NCAA Championships Notes: Day 3
March 22, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 20, 2010
Swim of the Day: Going into the last day of competition, the Badgers were looking to carry Friday’s momentum into Saturday’s finals. The Wisconsin 400 freestyle relay was in the middle of a group of teams looking to make the top 16.
The Wisconsin team of sophomore Beckie Thompson, junior Maggie Meyer, freshman Laura Miller and senior Rosie Morahan didn’t disappoint and qualified 12th for the evening session finals. In the evening, they put on a special performance en route to winning the consolation finals and a ninth-place finish with a time of 3:16.66, sending Morahan out with a win in her final race as a Badger.
Supporting Cast: After a disappointing day on Friday, sophomore Ashley Wanland was looking for redemption Saturday in the 200 breaststroke. With that in mind, Wanland swam her way into the consolation finals. In the evening session, Wanland outdid herself, finishing in 11th place with a time of 2:09.72.
Non-Badger Note: It was a wild day at the Boilermaker Aquatic complex with the team championship still up for grabs. Wendy Trott of Georgia led off the action with an impressive, nine second win in “the mile” (1,650 freestyle) event. Senior Kateryna Fesenko of Indiana unseated three-time champion Gemma Spofforth of Florida for the title in the 200 backstroke. Julia Wilkinson of Texas A&M came away with the surprise victory in the 100 freestyle; she was followed up by teammate Alia Atkinson’s victory in the 200 breaststroke. Elaine Breeden added another butterfly title (won Friday in the 100 butterfly) with a time of 1:52.39 in the 200 butterfly. Chen Ni of IUPUI won the platform diving competition for the second-consecutive year. In the final event, Stanford took home the title in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:12.32.
Scoreboard: After the dust was settled, the surprise team champions were the Gators of the University of Florida. After sitting in fifth going into the final day of competition, the Gators had an amazing day in the pool in West Lafayette and came away in first place. Coming down to the final race, the lady Gators winning difference was one of the smallest in history edging out second place Stanford by only 2.5 points.
Final Score: Florida – 382, Stanford – 379.5, California – 363, Arizona – 359.5.
The Badgers finished the championships in 14th place. Wisconsin edged out Big Ten rival Michigan with a final tally of 88 to the Wolverine’s 76 points. Minnesota finished 12th with 102 points, while Tennessee registered 13th with 99.5 points.
Up Next: Saturday marks the end of the collegiate season for the Badgers. With seven of the eight NCAA team members returning next season, things are looking up for Wisconsin.
Remember to check in next week to see the progress of Badger freshman Daniel Lester as he represents Wisconsin in Columbus, Ohio, at the 2010 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships. The Melbourne, Australia, native will swim for the Badgers in the 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley and 200 butterfly events.
