It’s one of the fastest swim meets of the year, where impressive feats of speed often call for the history books to be re-written when the lights come down. However, this is not a competition between professionals swimmers, but for college kids. Many putting down the books between midterms to pick up the mantle as some of the most elite swimmers in the world. The NCAA championships were held in Austin, Texas from Mar. 20 to 23 this past weekend.

DAY ONE:

The first session of the meet began with Stanford taking the win in the 2×400 yard freestyle relay. It was a dominant performance by Katie Drabot, Ella Eastin, Taylor Ruck (Canadian and Freshman), and Brooke Forde, who won the head almost three seconds ahead of Cal in 6:47.22.

DAY TWO:

The first individual events contested were the 500 free, 200 individual medley (IM), and 50 free, followed by the 400IM relay.

500 Free

For the first time in a couple years, Katie Ledecky, who turned professional last year, would not be in the field as a favourite for this event. This weekend event was dominated by Stanford’s Brooke Forde, who dropped over five seconds from a 4:38 to win in 4:31.34. Second belonged to Virginia’s Paige Madden, who also dropped massive time to touch in 4:32.98. While the race was impressive, both ladies were far off the NCAA record held by the legendary Ledecky.

1. GOLD: Brooke Forde, Stanford, 4:31.34
2. SILVER: Paige Madden, Virginia, 4:32.98
3. BRONZE: Mackenzie Padington, Minnesota, 4:35.21

200IM

Beata Nelson from Wisconsin upset Stanford favourite Ella Eastin to become the second fastest-ever performer in this event, and NCAA champion. Nelson has been working on her breaststroke and the training paid off as she pulled away in that leg.

1. GOLD: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 1:50.79
2. SILVER: Ella Eastin, Stanford, 1:51.81
3. BRONZE: Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M, 1:51.84

50 Free

The sprint events got going with the good old splash and dash. It had been three years since Abbey Weitzeil from Cal had set her American Record, and finally she swept it away. She touched in a 21.02, taking a tenth of her best. Weitzeil remains the fastest woman in history, owning four of the ten fastest times ever. The rest of the field was extremely tight. There was just a hundredth between fourth and fifth, and fifth and sixth.

1. GOLD: Abbey Weitzeil, Cal, 21.02
2. SILVER: Erika Brown, Tennessee, 21.23
3. BRONZE: Mallory Comerford, Louisville, 21.49

400 IM Relay

Amy Bilquist took it out hard for Cal in the first 100 fly, clocking 50.84. Cal would have to hold off breaststroke queen, Lilly King, who came storming back in the third leg, digging into Cal’s lead.  After her win in the 50 free, Weitzeil was ready to rip and took the lead immediately after diving in, blowing away the field with a split of 45.87 for her 100 yard free. Cal touched first in 3:25.24.

DAY THREE:

Five individual events were contested on the third day: the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back. The session closed with the 200 medley relay.

400 IM

After winning this event for the last three years, Ella Eastin from Stanford was the favourite in the field. However, she had relinquished her streak in the 200IM just yesterday to a young rookie, so this was a redemption performance. And redeem she did – Eastin held off late charger Sydney Pickrem to touch first. While Eastin’s time of 3:57.03 was well off her record of 3:54.60 set last year, a win is a win.

1. GOLD: Ella Eastin, 3:57.03
2. SILVER: Sydney Pickrem, 3:58.23
3. BRONZE: Brooke Forde, 3:59.26

100 Fly

USC’s Louise Hansson struck gold last year in this event, and was right on her own record after the first 50. She stormed to the finish, posting the fastest time in NCAA history with a new record of 49.26. Michigan freshman Maggie MacNeil touched just behind her in 49.66.

1. GOLD: Louise Hansson, USC, 49.26
2. SILVER: Maggie MacNeil, Michigan, 49.66
3. BRONZE: Katie McLaughlin, Cal, 49.97

200 Freestyle

Coming into the final turn, Louisville’s Mallory Comerford, Stanford’s Taylor Ruck, and Michigan’s Slobhan Haughey were neck and neck. While Comerford, the defending champion, shot off the turn, all three women came to the wall stroke for stroke. At the touch, Comerford defended her title in 1:40.26. Ruck was only a fingertip behind Comerford, touching in 1:40.27, and Haughey came in with a 1:40.70.

