Real-Time Updates of the Early 1650 Heats at the 2016 W. NCAA Champs

2016 WOMEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 16 – Saturday, March 19
• McAuley Aquatic Center – Atlanta, GA
• Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
• Defending Champion: Cal – Results
• Championships Central
• Live stream: All prelims, Wednesday finals, & Thursday finals (Other sessions will be on ESPN3)
• Live results

The early heats of the timed-finals women’s 1650 freestyle are in the water, and we’ll be tracking the results here in preparation for the fastest heat, which will be swum at the beginning of the 6PM finals’ session. At least 8 swimmers in the early heats of the 1650 will score points, and among the teams that are battling for the team championship, Georgia and Stanford both have early heat entries in the 1650, while Cal does not.

Note: it took 16:06.08 to score in the 1650 free at last year’s NCAA Championship meet.

Heat 1:

Purdue’s Allie Davis and Kentucky’s Kathryn Painter battled throughout heat 1 of the women’s 1650. Davis set the pace early on, but the Kentucky freshman Painter had a longer and more efficient stroke, and that paid off in the last 500 of the race as she slowly pulled away.

Ultimately, Painter won in 16:12.86, and Davis was 2nd in the heat in 16:17.03

Heat results:

1. Kathryn Painter, Kentucky, 16:12.86
2. Allie Davis, Purdue, 16:17.03
3. Maddi Myers, Denver, 16:21.86
4. Michelle Craddock, NC State, 16:25.50
5. Kira Zubar, Missouri, 16:33.29
6. Hannah Burns, Florida, 16:38.06

Heat 2:

With team implications heavy in heat 2, Stanford’s Leah Stevens pushed hard in the women’s 1650 free, and led the race for about the first half.

At around the 800 yard mark, however, Wisconsin’s Jenny Holtzen overtook Stevens, and eventually so too did Georgia’s Rachel Zilinskas, most significantly. In a thrilling finish to the heat, Zilinskas was able to reel-in Holtzen and finally made the pass with 40 yards to go.

Heat results:

1. Rachel Zilinskas, Georgia, 16:06.74
2. Jenny Holtzen, Wisconsin, 16:06.98
3. (tie)Caitlynn Moon, Texas A&M, 16:15.68
4. (tie)Cailley Silbert, Yale, 16:15.68
5. Leah Stevens, Stanford, 16:18.51
6. Breanne Siwicki, Minnesota, 16:20.23
7. Eva Fabian, Yale, 16:22.04
8. Abel Verity, Duke, 16:24.30

Heat 3:

As her team has been doing all week long, Indiana’s Stephanie Marchuk closed hard on the back-half of heat 3 to win the race and post the second-fastest time of the afternoon to this point. Each of the top three are close enough where they could score if the meet ends up being a little slower than last year, but none have caught the requisite 16:06.08.

Pitt’s Kaliegh Ritter and Auburn’s Ashley Neidigh battled for 2nd in a very good 16-minute battle behind the leader, and Neidigh came up big in the last 50 to touch 2nd.

Ritter crushed her own Pitt school record in the 500 on day 2 of this meet, but couldn’t match her best time in this 1650.

Heat results

1. Stephanie Marchuk, Indiana, 16:06.96
2. Ashley Neidigh, Auburn, 16:11.83
3. Kaleigh Ritter, Pitt, 16:11.92
4. Zoe Thatcher, Auburn, 16:19.38
5. Summer Finke, Florida State, 16:25.84
6. Kendal Casey, Kentucky, 16:28.51
7. Morgan Dickson, Tennessee, 16:31.61
8. Amanda Richey, Pitt, 16:37.47

Heat 4:

Minnesota sophomore Brooke Zeiger had the first big breakthrough in heat 4 of the women’s 1650 free, which saw her well ahead of the pace of the first three heats (about 6 seconds through most of the middle portion of the race).

After that early surge, she just-about held pace, and wound up just missing the 16-minute mark. She’s the only swimmer in the heat likely to score.

