2018 NCAA Division III Women’s Championships – Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2018 NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 21 – Saturday, March 24
• Swimming: prelims 10am, finals 6pm
• Location: IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Emory (x8) (results)
• Psych Sheet
• Video
• Live Results
• Championship Central

Day 2

Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 1:30.52 3/16/2017 , Emory (Muir, Sanchez-Aizcorbe, Taylor, Bergh)

Qualifiers:

1. Denison 1:33.36
2. Williams 1:33.83
3. Pomona-Pitzer 1:33.98
4. Calvin 1:34.00
5. Kenyon 1:34.02
6. Johns Hopkins 1:34.18
7. Amherst 1:34.42
8. MIT 1:34.51
9. Gustavus 1:34.51
10. Connecticut 1:34.86
11. Bates 1:34.95
12. Wash U 1:34.97
13. Trinity 1:35.09
14. Chicago 1:35.13
15. Claremont-MS 1:35.24
16. Washington & Lee 1:35.74

The Emory women sprinters flew a little too close to the sun on Thursday morning in relay heats. They appeared to win the final heat with 1:31.90 but were disqualified for a relay exchange violation. Also DQd in the final heat was SUNY Geneseo.

Denison (Madison Hopkins, 23.86, KT Kustritz 23.37, Gabriella Nutter 23.05 and Casey Kirby 23.08) combined for the morning’s top time of 1:33.36 in a crowded field that will add excitement to tonight’s final. Williams (1:33.83), Pomona-Pitzer (1:33.98), Calvin (1:34.00), Kenyon (1:34.02), and Johns Hopkins (1:34.18) qualified within 1 second of Denison.

In the absence of Emory, Gustavus and MIT were tied for 8th place and required a swim-off to determine A-final and B-final denizens. Both teams were faster the second time around, with MIT touching out Gustavus, 1:33.35 to 1:33.79.

Women’s 400 Yard Individual Medley – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 4:13.14 3/22/2012 Caroline Wilson, Williams

Qualifiers:

1. Erica Hsu, SO Denison 4:20.04
2. Molly Craig, FR Williams 4:20.08
3. Julia Durmer, JR Emory 4:20.82
4. Ming-fen Ong, SR Emory 4:21.94
5. Natalie Zaravella, SO Denison 4:22.24
6. Maria Turcanu, SO Emory 4:23.46
7. Bridgitte Kwong, JR Amherst 4:23.62
8. Emma Nicklas-Morris, SO Carnegie Mellon 4:24.81
9. Nadia Redza, FR Chicago 4:25.40
10. Honore Collins, SO NYU 4:26.03
11. Halli Garza, SR Denison 4:26.08
12. Mary St. John, SR CarnegieMellon 4:26.16
13. Marysol Arce, JR Kenyon 4:27.79
14. Sterling Dixon, JR Bowdoin 4:27.94
15. Kerry Kelly, SO Union 4:28.19
16. Simone Stover, JR Chicago 4:28.68

Carnegie Mellon senior Emma Shi kicked off with a best-by-9.5-seconds 4:34.26 to win heat 1 of the 400 IMs. Honore Collins of NYU, who won the 200 IM as a freshman in 2017, swam a 4:26.03 to win heat 2 with an 8.8-second improvement over her seed time. Second in the heat was Washington & Lee sophomore Emily Hageboeck with 4:29.18.

Freshman Molly Craig of Williams held the lead throughout the entire heat 3, but Denison sophomore Erica Hsu crept up on her at the end and got the touch by 4/100, 4:20.04 to 4:20.08. Chicago freshman Nadia Redza was third in the heat.

Emory senior Ming Ong, fourth in this event last year, went 4:21.94 to win the penultimate heat over Emma Nicklas-Morris of Carnegie Mellon and Sterling Dixon of Bowdoin.

2017 runner-up Julia Durmer of Emory cruised to an easy win of the final heat in 4:20.82 over Natalie Zararvella of Denison (4:22.24, dropping 3.2 seconds) and Maria Turcanu of Emory (4:23.46, dropping 3.5).

Women’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 52.64 3/20/2014 Kirsten Nitz, Wheaton (IL)

Qualifiers:

1. Emma Waddell, SR Williams 53.62
2. Meg Campbell, SR Emory 54.70
3. Niamh O’Grady, SR Wash U. 55.16
4. Anne Dassow, SO Grove City 55.25
5. Maddie Hopkins, FR Denison 55.34
6. Madeline Downs, SR Williams 55.57
7. Maria Kyle, SO Emory 55.59
8. Angela Le, SO Denison 55.60
9. Caroline Apathy, FR Bates 55.77
10. Clara Baker, JR Ursinus 55.77
11. Zoe Whelan, SO Denison 55.79
12. Ali Macqueen, SO W&L 55.86
13. Delaney Dyjak, SR Springfield 55.88
14. Rachel Song, FR Emory 56.01
15. Erica Yuen, FR NYU 56.05
16. Cassandra Cotton, JR Messiah 56.06

Junior Sedera Zbrankak of RIT dropped 2.3 seconds to earn the heat 1 win with 56.93. Bethany Seagraves of Emory followed with a 56.59-to-56.74 edging of Middlebury sophomore Frances Vandermeer. NYU freshman Erica Yuen improved her entry time by .60 to win heat 3 with 56.05 over Williams junior Maia Hare (56.15).

Wash U. senior Niamh O’Grady, who placed second in last year’s final, kicked off the circle-seeded heats with a 55.16 win in front of Washington & Lee sophomore Alison MacQueen (55.86) and Emory freshman Rachel Song (56.01). Emory senior Meg Campbell, third in this event in 2017, won the following heat in 54.70, with teammate Marie Kyle half a body length back and Bates freshman Caroline Apathy and Ursinus junior Clara Baker tied for third.

