Mallory Comerford, Lilly King Cruise To Top Seeds On Friday’s Prelims; Ups and Downs Available

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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The 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships got heated up on Friday morning on the campus of the Ohio State University. The pool will be on NCAA and American Record watch as almost every individual record has a chance of falling at finals tonight.

Ella EastinLouise HanssonMallory ComerfordLilly King and Beata Nelson all showed they have plenty more in the tank so records could be falling like October leaves on Friday night.

Heat Sheets
Live Results

The ups and downs are available below. Stanford had clearly the best morning with 9 A-finalists and 4 B-finalists. Cal was second with 7 A-finalists and Texas A&M was third with 5.

They are in order below of team scores after last night.

Ups, Downs:

  • Stanford, 9, 4
  • Cal, 7, 1
  • Texas, 2, 2
  • Tennessee, 1, 3
  • Michigan, 2, 2
  • Louisville, 3, 2
  • Texas A&M, 5, 2
  • Virginia, 1, 2
  • Minnesota, 2, 2
  • Indiana, 3, 1
  • Georgia, 0, 5
  • Ohio State, 2, 2
  • Auburn, 0, 3
  • Wisconsin, 1, 1
  • Kentucky, 0, 1
  • USC, 2, 1
  • South Carolina, 0, 1
  • Purdue, 1, 0
  • NC State, 1, 2
  • Mizzou, 3, 2
  • Arizona State, 1, 0
  • Denver, 0, 1
  • UCLA, 0, 1
  • Alabama, 0, 2
  • Florida, 0, 1
  • Virginia Tech 0, 2
  • Eastern Michigan, 1, 0
  • Hawaii, 1, 0
  • Florida State, 0, 1
  • Duke, 0, 1

400 IM

Stanford junior Ella Eastin, fresh off an American Record in the 200 IM last night, swam the fastest 400 IM on Friday morning with a comfortable 4:01.49. She is just ahead of Stanford teammate Katie Ledecky who swam a 4:01.72 for second. Ledecky broke the NCAA and American Record last month with a 3:56.53, and it could be in danger of falling tonight.

Texas A&M’s Sydney Pickrem was also lurking with a 4:03.09 for the third seed. Ohio State’s Meg Bailey is fourth in her home pool at 4:03.96.

Stanford’s Brooke Forde (4:04.95), Missouri’s Sharli Brady (4:04.96), Texas A&M’s Bethany Galat (4:04.98) and Cal’s Sarah Darcel (4:05.09) will also swim in the championship final.

