Day 2 ACC Roundup: Worrell-Wind is Just Icing on the Cake for Performant Conference

2015 WOMEN’S NCAA DI CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thursday, March 19 – Saturday, March 21
Greensboro Aquatic Center – Greensboro, NC
Prelims 11AM/Finals 7PM (Eastern Time)
Defending Champion: Georgia (2x) – results
NCAA Championship Central
Live stream: All prelims & Thursday finals (Other sessions will be on ESPN3)
Live results

Standings:

4) Virginia
6) Louisville
16) NC State
18) North Carolina
20) Notre Dame

The ACC has five teams in the top 20, the most of any conference after the SEC, which has 6. The Pac-12 and the Big Ten each count 4, while the Big 12 has just one representative in the top 20.

Kelsi Worrell Crashes Through Two Butterfly Time Barriers, Earning American Record and Becoming First Female Card to Win NCAA Title

You got the feeling Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell had something special in store for us today when she started prelims off with a 22.0 split for the 50 fly on the Cardinals’ 200 medley relay. And as fast as that was, it was only the beginning. An hour later she had broken Natalie Coughlin’s American short-course record of 50.01, going an unbelievable 49.89 in prelims. As she came barreling down the final 25, perennial announcer Sam Hendricks mentioned the mark to beat, but when she hit the wall .11 under the elusive 50-second barrier, he was speechless. It was just that hard to fathom.

The Worrell-wind wasn’t over, though. In finals, she came back even faster, registering a 21.9 on the fly leg of the medley relay and a 49.81 to lower her own NCAA and American records in the 100. Her victory in the 100 fly made Worrell the first female swimmer in history from University of Louisville to win an NCAA title.

That Louisville medley relay, meanwhile, finished second in a school-record time of 1:35.75, with Tanja Kylliainen (24.81), Andee Cottrell (26.55), Worrell (21.96) and Andrea Kneppers (22.43).

Quick Hits:

Also in the 200 medley relay, Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew (23.91), Laura Simon (27.18), Ellen Williamson (23.86), and Ellen Thomas (21.89) placed fourth behind Tennessee, and just .06 in front of Georgia with 1:36.84.
Bartholomew, meanwhile, earned All-American honors in the 100 back, finishing second in 50.51. Bartholomew had set the pool record in prelims with 50.67, and while she was faster in finals, Cal’s Rachel Botsma ran away with the title in 50.03, just missing Natalie Coughlin’s American record of 49.97.
After a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM last night, Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney picked up her second All-American designation in the 100 breast. Reaney moved up from 7th in prelims to 3rd in finals, posting a time of 58.43.
UVA’s Simon came in fourth in the 100 breast just behind Reaney. Her career-best 58.53 broke the Virginia school record and earned Simon All-American honors.
Louisville’s Kylliainen also picked up a fourth; she went 4:03.51 in the 400 IM and lowered her own school record in the process.
Leah Smith of Virginia, fresh off her NCAA record in the 500 free yesterday, wound up seventh in the 200 free for another All-American accolade. Smith touched in 1:44.00, just off her prelims time of 1:43.80.
Cottrell of Louisville scored for the Cardinals in the 100 breast when she finished 11th with 59.45.
Danielle Siverling set two UNC records in the 200 free when she clocked a 1:44.35 in prelims, then came back and eclipsed that with 1:44.30 in finals for 12th place. Siverling had first set the school record at ACCs last month. This was her second All-American honor of the meet; she also finished 11th in the 500 free.
North Carolina diver Michole Timm made history for UNC when she placed 14th in three-meter diving with 335.35 points, becoming the first Tarheel woman diver to earn All-American status since 1992.