Virginia Opens ACC Championships With Fastest Time Ever in 200 Medley Relay
For the third consecutive year, the University of Virginia women have posted the fastest time in history in the 200 medley relay at the ACC Championships. The Cavaliers, who set American, NCAA and U.S. Open records in three out of five relays at last season’s conference meet, opened up this one by eclipsing their previous all-time fastest mark in the 200 medley relay by eight hundredths of a second. The team of Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo and Kate Douglass posted a mark of 1:31.73.
Three of the four swimmers returned from last year’s relay, with Alex Walsh stepping into the breaststroke leg for the graduated Alexis Wenger. Gretchen Walsh led off in 22.65, which was the fastest 50 backstroke split in history, beating the mark of 22.76 that NC State’s Katharine Berkoff posted at last year’s NCAA Championships. That mark was broken almost immediately when LSU’s Maggie Mac Neil went 22.52 on the same night at the SEC Championships.
The older Walsh sister split 26.10 on breaststroke, and Cuomo went 22.49 on butterfly. Douglass, the NCAA champion and American-record holder in the 50 freestyle, came home in 20.49. While the versatile Walsh could not match the splits posted by Wenger on breaststroke, Cuomo and Douglass both beat their top times from last season to cement another record.
North Carolina State finished second in the race in 1:33.02 with Berkoff, Heather MacCausland, Kylee Alons and Abby Arens. While Berkoff was a half-second behind her all-time best form on backstroke, Alons went 21.99 on butterfly, faster than any woman in the field at last year’s NCAA Championships. While the Wolfpack finished more than a second behind the Cavaliers, Virginia and NC State were the only teams to post quicker marks all of last season.
Louisville, with Abby Hay, Cecilia Viberg, Christiana Regenauer and Gabi Albiero, placed third in 1:34.23, with Albiero splitting a sizzling 20.88 on the anchor leg.
Event 3 Women 200 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
MEET: # 1:31.81 2/17/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Cuomo, K Douglass
CONF: % 1:31.81 2/17/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Cuomo, K Douglass
AMER: $ 1:31.81 2/17/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Cuomo, K Douglass
USOP: & 1:31.81 2/17/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Cuomo, K Douglass
NCAA: ! 1:31.81 2/17/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Cuomo, K Douglass
GAC Pool: ^ 1:32.93 2/17/2021 University of Virginia, UVA-V
C Gmelich, A Wenger, A Cuomo, K Douglass
1:36.24 A
1:37.02 B
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 UVA 'A' 1:34.33 1:31.73#A 64
1) Walsh, Gretchen C SO 2) r:0.33 Walsh, Alex JR
3) r:0.23 Cuomo, Lexi SR 4) r:0.24 Douglass, Kate SR
r:+0.98 22.65 48.75 (26.10)
1:11.24 (22.49) 1:31.73 (20.49)
2 NC State 'A' 1:33.49 1:33.02 A 56
1) Berkoff, Katharine F SR 2) r:0.15 MacCausland, Hether SR
3) r:0.08 Alons, Kylee SR 4) r:0.11 Arens, Abby JR
r:+0.57 23.22 49.62 (26.40)
1:11.61 (21.99) 1:33.02 (21.41)
3 Louisville 'A' 1:35.01 1:34.23 A 54
1) Hay, Abby E SR 2) r:0.25 Viberg, Cecilla FR
3) r:0.10 Regenauer, Chriiana SR 4) r:0.08 Albiero, Gabi JR
r:+0.79 23.54 50.79 (27.25)
1:13.35 (22.56) 1:34.23 (20.88)
4 UNC 'A' 1:35.65 1:34.70 A 52
1) Pattison, Greer A SO 2) r:0.15 Smith, Skyler SO
3) r:0.15 Vannote, Ellie SR 4) r:0.29 Countie, Grace SR
r:+0.73 24.18 50.46 (26.28)
1:13.57 (23.11) 1:34.70 (21.13)
5 Duke 'A' 1:35.98 1:36.31 B 50
1) Shuppert, Emma 2) r:0.03 Gridley, Kaelyn
3) r:0.27 Ozkan, Aleyna 4) r:0.00 Smith, McKenna
r:+0.65 24.02 50.79 (26.77)
1:14.33 (23.54) 1:36.31 (21.98)
6 FSU 'A' 1:36.84 1:36.61 B 48
1) Quaglieri, Tania SR 2) r:0.16 Mansson, Julia FR
3) r:0.13 Halden, Jenny JR 4) r:0.14 Muzito, Gloria SO
r:+0.57 24.33 51.91 (27.58)
1:14.44 (22.53) 1:36.61 (22.17)
7 PITT 'A' 1:38.63 1:36.68 B 46
1) Jansen, Claire FR 2) r:0.28 Detwiler, Tatum SR
3) r:0.35 Yendell, Sophie JR 4) r:0.36 Fuhrmann, Kate SR
r:+0.83 24.42 51.68 (27.26)
1:14.30 (22.62) 1:36.68 (22.38)
8 Miami 'A' 1:38.34 1:36.73 B 44
1) Kuehne, Celina FR 2) r:0.13 Vovk, Tara GS
3) r:0.10 Mason, Zorry SR 4) r:0.09 Carvalho, Giulia SO
r:+0.72 24.68 50.99 (26.31)
1:14.25 (23.26) 1:36.73 (22.48)
.png "ACC Swimming - logo"){kind=logo}