 Event 8  Women 400 Yard IM
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 3:56.53  2/23/2018 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
     American: A 3:56.53  2/23/2018 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
    U.S. Open: O 3:56.53  2/23/2018 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
         Meet: C 3:56.54  3/17/2012 Katinka Hosszu, Southern Cal
         Pool: P 4:00.03  12/2/2010 Katinka Hosszu, Southern Calif
                 4:04.70  AUTO NCAA A Standard
                 4:19.39  CONS NCAA B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Ella Eastin      JR Stanford          3:57.32    4:01.49 q      
    r:+0.72  25.70        54.62 (28.92)
        1:25.06 (30.44)     1:54.84 (29.78)
        2:29.11 (34.27)     3:04.16 (35.05)
        3:32.91 (28.75)     4:01.49 (28.58)
  2 Katie Ledecky    SO Stanford          3:56.53    4:01.72 q      
    r:+0.70  26.11        55.07 (28.96)
        1:26.10 (31.03)     1:56.04 (29.94)
        2:30.88 (34.84)     3:06.12 (35.24)
        3:34.30 (28.18)     4:01.72 (27.42)
  3 Sydney Pickrem   JR TAMU              3:59.30    4:03.09 q      
    r:+0.73  26.35        55.92 (29.57)
        1:26.55 (30.63)     1:56.86 (30.31)
        2:30.99 (34.13)     3:05.52 (34.53)
        3:34.96 (29.44)     4:03.09 (28.13)
  4 Meg Bailey       SR OSU               4:04.85    4:03.96 q      
    r:+0.72  26.21        55.83 (29.62)
        1:27.24 (31.41)     1:57.83 (30.59)
        2:31.92 (34.09)     3:06.70 (34.78)
        3:35.81 (29.11)     4:03.96 (28.15)
  5 Brooke Forde     FR Stanford          4:01.04    4:04.95 q      
    r:+0.71  26.57        56.28 (29.71)
        1:28.15 (31.87)     1:58.92 (30.77)
        2:34.26 (35.34)     3:09.34 (35.08)
        3:37.85 (28.51)     4:04.95 (27.10)
  6 Sharli Brady     SR Missouri          4:04.37    4:04.96 q      
    r:+0.76  26.43        56.40 (29.97)
        1:27.56 (31.16)     1:57.88 (30.32)
        2:32.23 (34.35)     3:07.46 (35.23)
        3:36.69 (29.23)     4:04.96 (28.27)
  7 Bethany Galat    SR TAMU              4:02.85    4:04.98 q      
    r:+0.61  25.81        55.28 (29.47)
        1:27.22 (31.94)     1:58.51 (31.29)
        2:32.13 (33.62)     3:06.02 (33.89)
        3:35.93 (29.91)     4:04.98 (29.05)
  8 Sarah Darcel     FR California        4:03.00    4:05.09 q      
    r:+0.60  25.88        55.52 (29.64)
        1:26.80 (31.28)     1:57.24 (30.44)
        2:32.26 (35.02)     3:07.80 (35.54)
        3:36.79 (28.99)     4:05.09 (28.30)

100 Fly

Southern Cal sophomore Louise Hansson swam the top time of the morning with a blistering 49.90 in the 100 fly prelims. Hansson was the only swimmer under 50 seconds and could challenge the 49.43 NCAA record by Kelsi Worrell of Louisville from 2016.

Hansson moved up to third all-time in the event behind Worrell and Erika Brown.

Hansson is in front of Cal senior Noemie Thomas (50.76) and Tennessee sophomore Erika Brown (50.83).

Louisville’s Grace Oglesby (51.07), Stanford’s Janet Hu (51.09), Cal’s Katie McLaughlin (51.24), Ohio State’s Liz Li (51.25) and Missouri’s Annie Ochitwa (51.57) will also swim in the championship final.

 Event 9  Women 100 Yard Butterfly
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 49.43  3/18/2016 Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
     American: A 49.43  3/18/2016 Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
    U.S. Open: O 49.43  3/18/2016 Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
         Meet: C 49.43  3/18/2016 Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
         Pool: P 49.87  12/1/2017 Kelsi Worrell, Cardinal Aquatic
                 51.19  AUTO NCAA A Standard
                 54.49  CONS NCAA B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Louise Hansson   SO USC                 50.17      49.90 q      
    r:+0.73  23.20        49.90 (26.70)
  2 Noemie Thomas    SR California          50.77      50.76 q      
    r:+0.58  23.70        50.76 (27.06)
  3 Erika Brown      SO Tennessee           49.85      50.83 q      
    r:+0.72  23.60        50.83 (27.23)
  4 Grace Oglesby    SO Louisville          51.11      51.07 q      
    r:+0.64  24.15        51.07 (26.92)
  5 Janet Hu         SR Stanford            51.27      51.09 q      
    r:+0.60  23.47        51.09 (27.62)
  6 Katie McLaughli  JR California          51.17      51.24 q      
    r:+0.70  24.07        51.24 (27.17)
  7 Liz Li           SR OSU                 50.48      51.25 q      
    r:+0.67  23.78        51.25 (27.47)
  8 Annie Ochitwa    JR Missouri            51.86      51.57 q      
    r:+0.70  24.03        51.57 (27.54)

200 Free

Louisville junior Mallory Comerford cruised to an easy 1:41.61 in the 200 free heats as she could challenge the 1:40 barrier tonight in finals after he 1:39 relay split the other night. Comerford is the defending champion and is the top seed ahead of Michigan junior Siobhan Haughey (1:43.04) and Stanford senior Simone Manuel (1:43.08).

