James Madison’s Bonnie Zhang Breaks CAA Record at Last Chance Meet

UNC Last Chance Meet

• March 3, 2019
• Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Live Results

James Madison junior Bonnie Zhang swam a 48.38 in the 100 free at a University of North Carolina-hosted Last Chance meet on Sunday morning in Chapel Hill. That improves her own previous best time of 48.50 and breaks the CAA Conference Record of 48.47 that was set last season by Northeastern’s Megan Clark.

More importantly for Zhang, with only last chance meets remaining on the women’s side, that improves her national rank from tied-for-34th to 28th nationally at the time of her swim. This afternoon, she’s been in 34th, but with most of the last chance results in, that’s a great position, especially in an event that has a relatively-high rate of scratches.

• Estimating the 2019 NCAA invite times
• NCAA 2019 official qualifying times

Other Noteworthy Results:

• Duke’s Cabell Whitlow swam a 1:55.93 in the 200 fly final, while UNC’s Bryanna Cameron swam a 1:55.89 in prelims. Those times rank 31st and 33rd, nationally, and both should be NCAA qualifying times.
• The UNC women just missed the A cut in the 200 free relay in prelims, but then they came back in finals and blew right through it. They swam a 1:27.36, which gets them under the “A” cut of 1:28.61. That now makes them eligible to swim the 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay, and 400 medley relay, where they all have at least “B” cuts.
• UNC’s Sophie Lindner improved her season best from 1:55.35 in the 200 back to a 1:53.11 on Sunday. That jumps her more than 50 spots to 23rd in the national rankings and a virtual lock for the NCAA Championships. Richmond’s Hannah Gouger, who swam a 1:53.56, will now rank about 35th nationally. That puts her well on the bubble.
• UNC’s Caroline Hauder swam a 48.56. That puts her in a tie for 43rd, based on times currently entered in the NCAA database. That of itself won’t be invited, but with a few scratches she has a chance.
• UNC’s Lilly Higgs swam a 1:00.08 in the 100 breaststroke. That puts her 47th nationally and probably on the wrong side of the bubble.