Leah Smith Clocks 16th-Fastest 500 Free During Prelims at NCAAs

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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Virginia’s Leah Smith unleashed the 16th-fastest time ever in the women’s 500-yard free at the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Championships.

Smith, the defending champion, blasted a time of 4:31.39 as she looks to join a long list of swimmers who have won the event multiple times. Last year, Smith won the title with a 4:31.54 and moved to second all time in the event’s history behind Katie Ledecky (4:26.58) with a 4:30.37 during prelims of NCAAs.

Georgia’s Brittany MacLean is also looking to join the multiple win list after watching Smith dethrone her last year following MacLean’s win in 2014. MacLean qualified second in 4:34.61 with teammate Hali Flickinger also in the mix with a third-seeded 4:37.27. MacLean (4:32.53) and Flickinger (4:33.90) rank seventh and 13th all time in the event’s history.

Georgia is looking for its sixth program victory in the event to move behind only Stanford (7) for the most NCAA 500 free wins by a single program.

Multiple 500 Free Winners:

3 – Lindsay Benko, Southern California
3 – Marybeth Linzmeier, Stanford
3 – Allison Schmitt, Georgia
2 – Haley Anderson, USC
2 – Tami Bruce, Florida
2 – Janet Evans, Stanford
2 – Mitzi Kremer, Clemson
2 – Emily Mason, Arizona
2 – Flavia Rigamonti, SMU
2 – Cristina Teuscher, Columbia-Barnard

Michigan’s Rose Bi (4:37.78), NC State’s Hannah Moore (4:37.92), Ohio State’s Lindsey Clary (4:38.15), Louisville’s Mallory Comerford (4:28.35) and Indiana’s Haley Lips (4:38.27) also made the finale.

Georgia wound up with 3 point scorers out of the event, going two up and one down.

