Alabama
Women's NCAA Championships
Alabama Women’s Swimming and Diving Relay Scores at NCAA Championships
3/15/2018 6:54:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
The Crimson Tide quartet Flora Molnar, Temarie Tomley, Lindsay Morrow and Bailey Scott scored in the 200 freestyle
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Alabama women's swimming and diving team scored in the 200 freestyle relay on its first day at the NCAA Championships Thursday night at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the Ohio State campus.
Freshman Flora Molnar joined seniors Temarie Tomley, Lindsay Morrow and Bailey Scott to stop the clock with a 1:28.68, the second fastest time in school history to take seventh in the B final and 15th overall.
"We're right at the best times we did at the SECs but we're just a little off on that relay tonight and that made the difference between winning the heat and ending up in seventh place where we were," UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. "That's the nature of this meet. It's real tight. A hair one way or another makes a big difference as far as the outcome is concerned. But we were excited to get back on that relay tonight and swim in the finals."
The same quartet shattered the school record and became the first UA squad under 1:29 at the Southeastern Conference championships with a 1:28.11 earlier this season. Molnar, Tomley, Morrow and Scott are the first UA group to score in the 200 freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships since 1997. The Tide relay posted a 1:28.70 in prelims.
In prelims, Scott took 19th with a 22.28, while Molnar clocked a 22.46 to finish 29th in the 50 freestyle. Freshman Leonie Kullmann posted a 4:43.90 in the 500 freestyle to take 42nd place.
The 400 medley relay of juniors Katie Kelsoe and Justine Macfarlane, Molnar and Tomley took 24th in prelims with a time of 3:35.32. Kelsoe posted a career-best time of 53.12, which ranks her second all-time at Alabama.
"We don't have a weak day or a strong day, per se," Pursley said. "It's just a matter of building momentum and hoping that each day can be stronger for us. It's a matter of inches and tenths of a second can make all the difference so hopefully we can find a few more tenths of a second in the next couple of days and get some more swims at night.
The Crimson Tide returns to action on Friday in the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 200 medley relay. Prelims get underway at 8 a.m. CT.
"We've got a lot of swims tomorrow," Pursley said. "It's going to be live on TV so hopefully they'll get excited about that and try to get back and win some more races tomorrow night."
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Players Mentioned
