Women's Swimming
    Four Trojans Earn Final Berths To Open NCAA Championships
    Anderson, Gardell, Hawthorne, Carlson All Reach Finals, as does 200 Free Relay.
    Junior Stina Gardell qualified for the final of the 200y IM with the third fastest morning swim.
    Junior Stina Gardell qualified for the final of the 200y IM with the third fastest morning swim.

    March 21, 2013

    Day One Prelim Results

    Live Results

    Senior Haley Anderson and juniors Stina Gardell, Meghan Hawthorne and Kasey Carlson all earned `A' final berths, as did USC's 200y free relay, on the first morning of the 2013 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the IU Natatorium/IUPUI Sports Complex in Indianapolis, Ind., on Thursday (March 21).

    The Trojans, third at the NCAAs the past two years, opened the meet by breaking the three-week-old school record in the 200y free relay as Carlson and freshmen Jasmine Tosky, Kendyl Stewart and Kasia Wilk went 1:28.42 to qualify for the final with the fifth-fastest morning swim. The quartet went 1:28.50 at the Pac-12 Championships. Carlson opened with a 22.03.

    Anderson began the pursuit of her second consecutive 500y free title by qualifying with the fourth-fastest prelim swim, clocking a 4:37.03, 0.16 off her seed time. Anderson is coming off her third straight title in the event at the Pac-12s, but she will be battling a strong field, including top seed Amber McDermott of Georgia, one of three Bulldogs in the final.

    Gardell clinched her second straight NCAA final in the 200y IM with a 1:55.01 (just of her PR of 1:54.90) to qualify third while Hawthorne repeated as a finalist as well, nabbing the seventh spot in prelims with a 1:55.84, lowering her PR by 0.09.

    Sophomore Andrea Kropp claimed her first NCAA scoring opportunity by earning a spot in the `B' final of the 200y IM with a 1:57.16 (PR), 15th overall in prelims.

     

     

    Carlson qualified for her second 50y free final with a 22.18. She was fifth in the event as a freshman. Freshman Kasia Wilk earned a berth in the `B' final with a 22.36, just 0.08 off her PR.

    Tosky finished 19th in the 200y IM in 1:57.82, 0.15 out of the final spot for the `B' final, while senior Jessica Schmitt was 28th in 1:58.47. Freshman Joanna Stenkvist was 54th in the 500y free (4:49.52).

    The prelim session ended on a sour note as USC's 400y medley relay was disqualified during one of the relay exchanges.

    Finals begin at 4 p.m. PST