                     === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Smith, Leah      JR Virginia          4:30.74    4:31.39Pq      
    r:+0.77  25.15        51.96 (26.81)
        1:19.17 (27.21)     1:46.67 (27.50)
        2:14.22 (27.55)     2:41.89 (27.67)
        3:09.50 (27.61)     3:37.23 (27.73)
        4:04.76 (27.53)     4:31.39 (26.63)
  2 MacLean, Britta  SR Georgia           4:33.10    4:34.61Pq      
    r:+0.73  25.62        52.94 (27.32)
        1:20.32 (27.38)     1:47.70 (27.38)
        2:15.20 (27.50)     2:43.03 (27.83)
        3:10.81 (27.78)     3:38.96 (28.15)
        4:07.22 (28.26)     4:34.61 (27.39)
  3 Flickinger, Hal  SR Georgia           4:33.90    4:37.27 q      
    r:+0.72  25.67        53.22 (27.55)
        1:21.27 (28.05)     1:49.36 (28.09)
        2:17.62 (28.26)     2:46.12 (28.50)
        3:13.97 (27.85)     3:42.19 (28.22)
        4:10.21 (28.02)     4:37.27 (27.06)
  4 Bi, Rose         FR Michigan          4:35.69    4:37.78 q      
    r:+0.71  25.94        53.53 (27.59)
        1:21.06 (27.53)     1:48.91 (27.85)
        2:17.04 (28.13)     2:45.24 (28.20)
        3:13.42 (28.18)     3:41.97 (28.55)
        4:10.34 (28.37)     4:37.78 (27.44)
  5 Moore, Hannah    SO NC State          4:38.02    4:37.92 q      
    r:+0.78  25.57        52.84 (27.27)
        1:20.71 (27.87)     1:49.05 (28.34)
        2:17.25 (28.20)     2:45.54 (28.29)
        3:14.01 (28.47)     3:42.37 (28.36)
        4:10.36 (27.99)     4:37.92 (27.56)
  6 Clary, Lindsey   JR Ohio St           4:39.09    4:38.15 q      
    r:+0.72  26.33        54.29 (27.96)
        1:22.16 (27.87)     1:50.31 (28.15)
        2:18.48 (28.17)     2:46.70 (28.22)
        3:14.92 (28.22)     3:43.40 (28.48)
        4:11.33 (27.93)     4:38.15 (26.82)
  7 Comerford, Mall  FR Louisville        4:38.01    4:38.25 q      
    r:+0.74  25.70        53.82 (28.12)
        1:22.09 (28.27)     1:50.36 (28.27)
        2:18.45 (28.09)     2:46.29 (27.84)
        3:14.36 (28.07)     3:42.42 (28.06)
        4:10.41 (27.99)     4:38.25 (27.84)
  8 Lips, Haley      SR Indiana           4:35.19    4:38.27 q      
    r:+0.69  25.90        53.47 (27.57)
        1:21.37 (27.90)     1:49.65 (28.28)
        2:18.06 (28.41)     2:46.49 (28.43)
        3:14.73 (28.24)     3:43.11 (28.38)
        4:11.23 (28.12)     4:38.27 (27.04)
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
  9 Gibson, Sarah    JR Tex AM            4:38.33    4:38.44 q      
    r:+0.71  25.32        53.45 (28.13)
        1:21.74 (28.29)     1:49.86 (28.12)
        2:18.03 (28.17)     2:46.05 (28.02)
        3:14.30 (28.25)     3:42.79 (28.49)
        4:11.34 (28.55)     4:38.44 (27.10)
 10 Miller, Genevie  JR Air Force         4:40.15    4:39.00 q      
    r:+0.74  25.96        53.63 (27.67)
        1:21.87 (28.24)     1:50.13 (28.26)
        2:18.51 (28.38)     2:46.88 (28.37)
        3:15.16 (28.28)     3:43.52 (28.36)
        4:11.78 (28.26)     4:39.00 (27.22)
 11 Muller, Rachel   JR NC State          4:39.53    4:39.11 q      
    r:+0.77  25.97        53.84 (27.87)
        1:21.98 (28.14)     1:50.17 (28.19)
        2:18.45 (28.28)     2:46.57 (28.12)
        3:14.86 (28.29)     3:43.28 (28.42)
        4:11.56 (28.28)     4:39.11 (27.55)
 12 Ryan, Gillian    SO Michigan          4:39.17    4:39.63 q      
    r:+0.76  26.01        54.16 (28.15)
        1:22.90 (28.74)     1:51.70 (28.80)
        2:20.11 (28.41)     2:48.62 (28.51)
        3:16.81 (28.19)     3:45.10 (28.29)
        4:12.91 (27.81)     4:39.63 (26.72)
 13 Meitz, Kaersten  SO Purdue            4:39.75    4:40.02 q      
    r:+0.87  26.34        54.29 (27.95)
        1:22.61 (28.32)     1:51.12 (28.51)
        2:19.43 (28.31)     2:47.73 (28.30)
        3:16.19 (28.46)     3:44.35 (28.16)
        4:12.75 (28.40)     4:40.02 (27.27)
 14 Peters, Stephan  SO Georgia           4:41.75    4:40.07 q      
    r:+0.68  26.03        54.13 (28.10)
        1:22.47 (28.34)     1:50.80 (28.33)
        2:19.15 (28.35)     2:47.57 (28.42)
        3:15.84 (28.27)     3:44.17 (28.33)
        4:12.32 (28.15)     4:40.07 (27.75)
 15 Goss, Kennedy    SO Indiana           4:41.16    4:40.17 q      
    r:+0.64  26.83        54.81 (27.98)
        1:22.95 (28.14)     1:50.82 (27.87)
        2:18.67 (27.85)     2:46.77 (28.10)
        3:14.69 (27.92)     3:43.27 (28.58)
        4:11.71 (28.44)     4:40.17 (28.46)
 16 Zeiger, Brooke   SO Minnesota         4:39.77    4:40.47 q      
    r:+0.79  26.58        54.85 (28.27)
        1:23.16 (28.31)     1:51.40 (28.24)
        2:19.84 (28.44)     2:48.08 (28.24)
        3:16.17 (28.09)     3:44.21 (28.04)
        4:12.55 (28.34)     4:40.47 (27.92)

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