Heat Results:

1. Brooke Zeiger, Minnesota, 16:00.64
2. Hanne Borgersen, Virginia, 16:07.65
3. Autumn Finke, Florida, 16:07.83
4. Joanna Evans, Texas, 16:09.90
5. Allie Wooden, USC, 16:12.91
6. Maddy Tegner, Tennessee, 16:18.59
7. Stephanie Peters, Georgia, 16:22.61
8. Jessica Hespeler, Virginia Tech, 16:26.82

Heat 5:

Indiana’s Haley Lips crushed the Georgia Tech pool record and put herself in position for big double-digit points with a 15:50.54 in the last early heat of the women’s 1650 free. She’ll be the top qualifier out of early heats, and based on history, is likely to push even higher into the top 8 with just the fastest heat to go.

She will emerge from the morning as the only swimmer better than 16 minutes in the race – marking an unusually slow first five heats so far.

Heat results:

1. Haley Lips, Indiana, 15:50.54
2. Danielle Valley, Wisconsin, 16:00.43
3. Genevieve Miller, Air Force Academy, 16:02.74
4. Rachel Muller, North Carolina State, 16:04.95
5. Samantha Harding, Minnesota, 16:13.43
6. Casey Francis, Penn State, 16:13.52
7. Sammy Harrison, Oregon State, 16:14.75
8. Kaersten Meitz, Purdue, 16:17.24

Running Standings (Through heat 5 of 6)

1. Haley Lips, Indiana, 15:50.54 (Guaranteed Scorer)
2. Danielle Valley, Wisconsin, 16:00.43 (Guaranteed Scorer)
3. Brooke Zeiger, Minnesota, 16:00.64 (Guaranteed Scorer)
4. Genevieve Miller, Air Force Academy, 16:02.74 (Guaranteed Scorer)
5. Rachel Muller, North Carolina State, 16:04.95 (Guaranteed Scorer)
6. Rachel Zilinskas, Georgia, 16:06.74 (Guaranteed Scorer)
7. Stephanie Marchuk, Indiana, 16:06.96 (Guaranteed Scorer)
8. Jenny Holtzen, Wisconsin, 16:06.98 (Guaranteed Scorer)
9. Hanne Borgersen, Virginia, 16:07.65
10. Autumn Finke, Florida, 16:07.83
11. Joanna Evans, Texas, 16:09.90
12. Ashley Neidigh, Auburn, 16:11.83
13. Kaleigh Ritter, Pitt, 16:11.92
14. Kathryn Painter, Kentucky, 16:12.86
15. Allie Wooden, USC, 16:12.91
16. Samantha Harding, Minnesota, 16:13.43
17. Casey Francis, Penn State, 16:13.52
18. Sammy Harrison, Oregon State, 16:14.75
19. (tie)Caitlynn Moon, Texas A&M, 16:15.68
20. (tie)Cailley Silbert, Yale, 16:15.68
21. Allie Davis, Purdue, 16:17.03
22. Kaersten Meitz, Purdue, 16:
23. Leah Stevens, Stanford, 16:18.51
24. Maddy Tegner, Tennessee, 16:18.59
25. Zoe Thatcher, Auburn, 16:19.38
26. Breanne Siwicki, Minnesota, 16:20.23
27. Maddi Myers, Denver, 16:21.86
28. Eva Fabian, Yale, 16:22.04
29. Stephanie Peters, Georgia, 16:22.61
30. Abel Verity, Duke, 16:24.30
31. Michelle Craddock, NC State, 16:25.50
32. Summer Finke, Florida State, 16:25.84
33. Jessica Hespeler, Virginia Tech, 16:26.82
34. Kendal Casey, Kentucky, 16:28.51
35. Morgan Dickson, Tennessee, 16:31.61
36. Kira Zubar, Missouri, 16:33.29
37. Amanda Richey, Pitt, 16:37.47
38. Hannah Burns, Florida, 16:38.06