Swimming & Diving Makes Podium Three Times on Day 3 of AAC Championship

Friday, February 16

Dallas, Texas

ALL DAY

Tulane University

Day 3

Photo by: Parker Waters

Swimming & Diving Makes Podium Three Times on Day 3 of AAC Championship

Feb 16, 2018 | Women's Swimming and Diving

Day 3 Results | Live Video Streaming | Live Results

DALLAS – The Tulane swimming & diving team had a tremendous night in the pool, getting to the podium three times in at the AAC Championship at SMU on Friday.

Tulane earned one silver medal and two bronze medals, had one new school record and set seven NCAA B standard times.

"What a day today," Coach Katie Robinson said. "This team lit it up in the morning to be one of the best teams on the day and made up over 50 points tonight in the team standings. They got scrappy and dug deep with every swim, and I'm proud of their efforts and more so their resilience. Plus it's nice to come away with more hardware after tonight, and we're hungry for more tomorrow."

Through three nights of the four-night competition, the Green Wave is in sixth place with 273 total points.

FINALS
Olivia Johnson rocked the 400 IM to begin the night for Tulane, breaking her own school record with a time of 4:11.98 and winning the silver medal for the second consecutive season. Johnson's time was an NCAA B standard and .81 seconds faster than her previous school record that she set at this meet last year. Johnson scored 17 points for the Green Wave with that effort.

Jordan Morling shone as well with a second-place finish in the consolation finals of the 400 IM in a time of 4:20.53. That time – her personal best by 3.5 seconds and the new third-best time ever at Tulane – earned her a 10th place overall finish in the event and 7 points for Tulane. Emily Ramier, also in the consolation final, was 15th in 4:27.44 to score 2.

Right after that, Kaitlin Simpson earned herself the first individual bronze medal of her career with a thrilling swim in the 100 fly. The senior, who had qualified seventh in the prelims, moved up four spots to take third place with a time of 54.28 seconds. That time was an NCAA B standard, the second-best time overall in school history and just .18 seconds away from her own school record. Her margin to medal was razor thin, as the fourth-place swimmer finished just .03 seconds behind her. Simpson scored 16 points for Tulane with that time.

Gabby Vieira and Alex Brindisi also scored for the Green Wave in the consolation final of the 100 fly with Vieira swimming 55.45 for 10th place and 7 points. Brindisi was 12th in 55.85 for 5 points.

Paris Zhang scored Tulane's third medal of the evening in the 100 back. Swimming the third-fastest overall time in team history in 54.27 seconds, Zhang placed third in the race to bring home the bronze. Also swimming in the 100 back final was Courtney Barker, who took eighth in 55.45. Zhang's time – an NCAA B standard – scored 16 points and Barker got 11.

Also in the 100 back, Claire Golba was ninth overall for 9 points with a time of 55.61, and Gabby Vieira was 13th in 56.01. Both of them swam in the consolation final.

Kate McDonald was just shy of the podium on Friday in the 100 breast, finishing fourth in the finals with a time of 1:02.11. That time ties her best ever, equaling the second-best time in school history that she put up at the Phill Hansel Invitational in November and scoring 15 points for Tulane. Her time was also an NCAA B standard time.

In the 100 breast as well, Lena Hayakawa scored 6 points for the Green Wave with an 11th-place finish of 1:03.51 in the consolation final.

Also swimming in the evening was Shelly Zelnick and Morgan Tacik in the 200 free. Zelnick came in eighth in the A final with a time of 1:50.09, and Tacik was seventh in the B final for 15th overall in a time of 1:51.82. The duo scored 13 points combined for Tulane with those times. Zelnick's time was the new 13th-best time overall in team history.

PRELIMS
In the morning's first race, the 400 IM, Olivia Johnson won her heat and finished third overall, earning herself a spot in the evening finals. Johnson's time of 4:16.74 – an NCAA B standard time – is the new third-best overall time in team history. Johnson trailed slightly through the first two strokes but took over during the breast and free portions of the IM to eventually pull away for the win.

Jordan Morling got herself a spot in the consolation finals with an 11th-place finish in 4:25.15, and Emily Ramier also swam to a consolation final spot when she finished 16th overall with a time of 4:28.61. Alex Lakota was 23rd in 4:37.74.

Shelly Zelnick, who broke the school record in the 200 free as part of the 800 free relay on Wednesday, came in third in the 200 free prelims on Friday morning. That race, in a time of 1:48.56, got her spot in the event finals. It was the third-fastest overall time in team history.

Morgan Tacik also swam in the 200 free prelims and got herself a spot in the consolation finals with a 15th-place finish in 1:50.82.

Paris Zhang won her heat in the 100 back, easily earning herself a spot in the evening's event final with a third-place overall finish in 54.39 seconds, an NCAA B time. That time is the new fifth-best overall time in team history. Also getting a spot in the event final was Courtney Barker thanks to her eighth-place finish in 55.42 seconds.

Also in the 100 back, Claire Golba and Gabby Vieira got themselves into the consolation final with times of 55.46 and 56.49, respectively, for ninth and 12th place. Lilly Morgan was 19th in 57.53.

In the 100 breast, Kate McDonald swam to a fifth-place finish to secure a spot in the A finals with a time of 1:02.39. That time was also an NCAA B standard time. Lena Hayakawa made it to the consolation finals, just missing the A finals with a 9th-place finish in 1:03.40. Claire Golba was 17th in 1:05.35 and Jeni Griffin was 18th in 1:06.66.

Kaitlin Simpson swam herself into the event finals of the 100 fly with a prelim time of 55.14 seconds for seventh place, the new 14th-best overall time in team history. Alex Brindisi swam ninth in 55.68 and Gabby Vieira was 10th in 55.80 to reach the consolation finals. Brindisi's time was her best of the year.

The AAC Championship concludes on Saturday. Events on Saturday will be platform diving, the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay. Swimming begins at 10 a.m. with prelims, diving prelims start at 1 p.m. and swimming finals will be held at 6 p.m.