Florida Women Closes Out Decorated Season on National Stage
Florida Women Closes Out Decorated Season on National Stage. Nina Kucheran sets 200 breast school record on final day of NCAAs
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Florida Gators women's swimming and diving team finished ninth at the 2023 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, racking up 179 points over the course of the event. The ninth-place finish is the highest since the 2014-15 season.
Florida earned three more All-American honors on the final day of championship competition, finishing the week with 16 total All-American honors.
Nina Kucheran finished her incredible season as a Gator, swimming a school-record 2:06.55 in the 200 breast to place 13th in the country and earn All-American honors. Kucheran leaves Florida with the program record in the 100 breast and 200 breast in just one season as a Gator.
The 400 free relay team of Ekaterina Nikonova, Talia Bates, Katie Mack, and Micayla Cronk finished eighth in the event at 3:12.62. The same four also earned All-American honors in the 200 free relay earlier this week.
Emma Weyant collected her third individual All-American honor of the meet, finishing 14th in the 1650 free at 16:01.59, a personal-best for the sophomore from Sarasota.
1650 Timed Finals Freshman Hayden Miller clocked a 16:07.61 to finish 23rd, ahead of Anna Auld's 24th place with a time of 16:10.61. Tylor Mathieu finished the week with a 26th finish at 16:12.83, while freshman Camille DeBoer wrapped up her first NCAA experience with a 16:19.69 for 34th place.
200 Back Prelims Mabel Zavaros swam a 1:53.48 to finish in 25th during the morning, just one spot ahead of Zoe Dixon's 26th finish at 1:53.62, a new career-best.
100 Free Prelims Ekaterina Nikonova went 48.30 and finished 24th while Micayla Cronk swam 48.42 to finish 28th , both swimming in the final heat. Talia Bates clocked a 48.72 for 38th and Katie Mack finished 51st with a time of 49.19.
200 Breast Prelims Nina Kucheran touched the wall in 2:08.30, the second-fastest time in school history, to finish xx. The fifth year was coming off a 57.55 100 breast split in last night's 400 medley relay.
Olivia Peoples was disqualified for a false start in the first heat.
200 Fly Prelims Amanda Ray, swimming in the third heat, recorded a 1:56.20 to finish 29th. Kathleen Golding finished 44th with a time of 1:58.06 in her last race of the year.
Platform Prelims Maha Amer concluded a decorated campaign with a 30th place finish in the platform, scoring a 223.05. Amer earned All-American honors back on Thursday in the 1-meter.
All-American Tracker All Americans
800 Free Relay: Nikonova, Bates, Mathieu, Cronk 500 Free: Emma Weyant 200 Free Relay: Nikonova, Bates, Mack, Cronk 400 IM: Emma Weyant, Mabel Zavaros 400 Medley Relay: Runnels, Kucheran, Peoples, Cronk (School Record) 400 Free Relay: Nikonova, Bates, Mack, Cronk
Honorable Mention All-Americans
1-Meter: Maha Amer 500 Free: Mabel Zavaros, Tylor Mathieu 400 IM: Zoe Dixon 100 Fly: Olivia Peoples 200 Free: Ekaterina Nikonova 100 Back: Aris Runnels 1650 Free: Emma Weyant 200 Breast: Nina Kucheran
Standings - Top 10
1. Virginia - 541.5 2. Texas - 414.5 3. Stanford - 333 4. Louisville - 288 5. NC State - 262 6. Ohio State - 223 7. Indiana - 219 8. Tennessee - 214 9. Florida - 179 10. North Carolina – 152
(Special to 1st and 10 Florida by Florida Athletics)