By Paul Tenorio

After examining Day One’s action at the women’s NCAA championships, Junior Nationals coverage took over the site.

Here’s what happened in the final two days of the NCAA championships and how the locals fared.

The local swimmer walking away from the meet with the most bragging rights may have been Good Counsel alum and four-time All-Met Liz Kemp, who was part of Florida’s team NCAA championship at the meet.

The surprising Gators won their first title since the inaugural championship in 1982, holding off Stanford by 2.5 points — the second closest finish in the history of the meet.

Kemp swam in the 400 freestyle relay that placed third, cementing Florida’s narrow win over Stanford.

DAY 2

The area highlight of Day 2 came in the 100 breaststroke, when locals finished second and third in the event.

George Mason’s Ashley Danner, the 2008 All-Met swimmer of the year, took second place in the 100 breaststroke, just ahead of former Fairfax standout Ellyn Baumgardner (Arizona).

Danner came in with a time of 59.29, just ahead of Baumgardner’s 59.44. Arizona’s Ann Chandler won the event with a NCAA-record time of 58.06.

LSU’s 200 medley relay, with 2009 All-Met swimmer of the year Amanda Kendall swimming third, took 12th place with a time of 1:39.24. Virginia’s 200 medley relay, which finaled, was disqualified due to an early start.

UVA’s Lauren Perdue took eighth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:45.68.

In the 100 backstroke, U-Va.’s Mei Christensen finished in fourth place with a time of 52.12. Teammate Lauren Smart was eighth with a time of 52.64.

Former Yorktown All-Met Maren Taylor, now a freshman at Texas, took 10th place in the 3-meter diving event with a score of 337.30.

Virginia Tech’s 800 freestyle relay, featuring former Dominion star Lauren Ritter, took 10th place with a time of 7:10.38. U-Va. finished 16th in the event and Maryland took 17th.

DAY 3

Towson’s Meredith Budner finaled in the 1650 freestyle and finished sixth in the event with a time of 16:01.36.

Christensen again turned in a stellar performance, this time finishing fifth in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:52.75, and Perdue finished in 14th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.00.

Danner finaled again in the 200 breaststroke and this time took sixth in the event, finishing with a time of 2:08.95.

Taylor finished her weekend with a strong performance in the platform, finishing in 14th place with a score of 247.55.

Kemp was a member of Florida’s 400 freestyle relay that closed the meet with a third-place finish in a time of 3:13.43.

U-Va.’s relay finished in eighth place, while Maryland took 12th and West Virginia and Annandale alum Rachael Burnett finished in 15th.

Men’s NCAA Championship pushed back, recap early next week

A little while back we took a look at the four men from the area who qualified for the NCAA championships. The plan was to recap Day One at those championships today, but an illness that effected several swimmers at the meet pushed back the start to today.

Keep an eye out for a meet recap early next week.

Tags: Amanda Kendall, Ellyn Baumgardner, Maren Taylor, NCAA, Rachael Burnett

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