Gabby DeLoof, Michigan Off To Strong Start at NCAAs, Aiming for Trophy

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Michigan's Siobhan Haughey, Rose Bi, Catie DeLoof and Gabby DeLoof. Photo Courtesy: Dan D'Addona

Editorial content for the 2018 NCAA DI Championship coverage is sponsored by TritonWear. Visit TritonWear.com for more information on our sponsor. For full Swimming World coverage, check event coverage page.

By Dan D’Addona.

It is no surprise that the Katie Ledecky-led Stanford 800-yard freestyle relay started the NCAA championships off with a national title.

But there were plenty of great swims in that relay, from Stanford and across the board.

Michigan was seeded first coming into the relay and finished a strong second, holding off Cal and the rest of the field for the runner-up spot at 6:50.03 — the third fastest time in history behind the past two Stanford relays at the NCAA championships.

Catie DeLoof opened with a 1:43.35 before Siobhan Haughey went second for the Wolverines and launched them into contention with a 1:40.49 split. Rose Bi split a 1:43.88 before Gabby DeLoof anchored with a 1:42.31.

“It was really good. We were aiming to get top three, so getting second was really good. We went out there and swam our best,” Gabby DeLoof said. “My split was about the same I went at Big Tens, so not bad. Anchoring was a little scary. Last year, I led off the relay, but finishing strong for the team was really fun.”

It was a good start for the Wolverines, who dropped 2:01 from their previous season best.

Michigan is aiming for a trophy (top four) for the first time since 1996 and is off to a better start than last year. The Wolverines bettered their top time in the 800 free relay and finished one spot ahead of last year, when the Wolverines were third.

“Knowing that we all swam pretty well is going to pump the team up for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend,” DeLoof said. “The atmosphere is going to be really fun.”

Michigan’s swim was enough to finish ahead of Cal’s Robin Neumann, Kathleen Baker, Katie McLaughlin and Amy Bilquist (6:50.83), who dropped hist 1.79 seconds from their season best.

Other teams had strong swims, too.

Tennessee’s Erika Brown (1:42.39), Stanza Moseley (1:43.10), Tessa Cieplucha (1:44.18) and Meghan Small (1:42.5) finished in 6:52.12 to finish fourth, besting their top time by nearly seven seconds. Brown was nearly a second faster than she was at the SEC Championships.

Louisville’s Mallory Comerford had the fastest split of the night, going 1:39.14 in the second spot for the Cardinals, who finished sixth (6:53.75) behind Texas (6:53.42).

The Longhorns dropped 4.42 seconds behind Quinn Carrozza, Claire Adams, Evie Pfeifer and Rebecca Millard.

There were some other great splits and interesting finishes.

USC’s Louise Hansson led off the relay in 1:42.71 to give the Trojans a lead, but the Trojans finished 13th (6:58.35).

Texas A&M added nearly a second from their top time of the season and finished a disappointing ninth (6:56.47).

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