{"id":500278,"date":"2022-03-19T08:40:57","date_gmt":"2022-03-19T15:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=500278"},"modified":"2022-03-19T09:34:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T16:34:21","slug":"ncaa-womens-championships-emma-sticklen-leads-three-texas-a-finalists-in-200-fly-regan-smith-makes-second-final-of-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-womens-championships-emma-sticklen-leads-three-texas-a-finalists-in-200-fly-regan-smith-makes-second-final-of-day\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Women’s Championships: Emma Sticklen Leads Three Texas A-Finalists in 200 Fly; Regan Smith Makes Second Final of Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Women’s Championships: Emma Sticklen Leads Three Texas A-Finalists in 200 Fly; Regan Smith Makes Second Final of Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Texas sits in third place heading into the final day of the NCAA Women’s Championships despite recording zero top-two finishes so far<\/a>, but Texas will be poised for its best event yet in the 200 butterfly. A trio of Longhorns qualified for the A-final, and leading the way was sophomore\u00a0Emma Sticklen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Sticklen swam a 1:51.45 in prelims, and teammates Kelly Pash<\/strong> (sixth, 1:52.42) and Olivia Bray <\/strong>(seventh, 1:52.61) also got into the championship heat. The Longhorns will score at least 36 points in this event and possibly more than 50 as they attempt a final-day charge to try to catch Stanford for second place in the team race.<\/p>\n

Sticklen needed every bit of her outstanding swim to hold off Georgia’s Dakota Luther<\/strong> and Stanford’s\u00a0Regan Smith<\/strong> in the final heat. Luther ended up qualifying second in 1:51.64, and Smith was third in 1:51.76. For Smith, the swim came just an hour after she earned the top time in the 200 backstroke prelims. The Olympic silver medalist in the 200-meter fly and the second-fastest swimmer ever in the 200-yard fly, Smith was only in fourth place in her heat at the halfway point before accelerating down the stretch.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, defending national champion\u00a0Olivia Carter\u00a0<\/strong>of Michigan qualified fourth in 1:51.86, and just behind her was Virginia’s\u00a0Alex Walsh<\/strong>, who has already won two titles this week in the 200 IM and 400 IM. Walsh finished in 1:51.90, and the versatile sophomore will have a chance to win a third individual title in the evening session. Eighth place went to Cal’s\u00a0Rachel Klinker<\/strong> in 1:53.37.<\/p>\n

The heats were so fast that seven of the top eight swimmers eclipsed the 1:52.87 that Bray swam to finish second at the NCAA Championships last season.<\/p>\n