2017 NCAA Division III Women – Day 2 Finals Live Recap

Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Women’s 200-yard Freestyle Relay – Final

  • NCAA Record: 1:31.42 3/17/16 Emory (Muir, Sanchez-Aizcorbe, Taylor, Bergh)
  1. Emory 1:30.52
  2. Williams 1:32.90
  3. Denison 1:33.59
  4. Kenyon 1:33.80
  5. MIT 1:33.83
  6. Johns Hopkins 1:33.89
  7. Washington (MO) 1:34.31

Fiona Muir got things going for Emory with a quick leadoff leg, coming to the wall just behind Williams’ Emma Waddell. From the second leg, Emory’s lead never was less than one body length, and they continued to increase their advantage with the third and fourth legs. The Eagles stopped the clock at 1:30.52, setting a new NCAA Division III record. The splits were:

  • Muir, Fiona SO 22.86
  • Sanchez-Aizcorbe, Marcela SR 22.27
  • Taylor, Megan SO 22.63
  • Bergh, Marissa SR 22.76

Williams came in second with 1:32.90, while Denison (1:33.59) edged Kenyon (1:33.80), MIT (1:33.83), and Johns Hopkins (1:33.89) for third. St. Thomas was disqualified.

Women’s 400-yard Individual Medley – Final

  • NCAA DIII Record: 4:13.14 3/22/2012 Caroline Wilson, Williams
  1. Megan Pierce, SR Williams 4:15.71
  2. Julia Durmer, SO Emory 4:18.13
  3. Bridgitte Kwong, SO Amherst 4:21.77
  4. Ming-fen Ong, JR Emory 4:23.19
  5. Emma Nicklas-Morris, FR Carnegie Mellon 4:23.22
  6. Marysol Arce, SO Kenyon 4:24.18
  7. Sterling Dixon, SO Bowdoin 4:26.39
  8. Colleen Orwin, SR Kalamazoo 4:33.95

Emory sophomore Julia Durmer was the leader after the fly leg, with Williams senior Megan Pierce and Emory junior Ming-fen Ong just behind. Pierce drew even in the backstroke, and the pair turned together into the breaststroke. Amherst sophomore Bridgitte Kwong moved into third after the backstroke.

Durmer had the advantage in the breast, although Pierce was never really too far behind. The two battled it out over the freestyle. Pierce pulled slightly ahead at the 350 wall, then shut Durmer down and finishing almost two body lengths ahead to defend her title with 4:15.71. She improved more than 5 seconds from her winning time in 2016.

Durmer finished second with 4:18.15. Kwong maintained her position at third with 4:21.77.

Women’s 100-yard Butterfly – Final

  • NCAA DIII Record: 52.64 3/20/2014 Kirsten Nitz, Wheaton (IL)
  1. Emma Waddell, JR Williams 53.48
  2. Niamh O’Grady, JR Wash U 54.13
  3. Megan Campbell, JR Emory 54.80
  4. Kathy Lin, FR NYU 54.86
  5. Carolyn Kane, SR Denison 54.91
  6. Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe, SR Emory 54.96
  7. Anne Dassow, Grove City 54.98
  8. Abigail Brown, SR Johns Hopkins 55.36

Williams senior Emma Waddell, who won the national title in 2015 but was disqualified in last year’s final, picked up her second career 100 fly title with 53.48. Waddell was even with Wash U junior Niamh O’Grady over the first 50 but used her strong underwaters to gain an advantage over the last two walls. O’Grady touched second in 54.13. Emory junior Megan Campbell clipped NYU freshman Kathy Lin for third.

Women’s 200-yard Freestyle – Final

  • NCAA DIII Record: 1:44.82 3/24/2011 Kendra Stern, Amherst
  1. Cindy Cheng, JR Emory 1:46.82
  2. Fiona Muir, SO Emory 1:47.78
  3. Hannah Orbach-Mandel, SO Kenyon 1:48.83
  4. Abigail Wilson, SO Kenyon 1:48.89
  5. Julia Wawer, JR Emory 1:49.26
  6. Nicole Zanolli, JR Wash U 1:49.49
  7. Lauren Jones, SR Williams 1:49.90
  8. Campbell Costley, SR Denison 1:51.51

Emory sophomore Fiona Muir set the pace from the outset, turning just ahead of teammate Cindy Cheng at the 50. Cheng then took over at the 100 wall, gaining a half-body length on her teammate. Kenyon sophomore Abigail Wilson moved up on Muir over the third 50, challenging for second with Cheng way out front. Cheng got the win in 1:46.82. Muir dug in to get second in 1:47.47. Kenyon sophomore Hannah Orbach-Mandel closed in 27.60 to overtake Wilson for third, with 1:48.83. Wilson finished fourth, 6/100 behind.

Women’s 400-yard Medley Relay – Final

  • NCAA DIII Record: 3:40.13 3/21/2013, Kenyon (Oberholzer, Kaestner, Saiz, Townsend)
  1. Emory 3:39.57
  2. Williams 3:40.57
  3. Kenyon 3:43.47
  4. Washington & Lee 3:44.72
  5. Denison 3:45.12
  6. Connecticut 3:47.07
  7. Amherst 3:47.08

Emory broke its second relay record of the night with a 3:39.57 group effort from junior Cindy Cheng (54.24), senior Annelise Kowalsky (1:01.93), senior Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe (54.35), and sophomore Fiona Muir (49.05).

Despite a 53.15 butterfly leg from Emma Waddell, Williams finished second with 3:40.57. Kenyon improved on their morning performance by nearly 3 seconds and finished third with 3:43.47.

NYU was disqualified in the championship final.

 Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 19                     
 
  1. Emory                             330   2. Williams                          225
  3. Kenyon                            208   4. Denison                           175
  5. Mit                                87   6. Wash U. MO                         84
  7. Nyu                                69   8. Washington & Lee                   66
  9. Johns Hopkins                      65  10. Conn College                       64
 11. Ithaca                             58  12. Amherst                          50.5
 13. Calvin                             41  14. Bates                              34
 15. Chicago                            32  16. Wheaton IL                         29
 16. St. Thomas                         29  18. Carnegie Mellon                    25
 19. Claremont MS                       24  20. Middlebury                         22
 21. Wellesley                          20  21. Illinois Wesleyan                  20
 23. Suny Fredonia                      16  24. Trinity U.                         15
 24. Centre College                     15  26. DePauw                             13
 26. Bowdoin                            13  26. Uw-Lacrosse                        13
 29. Grove City                         12  29. Mount Union                        12
 31. Kalamazoo                          11  31. Carleton                           11
 31. Whitman                            11  34. Uw-Eau Claire                      10
 35. Ursinus                             7  36. Stevens                           4.5
 37. Mary Washington                     4  37. Pomona-Pitzer                       4
 37. Birmingham Southern                 4  40. St. Catherine                       3
 41. Redlands                            2  41. Smith                               2
 41. Gustavus                            2  44. Suny Geneseo                        1

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About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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