{"id":525050,"date":"2023-03-18T09:11:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T16:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=525050"},"modified":"2023-03-18T09:11:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T16:11:51","slug":"ncaa-womens-championships-virginia-to-pull-away-on-final-night-texas-looks-good-for-second-heat-sheets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-womens-championships-virginia-to-pull-away-on-final-night-texas-looks-good-for-second-heat-sheets\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Women’s Championships: Virginia to Pull Away on Final Night; Texas Looks Good for Second (Heat Sheets)"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Women’s Championships: Virginia to Pull Away on Final Night; Texas Looks Good for Second (Heat Sheets)<\/strong><\/p>\n

NCAA team titles are often decided during the final prelims session, and even with the University of Virginia’s point total already well clear of any rivals, the Cavaliers should only extend the margin on the final day after qualifying seven A-finalists for the final day.<\/p>\n

Click here to view the full heat sheet for finals<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> captured the top seed for the 100 freestyle final<\/a>, while\u00a0Kate Douglass<\/strong> will aim for her third title and third record-setting swim of the meet in the 200 breaststroke<\/a>, with Virginia teammates\u00a0Ella Nelson<\/strong> and\u00a0Anna Keating<\/strong> joining her in the top heat. Additionally, Reilly Tiltmann<\/strong> (200 backstroke) and\u00a0Abby Harter<\/strong> (200 butterfly) will each compete in their first A-final of the meet.<\/p>\n

In the 200 fly, Alex Walsh<\/strong> will be in pursuit of a title defense, but she could have her hands full with Texas swimmers after\u00a0Emma Sticklen<\/strong>,\u00a0Dakota Luther<\/strong> and\u00a0Kelly Pash<\/strong> qualified first, second and fourth, respectively<\/a>. The Longhorns ended up with five A-finalists Saturday, with\u00a0Olivia Bray<\/strong> also making it in the 200 backstroke and\u00a0Anna Elendt<\/strong> set for the 200 breast.<\/p>\n

Texas did miss a point-scoring opportunity when Lydia Jacoby<\/strong> ended up 10th in the 200 breast, but the five up, one down performance was second best among teams in the heats. Currently sitting in second place with 272.5 points, 33.5 clear of third-place Stanford, the Longhorns look good to repeat as the second-place team. It helps that Texas is the only title-contending team set for big points in the 1650 free, with\u00a0Erica Sullivan<\/strong> seeded third.<\/p>\n

The remaining teams currently sitting in the top five, Stanford, Louisville and NC State, each qualified three A-finalists. Stanford has\u00a0Claire Curzan<\/strong> seeded first in the 200 back<\/a>,\u00a0Torri Huske<\/strong> third in the 100 free and\u00a0Charlotte Hook<\/strong> eighth in the 200 fly. For Louisville,\u00a0Gabi Albiero\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Christiana Regenauer<\/strong> are in strong position in the 100 free while\u00a0Abby Hay<\/strong> has the 200 fly, and NC State’s big opportunities will come from 200 backstrokers\u00a0Emma Muzzy<\/strong> and\u00a0Kennedy Noble<\/strong> plus 100 freestyler\u00a0Katharine Berkoff<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The only other team to qualify multiple A-finalists was Tennessee, with the host Volunteers getting\u00a0Josephine Fuller<\/strong> in the 200 back final and\u00a0Mona McSharry<\/strong> in the 200 breast. Tennessee currently sits eighth in the team competition but with a strong chance of moving up after outperforming sixth-place Florida and seventh-place Ohio State in prelims.<\/p>\n

Full Up-Downs:<\/strong><\/p>\n