The Week That Was: Ledecky Pulls Amazing Double At Stanford-Cal Dual

Photo Courtesy: Stanford Athletics

This week saw a lot of NCAA action as teams across the United States prepared for championship season, including the top ranked Stanford and Cal teams who met in their much-anticipated dual meet to close their regular seasons. Read about that and all of the stories from The Week That Was!

The Week That Was #5 – Alex Walsh Down Tennessee State Records

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Photo Courtesy: Donna Nelson

High school freshman Alex Walsh continued to shatter records this week at the Tennessee High School State Championships, setting two individual records and one relay record representing Harpeth Hall. Walsh’s first record came on the first day of the meet in the 200 free, which she won in 1:45.24 to take down the state record of 1:45.76 from 2015. She went on to set another record in the 100 backstroke (52.80), and joined Ophelia Pilkinton, Ella Nelson and Julia Eskew in the 400 free relay to close the meet with a third state record and a 48.26 anchor leg split. Walsh was also part of the Harpeth Hall 200 medley relay that opened the meet with a state title (1:41.84). Trey Freeman, a junior who is already committed to swim for Florida, also left the meet with three state records. Freeman broke his own mark in the 200 free (1:34.92) on the first day of the meet before helping the Baylor 400 free relay to a state record with a 3:01.21. His leadoff split of 44.24 also set a new state record in the 100 free.

The Week That Was #4 – Bob Costas Steps Down as NBC Olympics Host

Photo Courtesy: NBC Olympics Facebook

NBC announced this week that Bob Costas will no longer be the primetime host of the network’s Olympic coverage. Costas’ final Olympic broadcast was this summer in Rio, and he will be replaced by Mike Tirico beginning at next year’s Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and beyond. Costas was the lead man for NBC for 11 different Olympics, including the Summer Games from 1992-2016 and the Winter Games from 2002-2014. Costas was on hand for the entirety of Michael Phelps’ legendary career. Tirico now takes over that role after serving as a daytime host from Copacabana Beach this past Olympics in Rio.

The Week That Was #3 – Drury Sweeps Conference, Nunn Collects Records

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Drury Swimming & Diving captured both the men’s and women’s conference titles at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships over the weekend, winning their fourth straight on the men’s side and their third in four years for the women. Freshman Bailee Nunn continued her standout season for the Panthers by winning seven events and setting seven conference records and two NCAA records in the process. Nunn was first in the 200 IM (2:00.60), 100 fly (53.73), 100 breast (1:00.04), and 200 breaststroke (2:10.77) and was on winning 200 free, 400 free, and 400 medley relays. Her time in the 100 breast was a new NCAA record, while her 200 breast time ties the current NCAA record. For her performance, Nunn was awarded Co-Freshman Of The Year along with Drury teammate Erica Dahlgren. Drury’s win was also notable due to the loss of one of their top student-athletes just last week, when NCAA record holder Wen Xu suffered a medical emergency during a practice and passed away. At the conclusion of the meet, Missouri S&T head coach Doug Grooms declined his award for GLVC Coach of the Year, instead honoring Drury coaches Brian Reynolds and Doug Schranck. Complete results from the meet can be found here.

The Week That Was #2 – Weiss Breaks King’s Record, Carmel Wins 31 Straight

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The girls from the Carmel Greyhounds made history over the weekend when they captured their 31st straight Indiana High School girls’ state title. They won the meet with 386.5 points, nearly 200 points higher than their closest competitor, and in the process continued their streak of having the most consecutive high school titles won across all sports. Carmel captured all three relays and senior Sammie Burchill took down the 200 IM state record with a 1:56.67. But the biggest performance had to be Yorktown sophomore Emily Weiss, who took down Olympian Lilly King’s high school record in the 100 breaststroke. Weiss touched in 59.34 to take down King’s record of 59.63 and set herself up as the high school breaststroker to take down Lindsey Horejsi’s national record of 58.56 over the next two years.

The Week That Was #1 – Stanford Downs Cal In Pac-12 Dual

Photo Courtesy: Stanford Athletics

The much anticipated match-up between Pac-12 rivals Stanford and Cal-Berkeley did not disappoint, with seven new pool records being set between the #1 and #2 ranked women’s teams. Stanford ultimately won the meet 177-123, leaving them undefeated in dual meets this season. Olympian Katie Ledecky set three pool records throughout the meet which included an impressive double in the 1,000 free and 200 free to open the meet. The freshman set pool records in both, touching in 9:20.41 before getting back on the blocks to out-touch teammate Simone Manuel in the 200 free with a 1:43.09. Her third pool record came in the 500 free, which she won in 4:35.89. Manuel would go on to set her own pool record in winning the 50 free (21.97) against Abbey Weitzeil and Farida Osman, who will be two of her toughest competitors come Pac-12’s and NCAA’s. Junior Janet Hu contributed a fifth pool record for Stanford in the 100 back (51.61). Cal, for their part, set two pool records in the 200 medley relay (1:36.67) and 400 free relay (3:12.99). You can see full results from the dual meet here.

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