34)
2 Louisville 1:25.52 1:25.04 34
1) Larsen, Caroline FR 2) r:0.10 Dennis, Julia JR
3) r:0.90 Albiero, Gabi 5Y 4) r:0.13 Welch, Ella JR
r:+0.70 10.53 21.80 (21.80)
31.37 (9.57) 42.43 (20.63)
52.58 (10.15) 1:03.81 (21.38)
1:13.77 (9.96) 1:25.04 (21.23)
3 Stanford 1:26.08 1:25.69 32
1) Huske, Torri JR 2) r:0.04 Thomas, Lucy SO
3) r:0.11 Johnson, Gigi JR 4) r:0.29 Tang, Amy SR
r:+0.60 10.15 20.92 (20.92)
30.94 (10.02) 42.52 (21.60)
52.54 (10.02) 1:03.83 (21.31)
1:14.10 (10.27) 1:25.69 (21.86)
4 Michigan 1:26.13 1:26.04 30
1) Kendall, Brady JR 2) r:0.24 Newman, Claire 5Y
3) r:0.24 Balduccini, Steanie SO 4) r:0.20 Flynn, Lindsay SR
r:+0.60 10.28 21.61 (21.61)
31.74 (10.13) 43.19 (21.58)
53.45 (10.26) 1:04.75 (21.56)
1:14.74 (9.99) 1:26.04 (21.29)
5 Indiana 1:26.79 1:26.68 28
1) Peplowski, Anna SR 2) r:0.16 Dewitt, Mya JR
3) r:0.23 McKenna, Kacey SR 4) r:0.21 Paegle, Kristina JR
r:+0.69 10.62 21.86 (21.86)
32.06 (10.20) 43.51 (21.65)
54.07 (10.56) 1:05.63 (22.12)
1:15.51 (9.88) 1:26.68 (21.05)
6 NC State 1:26.52 1:26.82 26
1) Christianson, Lily FR 2) r:0.10 Nel, Olivia JR
3) r:0.17 Pelaez, Erika FR 4) r:0.21 Shackley, Leah FR
r:+0.64 10.64 21.99 (21.99)
32.15 (10.16) 43.42 (21.43)
53.68 (10.26) 1:05.00 (21.58)
1:15.42 (10.42) 1:26.82 (21.82)
7 California 1:26.69 1:26.96 24
1) Moluh, Mary-Ambre FR 2) r:0.24 West, Mia FR
3) r:0.29 Stadden, Isabelle 5Y 4) r:0.11 Stone, Mckenna SR
r:+0.68 10.50 21.73 (21.73)
31.94 (10.21) 43.36 (21.63)
53.74 (10.38) 1:05.45 (22.09)
1:15.51 (10.06) 1:26.96 (21.51)
8 Texas 1:25.90 1:27.00 22
1) Cooper, Grace 5Y 2) r:0.17 Sticklen, Emma 5Y
3) r:0.19 Arens, Abby 5Y 4) r:0.16 Longi, Ava 5Y
r:+0.62 10.45 22.21 (22.21)
32.43 (10.22) 43.62 (21.41)
53.66 (10.04) 1:05.23 (21.61)
1:15.37 (10.14) 1:27.00 (21.77)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 7 1. Virginia 225 2. Stanford 178 3. Texas 152 4. Louisville 106.5 5. Indiana 102 6. Tennessee 93 7. Michigan 92 8. California 89.5 9. Florida 71 10. NC State 54 11. Wisconsin 53 12. Miami (Fl) 42.5 13. Georgia 38 14. Southern California 35 15. UNC 34 16. Alabama 33 17. Arizona St 31.5 18. Ohio St 23 19. Lsu 15 19. Arizona 15 21. Pittsburgh 14 22. Kansas 12 23. South Carolina 9 24. Duke 7 25. Texas A&M 6 25. Auburn 6 25. Virginia Tech 6 28. Purdue 5 29. Minnesota 2
