Mallory Comerford Out-Touches Taylor Ruck in 200 Free Final

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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In one of the most hyped races of the meet, Louisville senior Mallory Comerford won her third straight NCAA title in the 200 free on Friday night at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Comerford swam a 1:40.26 to run down Stanford freshman Taylor Ruck (1:40.37) and Michigan senior Siobhan Haughey (1:40.70) in one of the most exciting races of the meet thus far.

It was expected to be a faster final with Comerford sitting second all-time and Haughey sitting sixth, but it was the race that won the day with Comerford coming out on top in a well strategized race. Ruck moved up the all-time list to a tie for fourth with fellow Cardinal Simone Manuel.

Cal had three A-Finalists pick up valuable points for the Golden Bears with Abbey Weitzeil placing fourth from lane 8 at 1:42.29. The Bears also had Katie McLaughlin (1:43.53) and Robin Neumann (1:43.72) place seventh and eighth. McLaughlin placed third in the 100 fly not long before this.

Virginia’s Paige Madden, who has had a quietly good meet this week in Austin, placed fifth at 1:43.03.

Michigan’s Catie DeLoof (1:43.17) also swam in the final.

Comerford is one of four swimmers to win the 200 free at least three times at this meet. She joins the likes of Florida’s Nicole Haislett (1991-94), SMU’s Martina Moravcova (1996-99) and Georgia’s Allison Schmitt (2010, 11, 13) as three-time winners. All three of Louisville’s NCAA titles in this event have come from Comerford.

All-Time List

Missy Franklin, Cal, 1:39.10 (2015)
Mallory Comerford, Louisville, 1:39.80 (2018)
Katie Ledecky, Stanford, 1:40.36 (2017)
Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 1:40.37 (2019)
Simone Manuel, Stanford, 1:40.37 (2017)
Allison Schmitt, Pitchfork, 1:40.62 (2015)
Siobhan Haughey, Michigan, 1:40.69 (2018)
Megan Romano, Georgia, 1:41.21 (2012)

Event 10  Women 200 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: I 1:39.10  20-Mar-15 Missy Franklin, California
         Meet: M 1:39.10  20-Mar-15 Missy Franklin, California
     American: A 1:39.10  20-Mar-15 Missy Franklin, California
      US Open: O 1:39.10  20-Mar-15 Missy Franklin, California
         Pool: P 1:40.62  06-Mar-15 Allison Schmitt
                 1:43.17  AUTO NCAA A Standard
                 1:47.12  CONS NCAA B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Mallory Comerfo  SR Louisville        1:42.27    1:40.26P        20  
    r:+0.65  23.53        48.68 (25.15)
        1:14.23 (25.55)     1:40.26 (26.03)
  2 Taylor Ruck      FR Stanford          1:41.83    1:40.37P        17  
    r:+0.69  23.06        48.25 (25.19)
        1:14.04 (25.79)     1:40.37 (26.33)
  3 Siobhan Haughey  SR Michigan          1:41.67    1:40.70         16  
    r:+0.69  23.00        48.06 (25.06)
        1:13.72 (25.66)     1:40.70 (26.98)
  4 Abbey Weitzeil   JR California        1:43.32    1:42.29         15  
    r:+0.64  23.26        48.86 (25.60)
        1:15.63 (26.77)     1:42.29 (26.66)
  5 Paige Madden     SO Virginia          1:43.30    1:43.03         14  
    r:+0.73  24.57        50.30 (25.73)
        1:16.54 (26.24)     1:43.03 (26.49)
  6 Catie DeLoof     SR Michigan          1:42.75    1:43.17         13  
    r:+0.65  24.34        50.35 (26.01)
        1:16.41 (26.06)     1:43.17 (26.76)
  7 Katie McLaughli  SR California        1:42.85    1:43.53         12  
    r:+0.72  24.75        51.20 (26.45)
        1:17.69 (26.49)     1:43.53 (25.84)
  8 Robin Neumann    SO California        1:43.04    1:43.72         11  
    r:+0.69  24.31        50.44 (26.13)
        1:16.97 (26.53)     1:43.72 (26.75)

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 10                 
 
  1. Stanford                        247.5   2. California                        242
  3. Michigan                          175   4. Louisville                        131
  5. Southern Cali                     103   6. Tennessee                          95
  7. Virginia                           93   8. NC State                           92
  9. Texas                              87  10. Minnesota                          79
 11. Auburn                             73  12. Indiana                            72
 13. Texas A&M                        66.5  14. Arizona                            56
 15. Wisconsin                          44  16. Georgia                            33
 17. Florida                            32  18. Kentucky                         31.5
 19. UCLA                               31  19. Arizona St                         31
 21. Arkansas                           29  22. South Carolina                   27.5
 23. Duke                               27  24. Missouri                           23
 25. Ohio St                            21  26. Northwestern                       15
 27. Lsu                                13  28. Kansas                             11
 29. Penn St                             7  29. Purdue                              7
 31. Akron                               6  32. Virginia Tech                       5
 33. University of Miami                 3  34. UNC                                 2
 34. Notre Dame                          2

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