NCAA Women’s Championships: Virginia Crushes NCAA Record in 400 Medley Relay to Conclude Another Dominant Night
Moments after the conclusion of the final heat of the women’s 400 medley relay, the last race of night three at the NCAA Women’s Championships, Virginia’s entire team has surrounded the relay squad of Gretchen Walsh, Jasmine Nocentini, Alex Walsh and Maxine Parker. As DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” blared through the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga., the Cavaliers rocked out along with the song.
The phrasing was accurate: both Walsh sisters and Nocentini had already won titles on the evening, with Gretchen Walsh swimming the fastest time ever in the 100 butterfly while Alex Walsh (400 IM) and Nocentini (100 breaststroke) each moved to No. 2 all-time in their respective events. In 11 swimming events contested before the 400 medley relay, the Cavaliers had won seven of them.
Now, Virginia’s third relay win of the meet, the Cavaliers knocked off their first NCAA relay record in this medley relay triumph, beating the field by almost four seconds while topping the previous national mark from last season, when Kate Douglass was part of the squad, by eight tenths with a final mark of 3:21.01.
On the leadoff leg, Gretchen Walsh was expected to take a run at breaking her second individual record of the night in the 100 back, having recorded a mark of 48.10 at last month’s ACC Championships. However, racing just two hours after her incredible 100 fly swim, Walsh looked slightly fatigued as she came into the wall at 48.26, which tied the second-fastest time ever and the NCAA meet record in the individual event.
Next up, Nocentini blasted a split of 56.34, quickest of the night, to move the Cavaliers further ahead. Alex Walsh, hardly known as a sprinter, followed on the butterfly leg, returning to the stroke she previously handled in 2022 after shifting to breaststroke last season. She, too, topped the field, with her mark of 49.15 well ahead of 100 fly individual runnerup Emma Sticklen of Texas (49.67).
Only on the anchor leg was Virginia surpassed, as Parker split 47.26 while several competitors split 46s. But at that point, as per Virginia’s usual dominance, no one had any hope of catching up. Parker came into the wall for a new record and good enough to cement Virginia’s 51.5-point lead entering the meet’s final day.
With all that said, the team competition is not over yet, not after a huge Saturday performance from the University of Texas, with seven A-final performances between the 100 fly, 100 breast and three-meter diving. That culminated in the 400 medley relay with a second-place performance. After legs by Berit Berglund and Anna Elendt, the Longhorns sat in fifth place, but Sticklen came through with a massive fly leg, her split almost eight tenths faster than any non-Virginia butterflyer.
Kelly Pash came home in 46.76 to put Texas into the wall in 3:24.92, adding 34 more points to the Longhorns total and allowing Texas to finish the day having outscored Virginia by 17 points, creating a little bit of drama entering the final day, certainly more than Virginia experienced in any of the previous three team-title-winning efforts.
Tennessee placed third in 3:25.39 with the team of Josephine Fuller, Mona McSharry, Sara Stotler and Camille Spink. Fuller’s backstroke split of 50.22 was fourth-quickest in the race while McSharry had the second-best breaststroke result behind Nocentini at 56.80. Finally, Spink finished in 46.42 to secure the top-three result.
Florida, fueled by Bella Sims leading off in 50.02 and Isabel Ivey anchoring in 46.39, took fourth in 3:25.64, just ahead of USC at 3:25.76. NC State, which featured 100 back NCAA champion Katharine Berkoff leading off in 49.01, came in sixth at 3:27.12 while Duke’s quartet dropped more than two seconds from its entry time to move up from the 15th-seeded relay to seventh place overall.