Cal’s Robin Neumann (1:43.38), Texas A&M’s Claire Rasmus (1:43.49), Stanford’s Katie Drabot (1:43.68), Virginia’s Megan Moroney (1:43.68) and Cal’s Katie McLaughlin (1:43.71) will also swim in the championship final.

Big story here is McLaughlin who swam the 100 fly and 200 free back to back and made the championship final in both events. That is a double that is rarely seen in swimming, but is no stranger to Berkeley as Tom Shields and Dana Vollmer have both swam the double at NCAA’s.

 Event 10  Women 200 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:39.10  3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
     American: A 1:39.10  3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
    U.S. Open: O 1:39.10  3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
         Meet: C 1:39.10  3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
         Pool: P 1:41.17  12/1/2017 Mallory Comerford, Louisville
                 1:43.30  AUTO NCAA A Standard
                 1:47.99  CONS NCAA B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Mallory Comerfo  JR Louisville        1:41.17    1:41.61 q      
    r:+0.65  24.32        50.21 (25.89)
        1:15.71 (25.50)     1:41.61 (25.90)
  2 Siobhan Haughey  JR Michigan          1:41.66    1:43.04 q      
    r:+0.69  23.85        49.83 (25.98)
        1:16.34 (26.51)     1:43.04 (26.70)
  3 Simone Manuel    SR Stanford          1:40.78    1:43.08 q      
    r:+0.71  23.63        49.90 (26.27)
        1:16.62 (26.72)     1:43.08 (26.46)
  4 Robin Neumann    FR California        1:43.38    1:43.38 q      
    r:+0.71  24.43        50.55 (26.12)
        1:16.99 (26.44)     1:43.38 (26.39)
  5 Claire Rasmus    JR TAMU              1:43.62    1:43.49 q      
    r:+0.69  24.61        51.03 (26.42)
        1:17.43 (26.40)     1:43.49 (26.06)
  6 Katie Drabot     SO Stanford          1:43.92    1:43.68 q      
    r:+0.72  24.52        50.85 (26.33)
        1:17.41 (26.56)     1:43.68 (26.27)
  6 Megan Moroney    SO Virginia          1:43.60    1:43.68 q      
    r:+0.66  24.47        50.66 (26.19)
        1:16.96 (26.30)     1:43.68 (26.72)
  8 Katie McLaughli  JR California        1:44.42    1:43.71 q      
    r:+0.67  24.49        50.84 (26.35)
        1:17.30 (26.46)     1:43.71 (26.41)

100 Breast

Indiana junior Lilly King continued to make it look easy with a 57.35 in the 100 breast prelims as she came back in a very strong 29.32 as the only swimmer to come home in under 30 seconds. Her 56.30 American and NCAA Record is under serious threat tonight as she could be the first woman to break 56 in the event.

King also split a 56.0 last night in the 400 medley relay so she has a legitimate chance to break 56 in the individual if she puts together the perfect race.

Eastern Michigan’s Delaney Duncan (58.36) and Minnesota’s Lindsey Kozelsky (58.41) are the second and third seeds going into tonight.

Texas A&M’s Anna Belousova (59.07), Michigan’s Miranda Tucker (59.25), Purdue’s Jinq En Phee (59.32), Arizona State’s Silja Kansakoski (59.34) and Hawaii’s Franziska Weidner (59.35) will also swim in the championship final.

