Ally McHugh Announces Move to Wisconsin After Graduation (Video)

2019 WOMEN’S DIVISION I NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Reported by Lauren Neidigh.

1650 FREESTYLE

TOP 8 FINISHERS:

  1. GOLD: Ally McHugh, Penn State, 15:39.22
  2. SILVER: Molly Kowal, Ohio State, 15:44.61
  3. BRONZE: Mackenzie Padington, Minnesota, 15:47.16
  4. Leah Stevens, Stanford, 15:47.31
  5. Phoebe Hines, Hawaii, 15:50.13
  6. Sierra Schmidt, Michigan, 15:50.19
  7. Kensey McMahon, Alabama, 15:53.18
  8. Cierra Runge, ASU, 15:53.72

Ohio State’s Molly Kowal led through the first 500 in 4:46.28, with Penn State’s Ally McHugh, the 2018 runner-up, close behind. McHugh took over the lead on the next 50 and began to distance herself from the field. Hawaii’s Phoebe Hines pulled even with Kowal for 2nd by the 800 mark.

McHugh remained in the lead through the 1000, splitting a hundredth faster than Minnesota’s Mackenzie Padington (15:47.16) from the early heats at the 950. McHugh came in at 9:31.93 at the 1000. She then started to pick up the pace, beating Padington’s splits from earlier this afternoon. Kowal started to pick it up again to take a lead on Hines, while Stanford’s Leah Stevens pulled herself into the mix for a top 3 finish in a race with Hines.

With a 500 to go it was all Ally McHugh for the win. Kowal had built a body length lead on Hines in the race for 2nd, and Stevens was stroke-for-stroke racing for 3rd. McHugh continued to build her lead through the back end of the race, winning with a 15:39.22. Kowal dropped almost 5 seconds to take 2nd in 15:44.61. Stevens was 3rd in the heat at 15:47.31, but 4th overall as Padington’s time from the afternoon landed her 3rd. Hines took 4th in the heat but 5th overall in 15:50.13.

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Hawaii Kai
5 years ago

Note that Wisconsin assistant coach Eric Posegay was previously an assistant coach at Penn State, where he coached McHugh.
https://swimswam.com/erik-posegay-makes-big-ten-switch-joins-wisconsin-staff/

working swim mom
Reply to  Hawaii Kai
5 years ago

This is exactly the reason she is moving. The coaching change at Penn State was because Eric left. She admitted in the video that she wasn’t open to the change. I can imagine that a change in your senior and last year when you had a breakout experience under the previous distance coach was tough. It doesn’t mean she didn’t like the coaching at Penn State, just that the change in her senior year wasn’t ideal.

To echo what Ms. Dickson highlighted, 2 women at NCAAs, and a total of 4 men, 2 swimmers and 2 divers will be in Austin this week. The men were the most improved by Swimswam’s analysis at for the big 10. They don’t exactly… Read more »

B1G fan
Reply to  working swim mom
5 years ago

Ally improved a lot a Penn State and she has said so in other interviews. I think that her grad program isn’t even offered at University Park. She is moving on to a new phase of life after graduation in May and her move to Wisconsin is a great choice for both her swimming and academics/future professional career.

tsa
5 years ago

Smart girl!

Wolski
5 years ago

interesting take. Ally is super talented and I’m sure works equally as hard. Will she be the only ‘pro’ at Wisconsin? Challenging environment within a college set up to be the only one.

Best of luck!

BBQ Billy
Reply to  Wolski
5 years ago

Yuri is such a great coach, I suspect Aly won’t be the only one. IMO.

coacherik
Reply to  Wolski
5 years ago

Previous coach there, HC with distance success. Brand new Nat coming on-line and options for starting grad school at a great Univ.. Madison is a fun town and in the summer, it’s an even better place to be. Lots of ticks in the “pro” column.

Sunny Cal
5 years ago

She doesn’t sound like she was to happy with the coaching changes at Penn State?

PSU ALUM
Reply to  Sunny Cal
5 years ago

there are no coaches at PSU, all horrendous

Sharon Dickson
Reply to  PSU ALUM
5 years ago

How about congratulations Ally? That seems to be more in line with the article then bashing the coaches. If you swam at Penn State, then include your name. Its a shame that your experience was not a favorable one, but I doubt highly that your swimming did not progress as a direct result of the coaches at PSU.If you didn’t, then its quite short sighted of you to attack the coaching staff. Four NCAA swimming qualifiers and many many personal bests throughout the 2018-2019 season. More importantly, a coaching staff that cares about their student athletes in and out of the pool. My experience with Penn State swimming has concluded, but good luck to Robbie’s teammates going forward and thank… Read more »

Articuno
Reply to  PSU ALUM
5 years ago

Can say that about MSU, IA, Illinois…. stagnant programs for years, same coaches, same clueless athletic departments. It’s a sham at the bottom of the big10.

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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