Cierra Runge, Brooke Zeiger Scratch 1650 Free at Women’s NCAA Championships

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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Two high seeds have scratched the 1650 free at the women’s NCAA championships, Wisconsin’s Cierra Runge and Minnesota’s Brooke Zeiger. Both made the call to pull out after rough swims over the previous two days.

Runge, who was seeded sixth in the mile, failed to score in either the 500 free or 200 free, finishing 25th and 24th, respectively. Runge was an Olympic gold medalist this past summer in Rio as a member of the U.S. 800 free relay, and she was in her first season at Wisconsin after previously competing at Cal in 2014-15.

Zeiger, meanwhile, finished 60th in the 500 free and 31st in the 400 IM, both events she entered as high seeds before adding 7-9 seconds to her seed time in each event. She was seeded No. 3 going into the mile and is finishing up her junior season with the Golden Gophers.

With these scratches, Michigan’s G Ryan and Stanford’s Megan Byrnes will bracket top seeds Katie Ledecky and Mallory Comerford in the fastest heat of the mile, while Wisconsin’s Danielle Valley and Auburn’s Ashley Neidigh, both seniors, will have the opportunity to finish their respective swimming careers at night.

Click here to view the full heat sheet for the final session of prelims, along with the mile. A link to a live recap of the action can be found here.

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BadgerFan

7 years ago

Brooke was mia at B1G Champs due to illness and Cierra looked VERY thin and pale ((heard later she dropped 10+ pounds since B1G because of sicknessI saw her coughing HARD over a can. Really tough timing for them and teams. No doubt Cierra will power back. I’m a fan of this great role model!