2017 NCAA Division III Women – Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Women’s 100-yard Freestyle – Prelims

  • NCAA DIII Record: NCAA Record: 48.98 3/20/2010 Kendra Stern, Amherst

Top 8 qualifiers:

  1. Fiona Muir, SO Emory 49.93
  2. Emma Waddell, JR Williams 49.99
  3. Abby VanHarn, JR Calvin 50.19
  4. Lindsay Hagmann, JR Trinity U. 50.32
  5. Caroline Mather, SO Carleton 50.74
  6. Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe, SR Emory 50.77
  7. Madison Kauahi, SO Pomona-Pitzer 50.77
  8. Marissa Bergh, SR Emory 50.82

Wheaton senior Erin Bagley dropped 1.3 seconds to win a tightly contested heat over Emory senior Claire Liu, who dropped 1.4. Bagley got the touch by .17, 51.05 to 51.22, which was the difference between the B final and second alternate. Brooke Barnes, also of Wheaton, took the next heat with 51.41, improving her seed time by 6/10. Middlebury’s Morgan Burke dropped 4/10 to claim the last heat before the circle seeds in 51.48.

Calvin junior Abby VanHarn (50.19) edged Trinity junior Lindsay Hagmann (50.32) and Carleton sophomore Caroline Mather (50.74) to kick off the championship seeded heats. The trio dropped .5, .15, and .7, respectively in a very quick heat.

2016 runner-up Emory sophomore Fiona Muir was the first to crack 50 seconds in prelims, going 49.93 to win heat 7 ahead of sophomore Madison Kauahi of Pomona-Pitzer (50.77) and Abby Wilson of Kenyon (50.85)

Williams junior Emma Waddell, third in this event last year, won the final heat in 49.99. Emory’s Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe (50.77) and Marissa Bergh (50.82) followed.

Women’s 200-yard Backstroke – Prelims

  • NCAA DIII Record: NCAA Record: 1:56.23 3/15/2008 Brittany Sasser, Amherst

Top 8 qualifiers:

  1. Olivia Jackson, SR Williams 1:56.43
  2. Emma Paulson, SR St. Thomas 1:59.22
  3. Sara Daher, SR Bates 1:59.62
  4. Christina Belforti, SR Union 1:59.78
  5. Cindy Cheng, JR Emory 1:59.95
  6. Delaney Ambrosen, SO Kenyon 2:00.52
  7. Eleanore Hong, SR Rose-Hulman 2:00.61
  8. Nicole Zanolli, JR Wash U. MO 2:00.70

Johns Hopkins sophomore Natalia Rincon destroyed her seed time, dropping 10.3 seconds to win heat 1 in 2:04.23. Bates freshman Hannah Bates edged Illinois Wesleyan senior Baylee Hoecker, 2:02.17 to 2:02.56, to take the following heat.

St. Thomas senior Emma Paulson, who finished fifth in last year’s final, was the first sub-2:00 in the field. She won the first circle-seeded heat in 1:59.22 ahead of seniors Sara Daher of Bates (1:59.62) and Christina Belforti of Union (1:59.78). Daher and Belforti each dropped 2.8 seconds and made the championship final.

Willliams senior Olivia Jackson established an early lead over the field in heat 4, getting into clear water by the 50 wall, then going up by a body length at the 100 and 2 bodies at the 150. Jackson took 2 seconds off her seed time and was on record pace over the first 150 yards but fell off at the end, finishing with 1:56.43. She’ll have another chance to improve by the missing 20/100 in tonight’s final.

Emory junior Cindy Cheng won the final heat, but not as spectacularly as her predecessor. Up by a body length at the 100 with 56.58, Cheng came home in a leisurely 1:03.37 to touch in 1:59.95. Both Rose-Hulman senior Eleanore Hong (2:00.61) and MIT senior Veronika Jedryka (2:00.73) moved up on Cheng over the second half of the race.

