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NCAA Women’s Division I Championships: Huske, Ruck, Smith, Forde Dominate for Stanford in 800 Free Relay
After a ninth-place finish last season, Stanford is looking for a quick jump back to the top at the Women’s NCAA Championships, and this Cardinal squad is buoyed by the addition of three Olympians, two freshman and another swimmer returning after a two-year hiatus. Stanford’s stars took center stage in the second event of the meet, the 800 freestyle relay. The all-Olympian group of Torri Huske (1:41.93), Taylor Ruck (1:40.49), Regan Smith (1:43.35) and Brooke Forde (1:42.53) combined to swim a time of 6:48.30, more than five seconds ahead of anyone else in the field.
“It is really special to start like this and do it with a couple of veterans like Taylor and Brooke,” Huske said.
Stanford won its 12th national title in NCAA history in this relay, four more than any other school in history, and this is the third time that Forde has been part of this winning squad after swimming the third leg of the victorious 2018 quarter and then anchoring the Cardinal to victory in 2019. Ruck was also part of the squad in 2019 in her only previous appearance at NCAAs, while Huske and Smith both made their NCAA Championships Wednesday evening.
The race was the second of the session for Smith, who debuted by swimming the backstroke leg for Stanford in the 200 medley relay. Video replays show that Smith missed her turn on the earlier relay as she finished more than a second behind her best split, but she was back around her best in the longer relay to conclude the night.
On the leadoff leg, Huske touched second behind Cal’s Isabel Ivey, who recorded a time of 1:41.35. That became the fastest time in the nation in the 200 free by more than a half-second, while Huske’s leadoff split matched the previous No. 1 time recorded by Penn’s Lia Thomas. Ivey, last year’s national runnerup in the 200 free, improved to ninth all-time in the event and established herself as a serious contender to win the individual 200 free Friday.
However, after that, it became a Stanford show as Ruck swam the only sub-1:41 performance in the field to build a lead of more than 2.5 seconds by the halfway point. “It means so much to me to be on the relay with these girls and at this meet again. It has been two years, and I am having a blast,” Ruck said of her return to the national championships.
At the halfway point, point, Virginia moved into second place after a sizzling 1:41.92 split by sophomore Alex Walsh, the fourth-best in the field behind Ruck, Ivey and Huske. Virginia and Cal would end up battling to the finish for the second-place spot, and in the end, the Cavaliers came out on top by five hundredths. The Virginia team of Reilly Tiltmann, Walsh, Ella Nelson and Emma Weyant ended up finishing in 6:53.47, just ahead of Cal’s Ivey, Ayla Spitz, Mia Motekaitis and Leah Polonsky in 6:53.52.
Texas, led by a 1:42.94 leadoff split by Kelly Pash, ended up fourth in 6:56.21, while Georgia finished fifth out of the second-to-last heat as Zoie Hartmann anchored in 1:42.37. Further down in the standings, Kentucky’s Riley Gaines delivered a 1:42.18 split on the second leg as the Wildcats ended up ninth overall.
Team scores:
1. Virginia 74 2. Texas 58 3. California 56 4. Stanford 54 5. Louisville 46 6. NC State 44 7. Alabama 38 7. Ohio St 38 9. Georgia 34 9. Tennessee 34 11. Florida 26 11. Michigan 26 13. Kentucky 18 13. Southern California 18 15. Wisconsin 14 16. Arizona St 12 17. UNC 10 18. Northwestern 8 18. Indiana 8 20. Virginia Tech 2 20. Arizona 2
Event 2 Women 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