 Event 11  Women 100 Yard Breaststroke
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 56.30  2/17/2017 Lilly King, Indiana
     American: A 56.30  2/17/2017 Lilly King, Indiana
    U.S. Open: O 56.30  2/17/2017 Lilly King, Indiana
         Meet: C 56.71  3/17/2017 Lilly King, Indiana
         Pool: P 58.41  12/4/2010 Jessica Hardy, Trojan
                 58.85  AUTO NCAA A Standard
               1:02.49  CONS NCAA B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Lilly King       JR Indiana             56.46      57.35Pq      
    r:+0.67  28.03        57.35 (29.32)
  2 Delaney Duncan   JR Eastern Michigan    58.37      58.36Pq      
    r:+0.67  27.51        58.36 (30.85)
  3 Lindsey Kozelsk  SO Minnesota           57.91      58.41Pq      
    r:+0.76  27.25        58.41 (31.16)
  4 Anna Belousova   SO TAMU                58.40      59.07 q      
    r:+0.67  28.61        59.07 (30.46)
  5 Miranda Tucker   SO Michigan            57.93      59.25 q      
    r:+0.63  27.86        59.25 (31.39)
  6 Jinq En Phee     SO Purdue              59.66      59.32 q      
    r:+0.71  27.93        59.32 (31.39)
  7 Silja Kansakosk  SO ASU                 58.96      59.34 q      
    r:+0.71  28.11        59.34 (31.23)
  8 Franziska Weidn  SR Hawaii              59.41      59.35 q      
    r:+0.77  28.47        59.35 (30.88)

100 Back

There were five swimmers all separated by two tenths of a second in the heats of the 100 back as Wisconsin sophomore Beata Nelson leads the way with a 50.61. She is slightly ahead of Stanford’s Ally Howe (50.64), NC State’s Elise Haan (50.75), Cal’s Kathleen Baker (50.77) and Stanford’s Janet Hu (50.82).

It will be a very tight race as all five girls excluding Baker are looking for their first individual NCAA title. The American Record that Howe holds at 49.69 could be under threat tonight.

Missouri’s Hannah Stevens (51.23), Indiana’s Ally Rockett (51.25) and Texas’ Claire Adams (51.27) will also swim in the championship final.

 Event 12  Women 100 Yard Backstroke
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 49.69  2/23/2017 Ally Howe, Stanford
     American: A 49.69  2/23/2017 Ally Howe, Stanford
    U.S. Open: O 49.69  2/23/2017 Ally Howe, Stanford
         Meet: C 49.84  3/16/2017 Kathleen Baker, California
         Pool: P 50.73  11/23/2013Courtney Bartholomew, Virginia
                 51.16  AUTO NCAA A Standard
                 55.09  CONS NCAA B Standard
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Beata Nelson     SO Wisconsin           49.78      50.61Pq      
    r:+0.70  24.35        50.61 (26.26)
  2 Ally Howe        SR Stanford            50.21      50.64Pq      
    r:+0.74  24.62        50.64 (26.02)
  3 Elise Haan       JR NCState             50.75      50.75 q      
    r:+0.64  24.80        50.75 (25.95)
  4 Kathleen Baker   JR California          50.13      50.77 q      
    r:+0.67  24.35        50.77 (26.42)
  5 Janet Hu         SR Stanford            49.93      50.82 q      
    r:+0.57  24.62        50.82 (26.20)
  6 Hannah Stevens   SR Missouri            50.91      51.23 q      
    r:+0.71  24.84        51.23 (26.39)
  7 Ally Rockett     SR Indiana             51.25      51.25 q      
    r:+0.75  24.84        51.25 (26.41)
  8 Claire Adams     SO Texas               51.13      51.27 q      
    r:+0.65  25.00        51.27 (26.27)

200 Medley Relay

The Indiana Hoosiers swam to the top seed in the 200 medley relay with a 1:35.12 on Friday morning at the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. The Hoosiers swam Ally Rockett (23.64), Lilly King (26.08), Christie Jensen (23.23) and Grace Haskett (22.17) and have the top time ahead of Cal (1:35.55) and Stanford (1:36.02).

The top splits from this morning came from Rockett, Kathleen Baker (23.64), King, Louise Hansson (22.36) and Beryl Gastaldello (21.36).

Minnesota (1:36.05), Southern Cal (1:36.20), Texas A&M (1:36.28), Louisville (1:37.01) and Texas (1:37.04) will also swim in the championship final.