Women’s 200-yard Breaststroke – Prelims

  • NCAA DIII Record: 2:12.20 2/20/2016 Sam Senczyszyn, UW Eau Claire
  • Meet Record: 2:12.30 3/19/2016 Emily Hyde, Amherst

Top 8 qualifiers:

  1. Sam Senczyszyn, SO UW-Eau Claire 2:14.17
  2. Julia Wilson, JR Kenyon 2:15.53
  3. Caroline White, FR Williams 2:15.66
  4. Annelise Kowalsky, SR Emory 2:16.01
  5. Mary Erb, FR Conn College 2:16.55
  6. Ashley Daniels, SO Emory 2:17.20
  7. Kaitlin Jones, JR Johns Hopkins 2:17.47
  8. KT Kustritz, FR Denison 2:17.61

Redlands senior Elsa Jaques dropped 2.5 seconds to win the first heat by a good margin and earn a spot in tonight’s B final. Emory sophomore Ashley Daniels claimed the first circle-seeded heat in 2:17.20. She was followed by Denison freshman KT Kustritz (2:17.61), the runner-up in last night’s 100 breast, and Emory sophomore Hannah Lally (2:19.05).

Williams freshman Caroline White edged Emory senior Annelise Kowalsky, 2:15.66 to 2:16.01 in the penultimate heat, with Connecticut freshman Mary Erb coming in third in 2:16.55, and improvement of 2.2 seconds from her seed time.

2016 runner-up Sam Senczyszyn, a sophomore at Wisconsin-Eau Claire and last night’s winner in the 100 breast, won the final heat in 2:14.17 over Kenyon junior Julia Wilson (2:15.53) and Johns Hopkins junior Kaitlin Jones (2:17.47).

Women’s 400-yard Freestyle Relay – Prelims

  • NCAA DIII Record: NCAA Record: 3:21.28 3/22/2013, Emory (Rosenkranz, Larson, Wobler, Dobben)
  1. Emory 3:21.90
  2. Kenyon 3:23.43
  3. Wash U. MO 3:23.67
  4. Williams 3:24.02
  5. W & L 3:25.55
  6. NYU 3:25.75
  7. Wheaton IL 3:25.90
  8. Middlebury 3:26.42

Emory (sophomore Muir, senior Sanchez-Aizcorbe, freshman Caroline Olson, and senior Bergh) led the way in the 400 free relay heats, qualifying first with 3:21.90, just .62 off the NCAA record. Kenyon (sophomores Hannah Orbach-Mandel, Ambrosen, Sophia Kuvan, and Wilson) posted the second-fastest time of 3:23.43, an improvement of 1.7 seconds over their seed time.

Wash U (junior Nicole Zanolli, senior MariMac Collins, junior Niamh O’Grady, and sophomore Lauren Sapp), at 3:23.67, was third, just ahead of Williams (3:24.02).

Women’s 1, 650-yard Freestyle – Slower Heats

  • NCAA DIII Record: 16:21.44 3/21/2015 Sarah Thompson, Williams

Top 8 from the morning (guaranteed to score in at least the 9-16 range):

  1. Gail Anderson, FR Kenyon 16:58.68
  2. Valerie Urban, SR Connecticut 17:01.34
  3. Nancy Nasky, SO Geneseo 17:04.51
  4. Ming-fen Ong, JR Emory 17:06.48
  5. Cara Lopiano, SR Chicago 17:09.05
  6. Natalie Zaravella, FR Denison 17:12.45
  7. Jamie Robinson, FR NYU 17:17.07
  8. Grace Wakabayashi, SO NYU 17:17.14

Connecticut senior Valerie Urban won the first morning heat of women’s miles with 17:01.34, improving her seed time by 8.1 seconds. SUNY Geneseo sophomore Nancy Nasky was second in the heat, with a best-by-6.4 17:04.51, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Emory junior Ming-fen Ong (17:06.48). In 2016, Urban and Nasky were 16th and 17th, while Ong finished 9th.

If you are going to belt out a great swim, you may as well do it on the big stage. That is exactly what Kenyon freshman Gail Anderson did in the second heat of the morning miles. Dropping 16 seconds and lapping several swimmers in the heat, Anderson came to the wall in 16:58.68, giving herself a chance to finish in the top 8 overall. Chicago senior Cara Lopiano was second in the heat with 17:09.05 for a 4.3-second drop. Denison freshman Natalie Zaravella was third in 17:12.45.

 

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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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