University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
NCAA Championships
Players Mentioned
Gophers in Eighth Heading into Final Day of NCAAs
3/16/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
LIVE RESULTS
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Minnesota women's swimming and diving ended day three of the NCAA Championship meet with six All-American performances. Minnesota heads into the final day of competition in eighth place with 134 points.
"We've had a great meet so far and we need to be at our best tomorrow to finish this meet the right way," said head coach Kelly Kremer. "It's just fun to work with student-athletes and a staff taht have true passion for their sport as well a loving the University of Minnesota!"
Things heated up quickly as freshman Mackenzie Padington earned a spot in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle. She posted a time of 1:44.37 for a 12th place finish and All-American Honorable Mention accolade.
In the 100 breaststroke championship final, Lindsey Kozelsky faced a rematch with Big Ten foes Lilly King and Miranda Tucker. Kozelsky came out with a strong 27.03 in the first 50 yards before placing third with a final time of 58.18 for the her second career All-American finish in the 100 breaststroke. The Gophers have now placed swimmers in the top eight of the 100 breast in five of the last eight NCAA meets.
Tevyn Waddell represented the Gophers in the 100 backstroke consolation finals, touching in at 52.31 and placing 16th to earn All-American Honorable Mention honors.
Both Sarah Bacon and Kristen Hayden advanced to the 3-meter diving finals. Bacon placed eighth with a score of 329.05 to close out her NCAA meet with All-American honors on top of her 1-meter championship that she accomplished Thursday. In the consolation finals, Hayden placed 12th with 320.85 points collecting her first All-American Honorable Mention honors of the meet.
The 200 medley relay team of Waddell, Kozelsky, Danielle Nack and Avestruz continued to prove that they can compete with any school after they placed sixth in a time of 1:36.03. The All-American finish makes school history for the women's squad as the Gophers have now placed three relays in the top eight at a NCAA meet for the first time ever.
In the 100 butterfly, D. Nack finished 19th touching the wall at 52.54. Chantal Nack finished 34th in the 200 free with a time of 1:46.09, while teammate Rachel Munson finished 25th in the 100 breastroke touching in at 1:00.28.
The final day of competition begins Saturday morning at 9 a.m. CT inside the McCorkle Aquatic Center as the NCAA Championships will come to a close following the finals at 5 p.m. CT. Minnesota will be represented in the 100 free, 200 breast, 200 back, 200 fly prelims, platform diving and the 400 free relay tomorrow.