Virginia Tech was ninth with a 1:37.13 after they re-swam the event 20 minutes after the original event concluded. No word yet on why they had to re-swim.

 Event 14  Women 200 Yard Medley Relay
====================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:34.10  3/17/2017 California
                          K Baker, A Weitzeil, N Thomas, F Osman
     American: A 1:34.15  2/24/2016 Stanford
                          A Howe, S Haase, J Hu, L Neal
    U.S. Open: O 1:34.10  3/17/2017 California
                          K Baker, A Weitzeil, N Thomas, F Osman
         Meet: C 1:34.10  3/17/2017 California
                          K Baker, A Weitzeil, N Thomas, F Osman
         Pool: P 1:35.29  3/16/2008 Arizona
                          H DeGolia, A Chandler, L Jackson, A Turner
                 1:36.89  AUTO NCAA A Standard
                 1:37.51  CONS NCAA B Standard
    School                           Seed    Prelims              
====================================================================
                       === Preliminaries ===                        
 
  1 Indiana                       1:34.16    1:35.12Pq      
     1) Ally Rockett SR               2) r:0.28 Lilly King JR         
     3) r:0.14 Christie Jensen JR     4) r:0.25 Grace Haskett FR      
    r:+0.75  23.64        49.72 (26.08)
        1:12.95 (23.23)     1:35.12 (22.17)
  2 California                    1:34.13    1:35.55 q      
     1) Kathleen Baker JR             2) r:0.20 Abbey Weitzeil SO     
     3) r:0.16 Noemie Thomas SR       4) r:0.30 Amy Bilquist JR       
    r:+0.66  23.64        50.72 (27.08)
        1:13.50 (22.78)     1:35.55 (22.05)
  3 Stanford                      1:34.79    1:36.02 q      
     1) Ally Howe SR                  2) r:0.05 Grace Zhao FR         
     3) r:0.40 Janet Hu SR            4) r:0.27 Lauren Pitzer FR      
    r:+0.69  23.78        50.97 (27.19)
        1:14.04 (23.07)     1:36.02 (21.98)
  4 Minnesota                     1:35.06    1:36.05 q      
     1) Tevyn Waddell SO              2) r:0.23 Lindsey Kozelsky SO   
     3) r:0.28 Danielle Nack SR       4) r:0.32 Zoe Avestruz JR       
    r:+0.59  24.46        51.06 (26.60)
        1:14.01 (22.95)     1:36.05 (22.04)
  5 USC                           1:35.36    1:36.20 q      
     1) Hannah Weiss SR               2) r:0.26 Riley Scott JR        
     3) r:0.28 Louise Hansson SO      4) r:0.15 Marta Ciesla FR       
    r:+0.57  24.61        51.94 (27.33)
        1:14.30 (22.36)     1:36.20 (21.90)
  6 TAMU                          1:35.54    1:36.28 q      
     1) Lisa Bratton SR               2) r:0.30 Anna Belousova SO     
     3) r:0.17 Jing Quah FR           4) r:0.25 Beryl Gastaldello SR  
    r:+0.65  24.47        51.47 (27.00)
        1:14.92 (23.45)     1:36.28 (21.36)
  7 Louisville                    1:36.86    1:37.01 q      
     1) Alina Kendzior JR             2) r:0.20 Mariia Astashkina FR  
     3) r:0.11 Grace Oglesby SO       4) r:0.16 Casey Fanz SO         
    r:+0.61  24.23        51.73 (27.50)
        1:15.10 (23.37)     1:37.01 (21.91)
  8 Texas                         1:36.87    1:37.04 q      
     1) Claire Adams SO               2) r:0.24 Kennedy Lohman SO     
     3) r:0.00 Remedy Rule JR         4) r:0.13 Rebecca Millard SR    
    r:+0.68  24.26        52.14 (27.88)
        1:15.60 (23.46)     1:37.04 (21.44)
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