NCAA Division I Women’s Championships: Kierra Smith Posts Commanding Victory in 200 Breast

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Minnesota’s Kierra Smith demolished the field in the women’s 200-yard breast at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships.

Smith threw down a scorching time of 2:04.56 for the win. That swim made her the third-fastest swimmer all time behind only Emma Reaney and Breeja Larson.

All Time 200 Breast

Rank	Name	Time
1	Emma Reaney	2:04.06
2	Breeja Larson	2:04.48
3	Kierra Smith	2:40.56
4	Rebecca Soni	2:04.75
5	Caitlin Leverenz	2:04.76

Smith joined Haley Spencer as the only other 200-yard breaststroke winner from Minnesota. Spencer won in 2011 with a 2:06.12.

Smith won the event by 2.09 seconds with Virginia’s Laura Simon taking second overall with a 2:06.65.

That’s a pretty big margin of victory, but not yet near the NCAA record. Jeanne Childs of Hawaii clocked a 2:13.35 to beat Florida’s Kathy Treible (2:16.62) by 3.27 seconds in back 1983.

Kierra Smith, Minnesota

“I just wanted to do what I did this morning. This race comes naturally to me. I tried to not over think it today and stick with what I do best.”

Do you think about your race or your technique?
“Technique for sure. Every stroke.”

Stanford’s Katie Olsen finished third tonight in 2:07.07 with defending champion Reaney placing fourth in 2:07.10.

  1 Smith, Kierra    JR Minnesota-MN      2:04.95    2:04.56 D1-A    20  
    r:+0.82  28.50      1:00.05 (31.55)
        1:32.24 (32.19)     2:04.56 (32.32)
  2 Simon, Laura     SO Virginia-VA       2:07.18    2:06.65 D1-A    17  
    r:+0.78  28.92      1:00.41 (31.49)
        1:32.93 (32.52)     2:06.65 (33.72)
  3 Olsen, Katie     SR Stanford-PC       2:07.38    2:07.06 D1-A    16  
    r:+0.83  29.01      1:00.94 (31.93)
        1:33.64 (32.70)     2:07.06 (33.42)
  4 Reaney, Emma     SR Notre Dame-IN     2:07.18    2:07.10 D1-A    15  
    r:+0.73  28.57      1:00.61 (32.04)
        1:33.42 (32.81)     2:07.10 (33.68)
  5 Burchell, Kayli  SR Alabama-SE        2:08.56    2:07.75 D1-B    14  
    r:+0.66  29.22      1:01.72 (32.50)
        1:34.88 (33.16)     2:07.75 (32.87)
  6 Hannis, Molly    SR Tennessee-SE      2:08.66    2:07.90 D1-B    13  
    r:+0.69  28.89      1:01.13 (32.24)
        1:34.45 (33.32)     2:07.90 (33.45)
  7 McGregor, Ashle  JR Texas A&M-GU      2:08.79    2:08.67 D1-B    12  
    r:+0.73  29.86      1:02.04 (32.18)
        1:35.17 (33.13)     2:08.67 (33.50)
  8 Paluszek, Weron  JR Virginia Tech-VA  2:07.83    2:08.95 D1-B    11  
    r:+0.77  30.01      1:02.76 (32.75)
        1:35.82 (33.06)     2:08.95 (33.13)

  1. California                        461   2. Georgia                           388
  3. Stanford                          317   4. Virginia                          223
  5. Texas A&M                         201   6. Louisville                        151
  7. Southern California               137   8. Texas                             130
  9. Tennessee                         123  10. Florida                           105
 11. Missouri                           96  12. Arizona                          95.5
 13. Indiana                            93  14. Minnesota                          86
 15. Wisconsin                          77  16. Kentucky                           63
 17. Penn State                         56  18. Notre Dame                         55
 19. NC State                           51  20. UNC                              45.5
 21. Auburn                             44  22. Michigan                           38
 23. Florida Gulf Coast               37.5  24. Florida State                      34
 25. Denver                             33  26. Alabama                            31
 27. So. Methodist                      27  28. University of Miami (Florida)      26
 28. UCLA                               26  30. Virginia Tech                      24
 30. Purdue                             24  30. Miami University (Ohio)            24
 33. Nevada                             16  34. Oregon State                       12
 34. Illinois State University          12  36. Iowa                               10
 37. San Diego State                     9  38. Lsu                                 8
 39. Ohio State                          5  40. Kansas                              4
 40. Hawaii (W)                          4  42. Umbc (W)                          2.5
 43. Arkansas                            2  43. Pittsburgh                          2
 45. Cincinnati                          1

2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving, Live Results – Results

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