{"id":499550,"date":"2022-03-16T16:42:46","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T23:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=499550"},"modified":"2022-03-16T18:51:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T01:51:40","slug":"ncaa-womens-division-i-championships-huske-ruck-smith-forde-dominate-for-stanford-in-800-free-relay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-womens-division-i-championships-huske-ruck-smith-forde-dominate-for-stanford-in-800-free-relay\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Women\u2019s Division I Championships: Huske, Ruck, Smith, Forde Dominate for Stanford in 800 Free Relay"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Women\u2019s Division I Championships: Huske, Ruck, Smith, Forde Dominate for Stanford in 800 Free Relay<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a ninth-place finish last season, Stanford is looking for a quick jump back to the top at the Women’s NCAA Championships, and this Cardinal squad is buoyed by the addition of three Olympians, two freshman and another swimmer returning after a two-year hiatus. Stanford’s stars took center stage in the second event of the meet, the 800 freestyle relay. The all-Olympian group of Torri Huske\u00a0<\/strong>(1:41.93),\u00a0Taylor Ruck<\/strong> (1:40.49),\u00a0Regan Smith\u00a0<\/strong>(1:43.35) and\u00a0Brooke Forde<\/strong> (1:42.53) combined to swim a time of 6:48.30, more than five seconds ahead of anyone else in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really special to start like this and do it with a couple of veterans like Taylor and Brooke,\u201d Huske said.<\/p>\n

Stanford won its 12th national title in NCAA history in this relay, four more than any other school in history, and this is the third time that Forde has been part of this winning squad after swimming the third leg of the victorious 2018 quarter and then anchoring the Cardinal to victory in 2019. Ruck was also part of the squad in 2019 in her only previous appearance at NCAAs, while Huske and Smith both made their NCAA Championships Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

The race was the second of the session for Smith, who debuted by swimming the backstroke leg for Stanford in the 200 medley relay. Video replays show that Smith missed her turn on the earlier relay as she finished more than a second behind her best split, but she was back around her best in the longer relay to conclude the night.<\/p>\n

“Tonight went the way it went, and I am really proud of our team. I need to put my head down and get to work,” Smith said. However, Smith will not compete in any individual events Thursday and she was not a part of Stanford’s 200 freestyle relay at the Pac-12 Championships, so she will likely be off from competition until she swims the 100 back and 400 medley relay Friday.<\/div>\n

On the leadoff leg, Huske touched second behind Cal’s Isabel Ivey<\/strong>, who recorded a time of 1:41.35. That became the fastest time in the nation in the 200 free by more than a half-second, while Huske’s leadoff split matched the previous No. 1 time recorded by Penn’s\u00a0Lia Thomas<\/strong>. Ivey, last year’s national runnerup in the 200 free, improved to ninth all-time in the event and established herself as a serious contender to win the individual 200 free Friday.<\/p>\n

However, after that, it became a Stanford show as Ruck swam the only sub-1:41 performance in the field to build a lead of more than 2.5 seconds by the halfway point. \u201cIt means so much to me to be on the relay with these girls and at this meet again. It has been two years, and I am having a blast,\u201d Ruck said of her return to the national championships.<\/p>\n

At the halfway point, point, Virginia moved into second place after a sizzling 1:41.92 split by sophomore Alex Walsh<\/strong>, the fourth-best in the field behind Ruck, Ivey and Huske. Virginia and Cal would end up battling to the finish for the second-place spot, and in the end, the Cavaliers came out on top by five hundredths. The Virginia team of\u00a0Reilly Tiltmann<\/strong>, Walsh,\u00a0Ella Nelson<\/strong> and\u00a0Emma Weyant<\/strong> ended up finishing in 6:53.47, just ahead of Cal’s\u00a0Ivey,\u00a0Ayla Spitz<\/strong>,\u00a0Mia <\/strong>Motekaitis<\/strong> and\u00a0Leah Polonsky<\/strong> in 6:53.52.<\/p>\n

Texas, led by a 1:42.94 leadoff split by\u00a0Kelly Pash<\/strong>, ended up fourth in 6:56.21, while Georgia finished fifth out of the second-to-last heat as\u00a0Zoie Hartmann<\/strong> anchored in 1:42.37. Further down in the standings, Kentucky’s Riley Gaines\u00a0<\/strong>delivered a 1:42.18 split on the second leg as the Wildcats ended up ninth overall.<\/p>\n

Team scores:<\/strong><\/p>\n

  1. Virginia                           74   2. Texas                              58\r\n  3. California                         56   4. Stanford                           54\r\n  5. Louisville                         46   6. NC State                           44\r\n  7. Alabama                            38   7. Ohio St                            38\r\n  9. Georgia                            34   9. Tennessee                          34\r\n 11. Florida                            26  11. Michigan                           26\r\n 13. Kentucky                           18  13. Southern California                18\r\n 15. Wisconsin                          14  16. Arizona St                         12\r\n 17. UNC                                10  18. Northwestern                        8\r\n 18. Indiana                             8  20. Virginia Tech                       2\r\n 20. Arizona                             2<\/pre>\n