NCAA Women’s Championships, Day 1 Prelims: Texas Sets Fast Medley Relay
The NCAA Women’s Championships kicked off Wednesday morning at Atlanta’s McAuley Aquatic Center with early heats of the opening day’s two relays and the 1,650 freestyle. Fastest heats in all three events will comprise the evening session.
Kate Hurst, seeded ninth in the 1,650 free, set the fastest time of the morning in 15:53.09. That’s more than three seconds quicker than her seed time. Hurst was 10th last year. In 10th this year is Michaela Mattes of Florida in 15:59.35, the only other morning swimmer to crack 16 minutes.
That puts a bit of pressure on the back end of the A final at night. Claire Weinstein is the eighth seed in 15:52.28, still quicker than Hurst. Jillian Cox of Texas is the top seed in 15:32.75.
One surprise from the morning is Cavan Gormsen of Virginia finishing fifth in 16:06.10, nearly 10 seconds slower than her seed time. She was seeded 10th and will finish no worse than 13th. Penn has two scorers in the mile, with Sydney Bergstrom fourth (no worse than 12th overall) in 16:04.94 and Anna Moehn eighth in 16:08.76.
No one set a massive time in either of the relays that should scare the big competitors at night.
Texas led the way in the 200 medley relay at 1:33.38, the quartet of Emma Kern, Piper Enge, Campbell Stoll and Eva Okaro dropping a second from the seed time that had them seeded ninth. Their time was quicker than two of the seed times in the A final, of NC State in seventh and Alabama in eighth.
Indiana jumped a minimum of three spots from 13th to no worse than 10th, in 1:34.26. LSU was another second behind. Florida rose from 20th to no worse than 12th to guarantee points.
In the 800 free relay, Tennessee set the fastest time of the morning in 6:53.78. It’s nearly a second quicker than their time and 2.98 seconds clear of Louisville, from the squad of Ella Jansen, Emily Armen, Amelia Mason and Emily Brown. It remains slower, however, than the seed time of 6:53.55 belonging to eight-seeded Georgia in the A final.
Florida again made a jump from the 14th seed to finishing no worse than 11th. Pittsburgh has a scoring relay in fourth in the morning, a minimum of 12th overall.
The morning relays provided one DQ, with 12th-seeded Auburn jumping early in the 200 medley.
Virginia is the top seed in the 200 medley relay in 1:31.91, .35 seconds up on Louisville, with Tennessee and Stanford both in the 1:32s.
In the 800 free relay, the Cavaliers set the pace in 6:45.34, more than two seconds up on Michigan, with California and Texas following.
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