Defending champion, top-seeded Emma Waddell of Williams, took the final heat, improving her seed time by 1/10 and landing the only sub-54 in the field with a qualifying time of 53.62. Behind her were Grove City’s Anne Dassow and Denison’s Madison Hopkins.

Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 1:44.82 3/24/2011 Kendra Stern, Amherst

Qualifiers:

1. Cindy Cheng, SR Emory 1:48.01
2. Fiona Muir, JR Emory 1:49.21
3. Becca Erwin, SO BSC 1:49.53
4. Hannah Orbach-Mandel, JR Kenyon 1:49.62
5. Laura Westphal, FR Williams 1:49.73
6. Abby Wilson, JR Kenyon 1:50.00
7. Julia Wawer, SR Emory 1:50.11
8. Ken Vanderhoof, SO Kenyon 1:50.17
9. Meg Taylor, JR Emory 1:50.40
10. Abby VanHarn, SR Calvin 1:50.44
11. Emma McElrath, FR Johns Hopkins 1:50.91
12. Mollie Seidner, SO Wash U. 1:50.97
13. Jenna Hayden, SR Wheaton (MA) 1:51.00
14. Mia Chiappe, FR Denison 1:51.23
15. Delaney Ambrosen, JR Kenyon 1:51.27
16. Gwyneth Maloy, FR Williams 1:51.28

Jaime Robinson of NYU dropped 7 seconds to win the first heat in 1:55.79. Williams junior Alison McNamara improved her seed time by 4.8 to take heat 2 in 1:52.62. Messiah College senior Kaitlin Wingert improved by 6/10 to win a very close race against NYU junior Grace Wakabayashi, 1:53.13 to 1:53.24. Johns Hopkins freshman Emma McElrath put down a best-by-1.4-seconds 1:50.91 to touch out Wash U. sophomore Mollie Seidner, who also improved by 1.4, 1:50.91 to 1:50.97. Denison freshman Mia Chiappe was just behind with 1:51.23.

Fiona Muir of Emory dropped 6/10 to win the first circle-seeded heat in 1:49.21 ahead of Kenyon freshman Abigail Wilson (1:50.00). Kenyon junior Hannah Orbach-Mandel went 1:49.62 to take the penultimate heat over Williams freshman Laura Westphal (1:49.73) and Wash U. senior Nicole Zanolli (1:51.50).

Top-seeded Cindy Cheng, the defending champion in this event, went 1:48.01 to win the final heat. Birmingham Southern sophomore Rebecca Erwin and Wheaton (MA) senior Jenna Hayden placed second and thid in the heat.

Women’s 1 Meter Diving – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 515.90 3/25/2011 Danica Roskos, TCNJ

Qualifiers:

1. Nickie Griesemer, SR Ithaca 447.05
2. Blake Zhou, SO MIT 443.30
3. Maura Sticco-Ivins, SR Wellesley 438.95
4. Sarah Hayhurst, SR Centre 433.40
5. Lindsey Ruderman, FR Amherst 423.85
6. Nicki Bailey, FR Kalamazoo 420.70
7. Deborah Wen, FR MIT 407.30
8. Allison Fitzgerald, SO Denison 406.00
9. Kayley Alioto, SR UW LaCrosse 399.75
10. Alyssa Wishart, SR Ithaca 399.65
11. Katie Helly, SR Ithaca 398.75
12. Meghann Kilgallon, SR SUNY Brockport 395.60
13. Dolly Payne, JR MIT 393.55
14. Elyse Stone, SR Smith 391.75
15. Anna Belson, SR Ithaca 386.45
16. Samantha Reichman, SO SUNY Geneseo 385.50

Ithaca senior Nickie Griesemer, who placed 10th last year in 1-meter diving, led the morning prelims session with 447.05 points. MIT’s Blake Zhou, who placed 3rd as a freshman last year, scored 433.30 points to qualify second for tonight’s final. Defending champion Maura Sticco-Ivins of Wellesley was third with 438.95.

Women’s 400 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 3:39.57 3/16/2017 , Emory (Cheng, Kowalsky, Sanchez-Aizcorbe, Muir)

Qualifiers:

1. Kenyon 3:41.25
2. Denison 3:42.41
3. Johns Hopkins 3:43.86
4. Williams 3:43.97
5. Emory 3:45.04
6. Wash U. 3:46.19
7. Pomona-Pitzer 3:46.78
8. MIT 3:47.30
9. Carnegie Mellon 3:48.57
10. Amherst 3:48.64
11. Conn College 3:48.89
12. Chicago 3:48.96
13. CMS 3:48.97
14. Bates 3:49.20
15. Ursinus 3:49.58
16. NYU 3:49.63

RPI, who had appeared to win the first heat, was disqualified, leaving Grove City as heat winners with 3:56.36. Denison (3:52.41) won the second heat with Casey Kirby (56.24), KT Kustritz (1:00.45), Zoe Whelan (55.39) and Gabriella Nutter (50.33). Wash U. came in second with 3:46.19.

Johns Hopkins (3:43.86) won heat 3 over a cautious Emory (3:45.04). Natalie Rincon, Gwyneth Lamastra, Anna Wisniewski, and Kristen Petersen contributed to the JHU heat win.

Kenyon won the final heat with the morning’s top time of 3:41.25. Caitlin Foley (55.94), Julia Wilson (1:01.57), Crile Hart (53.56), and Orbach-Mandel (50.18) swam the legs for the Ladies. Williams finished second with 3:43.97.