Event 14 Women 400 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
NCAA: N 3:21.80 2/17/2023 Virginia
G Walsh, A Walsh, K Douglass, A Canny
Meet: M 3:22.34 3/18/2022 Virginia
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Walsh, K Douglass
American: A 3:22.34 2/18/2022 Virginia - Also 3/18/22
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Walsh, K Douglass
US Open: O 3:22.34 2/18/2022 Virginia - Also 3/18/22
G Walsh, A Wenger, A Walsh, K Douglass
Pool: P 3:27.84 12/5/2014 Virginia
Bartholomew, Simon, Williamson, Thomas
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 Virginia 3:22.49 3:21.01N 40
1) Walsh, Gretchen JR 2) r:0.13 Nocentini, Jasmine SR
3) r:0.28 Walsh, Alex SR 4) r:0.13 Parker, Maxine SR
r:+0.67 23.06 48.26 (48.26)
1:14.53 (26.27) 1:44.60 (56.34)
2:07.27 (22.67) 2:33.75 (49.15)
2:56.07 (22.32) 3:21.01 (47.26)
2 Texas 3:25.25 3:24.92P 34
1) Berglund, Berit FR 2) r:0.15 Elendt, Anna SR
3) r:0.24 Sticklen, Emma SR 4) r:-0.01 Pash, Kelly 5Y
r:+0.58 24.80 51.51 (51.51)
1:17.71 (26.20) 1:48.49 (56.98)
2:11.09 (22.60) 2:38.16 (49.67)
3:00.25 (22.09) 3:24.92 (46.76)
3 Tennessee 3:24.92 3:25.39P 32
1) Fuller, Josephine JR 2) r:0.25 McSharry, Mona SR
3) r:0.11 Stotler, Sara JR 4) r:0.14 Spink, Camille FR
r:+0.68 24.19 50.22 (50.22)
1:16.70 (26.48) 1:47.02 (56.80)
2:10.63 (23.61) 2:38.97 (51.95)
3:00.84 (21.87) 3:25.39 (46.42)
4 Florida 3:25.16 3:25.64P 30
1) Sims, Bella FR 2) r:0.09 Mayne, Molly FR
3) r:-0.01 Peoples, Olivia JR 4) r:0.01 Ivey, Isabel 5Y
r:+0.59 24.24 50.02 (50.02)
1:17.09 (27.07) 1:48.77 (58.75)
2:11.61 (22.84) 2:39.25 (50.48)
3:01.27 (22.02) 3:25.64 (46.39)
5 USC 3:26.90 3:25.76P 28
1) Famous, Caroline SR 2) r:0.27 Dobler, Kaitlyn SR
3) r:0.08 Delgado, Anicka SR 4) r:0.20 Abraham, Minna FR
r:+0.69 24.97 51.03 (51.03)
1:17.46 (26.43) 1:48.11 (57.08)
2:11.22 (23.11) 2:38.84 (50.73)
3:01.08 (22.24) 3:25.76 (46.92)
6 NC State 3:28.23 3:27.12P 26
1) Berkoff, Katharine 5Y 2) r:0.24 Arens, Abby SR
3) r:0.30 Noble, Kennedy SO 4) r:0.33 Crush, Annabel JR
r:+0.59 23.87 49.01 (49.01)
1:16.08 (27.07) 1:47.36 (58.35)
2:11.48 (24.12) 2:39.07 (51.71)
3:01.85 (22.78) 3:27.12 (48.05)
7 Duke 3:31.04 3:28.71 24
1) Pfaff, Ali FR 2) r:0.31 Gridley, Kaelyn SO
3) r:0.19 Ozkan, Aleyna SR 4) r:0.20 Foley, Sarah SR
r:+0.71 24.87 51.77 (51.77)
1:18.81 (27.04) 1:49.78 (58.01)
2:13.10 (23.32) 2:40.92 (51.14)
3:03.53 (22.61) 3:28.71 (47.79)
8 California 3:28.05 3:28.91 22
1) Stadden, Isabelle SR 2) r:0.07 Henry, Alicia JR
3) r:0.45 Kragh, Mia JR 4) r:0.40 Riley, Eloise 5Y
r:+0.64 24.34 50.75 (50.75)
1:17.83 (27.08) 1:49.36 (58.61)
2:12.98 (23.62) 2:40.89 (51.53)
3:03.49 (22.60) 3:28.91 (48.02)