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NCAA: N 6:45.91 3/15/2017 Stanford
S Manuel, L Neal, E Eastin, K Ledecky
Meet: M 6:45.91 3/15/2017 Stanford
S Manuel, L Neal, E Eastin, K Ledecky
American: A 6:45.91 3/15/2017 Stanford
S Manuel, L Neal, E Eastin, K Ledecky
US Open: O 6:45.91 3/15/2017 Stanford
S Manuel, L Neal, E Eastin, K Ledecky
Pool: P 6:51.80 3/16/2016 Georgia
H Flickinger, K Stewart, M Raab, B MacLean
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 Stanford 6:50.21 6:48.30P 40
1) Huske, Torri FR 2) r:0.29 Ruck, Taylor JR
3) r:0.16 Smith, Regan FR 4) r:0.22 Forde, Brooke 5Y
r:+0.59 23.41 49.10 (49.10)
1:14.89 (1:14.89) 1:41.93 (1:41.93)
2:04.62 (22.69) 2:29.93 (48.00)
2:55.75 (1:13.82) 3:22.42 (1:40.49)
3:46.12 (23.70) 4:12.61 (50.19)
4:38.99 (1:16.57) 5:05.77 (1:43.35)
5:29.84 (24.07) 5:55.72 (49.95)
6:21.89 (1:16.12) 6:48.30 (1:42.53)
2 Virginia 6:53.37 6:53.47 34
1) Tiltmann, Reilly FR 2) r:0.24 Walsh, Alex SO
3) r:0.25 Nelson, Ella JR 4) r:0.39 Weyant, Emma FR
r:+0.69 24.45 50.86 (50.86)
1:16.58 (1:16.58) 1:43.17 (1:43.17)
2:06.48 (23.31) 2:32.44 (49.27)
2:58.66 (1:15.49) 3:25.09 (1:41.92)
3:49.24 (24.15) 4:15.79 (50.70)
4:42.32 (1:17.23) 5:08.67 (1:43.58)
5:32.94 (24.27) 5:59.33 (50.66)
6:26.51 (1:17.84) 6:53.47 (1:44.80)
3 California 6:57.59 6:53.52 32
1) Ivey, Isabel SR 2) r:0.13 Spitz, Ayla JR
3) r:0.24 Motekaitis, Mia JR 4) r:0.18 Polonsky, Leah FR
r:+0.71 23.40 48.44 (48.44)
1:14.35 (1:14.35) 1:41.35 (1:41.35)
2:05.02 (23.67) 2:31.31 (49.96)
2:58.35 (1:17.00) 3:25.72 (1:44.37)
3:49.35 (23.63) 4:15.94 (50.22)
4:43.01 (1:17.29) 5:10.31 (1:44.59)
5:33.68 (23.37) 5:59.72 (49.41)
6:26.49 (1:16.18) 6:53.52 (1:43.21)
4 Texas 6:56.94 6:56.21 30
1) Pash, Kelly JR 2) r:0.24 Bray, Olivia SO
3) r:0.28 Leibel, Kyla JR 4) r:0.24 Pfeifer, Evie 5Y
r:+0.69 23.84 49.81 (49.81)
1:16.30 (1:16.30) 1:42.94 (1:42.94)
2:06.72 (23.78) 2:33.31 (50.37)
3:00.79 (1:17.85) 3:27.97 (1:45.03)
3:51.08 (23.11) 4:16.72 (48.75)
4:43.75 (1:15.78) 5:11.92 (1:43.95)
5:36.02 (24.10) 6:02.50 (50.58)
6:29.49 (1:17.57) 6:56.21 (1:44.29)
5 Georgia 7:01.34 6:56.58 28
1) Parker, Maxine SO 2) r:0.43 Coetzee, Dune FR
3) r:0.34 Dickinson, Callie SR 4) r:0.38 Hartman, Zoie JR
r:+0.71 24.34 50.57 (50.57)
1:17.26 (1:17.26) 1:44.24 (1:44.24)
2:08.56 (24.32) 2:34.96 (50.72)
3:01.94 (1:17.70) 3:28.63 (1:44.39)
3:52.55 (23.92) 4:19.24 (50.61)
4:46.83 (1:18.20) 5:14.21 (1:45.58)
5:37.35 (23.14) 6:03.13 (48.92)
6:29.68 (1:15.47) 6:56.58 (1:42.37)
6 Florida 7:01.77 6:56.96 26
1) Bates, Talia JR 2) r:0.51 Nikonova, Ekaterina FR
3) r:0.08 Cronk, Micayla FR 4) r:0.10 Mathieu, Tylor JR
r:+0.71 23.90 50.15 (50.15)
1:17.07 (1:17.07) 1:43.87 (1:43.87)
2:07.77 (23.90) 2:34.15 (50.28)
3:01.08 (1:17.21) 3:27.68 (1:43.81)
3:51.49 (23.81) 4:17.96 (50.28)
4:45.00 (1:17.32) 5:12.24 (1:44.56)
5:36.33 (24.09) 6:02.80 (50.56)
6:29.69 (1:17.45) 6:56.96 (1:44.72)
7 Louisville 7:00.62 6:57.24 24
1) Openysheva, Arina SR 2) r:0.40 Hetrick, Paige SO
3) r:0.51 Nevmovenko, Polina FR 4) r:0.32 Ulett, Tristen SO
r:+0.61 24.44 50.92 (50.92)
1:17.27 (1:17.27) 1:43.59 (1:43.59)
2:07.28 (23.69) 2:33.31 (49.72)
3:00.27 (1:16.68) 3:27.84 (1:44.25)
3:51.84 (24.00) 4:17.76 (49.92)
4:45.01 (1:17.17) 5:12.81 (1:44.97)
5:36.48 (23.67) 6:02.80 (49.99)
6:29.98 (1:17.17) 6:57.24 (1:44.43)
8 Tennessee 6:56.43 6:57.79 22
1) Mrozinski, Julia FR 2) r:0.26 Walshe, Ellen FR
3) r:0.41 Douthwright, Brklyn FR 4) r:0.45 Pintar, Tjasa 5Y
r:+0.63 24.12 50.52 (50.52)
1:17.58 (1:17.58) 1:44.80 (1:44.80)
2:08.59 (23.79) 2:34.69 (49.89)
3:01.60 (1:16.80) 3:28.28 (1:43.48)
3:52.31 (24.03) 4:18.81 (50.53)
4:45.85 (1:17.57) 5:13.30 (1:45.02)
5:37.54 (24.24) 6:04.05 (50.75)
6:31.01 (1:17.71) 6:57.79 (1:44.49)
