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NCAA Women’s Championships: Virginia Caps Off Dominant Meet With American Record in 400 Free Relay
At the conclusion of a dominant swim meet, the University of Virginia women capped off their NCAA-title-winning performance by breaking the American, NCAA and U.S. Open records in the 400 freestyle relay. The quartet of Kate Douglass (46.62), Alex Walsh (46.49), Reilly Tiltmann (46.49) and Gretchen Walsh (46.01) combined for a time of 3:06.91, edging out the previous all-time best of 3:06.96 set by California in 2019 and crushing the old American record of 3:07.61 that Stanford set in 2017.
Stanford’s team of Torri Huske, Lillie Nordmann, Regan Smith and Taylor Ruck placed second in 3:08.97, but that was not enough for Stanford to move ahead of Texas for second place in the final team standings as the Longhorns placed ninth to maintain part of the 22.5-point advance they built during platform diving.
The Alabama team of Diana Petkova, Morgan Scott, Kalia Antoniou and Cora Dupre finished third in 3:09.07, just a tenth behind Stanford, while NC State and Michigan tied for fourth in 3:09.95.
The win was the fourth of the competition for Virginia after previous wins in the 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay, and the Cavaliers also placed second to Stanford in the 800 free relay. Douglass and Gretchen Walsh were part of all four relay wins, while Alex Walsh was a contributor to three of those squads. Virginia now owns American, NCAA and U.S. Open records in all four shorter relays after setting three at the ACC Championships last month and then matching the record in the 400 medley relay Friday. The record was also the seventh set or tied this meet, and all but one (the women’s 100 backstroke) was by a Virginia swimmer or relay team.
The win put the finishing touches on Virginia’s second consecutive national title as the Cavaliers ended the meet with 551.5 points, 145.5 ahead of second-place Texas.
“Last year was awesome for us, but I kind of feel like we walked into the meet knowing there was a good chance we were going to win,” Douglass said. “This year, there was a target on our back and it would be more competitive trying to win this year. From the first prelims session, we started off really great, and we just kept it momentum going. We all exceeded expectations at this meet. This relay was a great way to top it off, and it was so much fun.”
Final team scores:
1. Virginia 551.5 2. Texas 406 3. Stanford 399.5 4. Alabama 288 5. NC State 279 6. Louisville 196.5 7. Michigan 184.5 8. California 180 9. Ohio St 165 10. Tennessee 127 11. Indiana 116 12. Kentucky 115.5 13. Florida 115 14. UNC 109 15. Georgia 104.5 16. Southern California 102 17. Wisconsin 100 18. Northwestern 73 19. Arizona 52.5 20. Penn 44.5 21. Minnesota 43 22. Miami (Florida) 41.5 23. Virginia Tech 37 24. Duke 36 25. Missouri 34 26. Arizona St 29 27. Rutgers 18 28. Arkansas 15 29. Yale 14.5 30. Purdue 14 31. South Carolina 9 32. Lsu 8 33. Notre Dame 6 34. Wyoming 4 34. UCLA 4 36. Florida Int'l 3 37. San Diego St 2 37. Harvard 2 39. Texas A&M 1
Event 21 Women 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
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NCAA: N 3:06.96 3/23/2019 California
I Ivey, K McLaughlin, A Bilquist, A Weitzeil
Meet: M 3:06.96 3/23/2019 California
I Ivey, K McLaughlin, A Bilquist, A Weitzeil
American: A 3:07.61 3/18/2017 Stanford
S Manuel, K Ledecky, J Hu, L Neal
US Open: O 3:07.41 3/2/2019 California
R Nuemann, K McLaughlin, A Bilquist, A Weitzeil
Pool: P 3:08.22 2/19/2022 Virginia
K Douglass, A Walsh, R Tiltmann, G Walsh
School Finals Points
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1 Virginia 3:06.91N 40
1) Douglass, Kate JR 2) r:0.43 Walsh, Alex SO
3) r:0.20 Tiltmann, Reilly FR 4) r:0.29 Walsh, Gretchen FR
r:+0.64 22.19 46.62 (46.62)
1:08.74 (22.12) 1:33.11 (46.49)
1:55.79 (22.68) 2:20.90 (47.79)
2:42.70 (21.80) 3:06.91 (46.01)
2 Stanford 3:08.97 34
1) Huske, Torri FR 2) r:0.25 Nordmann, Lillie FR
3) r:0.06 Smith, Regan FR 4) r:0.22 Ruck, Taylor JR
r:+0.59 22.31 46.82 (46.82)
1:09.62 (22.80) 1:34.53 (47.71)
1:57.23 (22.70) 2:22.27 (47.74)
2:44.38 (22.11) 3:08.97 (46.70)
3 Alabama 3:09.07 32
1) Petkova, Diana SO 2) r:0.29 Scott, Morgan SR
3) r:0.29 Antoniou, Kalia SR 4) r:0.24 Dupre, Cora JR
r:+0.68 23.00 48.35 (48.35)
1:10.12 (21.77) 1:35.08 (46.73)
1:57.71 (22.63) 2:22.57 (47.49)
2:44.33 (21.76) 3:09.07 (46.50)
4 NCSU 3:09.95 29
1) Berkoff, Katharine JR 2) r:0.29 Alons, Kylee SR
3) r:0.23 Crush, Annabel FR 4) r:0.28 Arens, Abby SO
r:+0.69 22.62 46.96 (46.96)
1:09.55 (22.59) 1:34.49 (47.53)
1:57.30 (22.81) 2:22.67 (48.18)
2:45.11 (22.44) 3:09.95 (47.28)
4 Michigan 3:09.95 29
1) Flynn, Lindsay FR 2) r:0.82 Newman, Claire SO
3) r:0.26 MacNeil, Maggie SR 4) r:0.16 Carter, Olivia SR
r:+0.66 22.74 47.50 (47.50)
1:09.92 (22.42) 1:35.34 (47.84)
1:57.51 (22.17) 2:22.14 (46.80)
2:44.97 (22.83) 3:09.95 (47.81)
6 Louisville 3:10.69 26
1) Albiero, Gabi SO 2) r:0.13 Regenauer, Chriiana JR
3) r:0.35 Ulett, Tristen SO 4) r:0.32 Openysheva, Arina SR
r:+0.61 22.94 47.57 (47.57)
1:10.05 (22.48) 1:35.14 (47.57)
1:58.05 (22.91) 2:23.14 (48.00)
2:45.57 (22.43) 3:10.69 (47.55)
7 Florida 3:11.07 24
1) Nikonova, Ekaterina FR 2) r:0.13 Bates, Talia JR
3) r:0.19 Mack, Katie JR 4) r:0.21 Cronk, Micayla FR
r:+0.68 22.99 48.05 (48.05)
1:10.62 (22.57) 1:35.71 (47.66)
1:58.33 (22.62) 2:23.50 (47.79)
2:46.14 (22.64) 3:11.07 (47.57)
8 Ohio St 3:11.44 22
1) Zenick, Katherine SO 2) r:0.40 Fulmer, Amy JR
3) r:0.41 Crane, Emily SR 4) r:0.04 Ivan, Teresa FR
r:+0.61 22.82 47.77 (47.77)
1:10.30 (22.53) 1:34.87 (47.10)
1:57.70 (22.83) 2:23.36 (48.49)
2:45.81 (22.45) 3:11.44 (48.08)