100 Breaststroke

Breaststroke queen Lilly King came to these NCAAs looking to defend her title streak in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. If she did, she would become the first woman in history to four-peat in both breaststroke distances. She came to make a statement, and there was no denying who was in charge of this event. King was well under her own record pace at the 50, splitting 25.98. At the touch, she was 55.73, breaking her own American record and making history in the event.

1. GOLD: Lilly King, Indiana, 55.73
2. SILVER: Delaney Duncan, EMU, 57.83
3. BRONZE: Sophie Hansson, NC State, 57.90

100 Backstroke

Young speedster Regan Smith broke the American Record in this event just a couple weekends ago, stealing it from Beata Nelson. Nelson was in the hunt to reclaim her title, and she took off with a blistering opening 50, turning at 23.76. She charged home crushing the American record by over half a second, and also setting a new NCAA standard. This performance makes Nelson two wins over two years in this event. Amy Bilquist took second, and Canadian, Taylor Ruck took her second bronze of the night with a best time.

1. GOLD: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 49.18
2. SILVER: Amy Bilquist, Cal, 50.05
3. BRONZE: Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 50.34

200 IM

Tennessee took this relay out hard on the backstroke leg, with Meghan Small splitting 24.05. With the field excruciatingly tight, Erika Brown held off Cal’s charging Abbey Weitzeil for the win. Weitzeil tied the fastest freestyle leg in history in her pursuit of Tennessee and kept raking in the points for Cal. This performance put Cal at the top of team points board going into the final session with 328 over Stanford’s 299.5.

1. GOLD: Tennessee- 1:34.10
2. SILVER: Cal- 1:34.43
3. BRONZE: NC State- 1:34.80

DAY FOUR:

The final session saw the individual 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly. The meet closed with the 400 free relay.

1650 Freestyle

Again the shadow of Katie Ledecky’s legacy kept any record from being broken, or even approached by the field. However, the athletes put up a great back and forth in the first part of the race, with Ally McHugh from Penn State building her lead over the back end of the race. With 500 yards to go, she dominated the field. She touched with a 15:39.22. Molly Kowal of Ohio dropped almost five seconds to take silver in 15:44.61. Mackenzie Padington from Minnesota touched third.

1. GOLD: Ally McHugh, Penn State, 15:39.22
2. SILVER: Molly Kowal, Ohio State, 15:44.61
3. BRONZE: Mackenzie Padington, Minnesota, 15:47.16

200 Free

This event was a back and forth battle between Wisonsin’s Beata Nelson and Stanford’s Taylor Ruck. It was Ruck at the 100, and then at the 150, but then Nelson used her killer underwater to pull away. Nelson touched at 1:47.24, just ahead of Ruck with 1:47.59. Ruck’s performance was a Stanford school record, and the third fastest time in the event.

1. GOLD: Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 1:47.24
2. SILVER: Taylor Ruck, Stanford, 1:47.59
3. BRONZE: Asia Seidt, Kentucky, 1:48.65

100 Free

Favourite, Abbey Weitzeil hyperextended her elbow on the touch of the relay last night and was swimming with some serious tape to stabilize the injury. A very fast field took advantage and shut her out of the medals. Mallory Comerford set a new pool record in 46.24 to win gold.

1. GOLD: Mallory Comerford, Louisville, 46.24
2. SILVER: Anna Hopkin, Arkansas, 46.56
3. BRONZE: Siobhan Haughey, Michigan, 46.64

200 Breaststroke

Lilly King was back in the hunt, looking to go two wins for the two breaststroke events for all four years of her collegiate career. The pressure was on, but so was King. She was over a second ahead already at the 50 mark, turning in 27.39. She continued dominating the field and touched only just off the record she set last year in the event. Her performance was the second fastest ever in the event, as she continues to duel herself for speed. Texas A&M’s (and Canadian) Sydney Pickrem took off almost a second to get silver.

1. GOLD: Lilly King, Indiana, 2:02.90
2. SILVER: Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M, 2:03.65
3. BRONZE: Sophie Hansson, NC State, 2:06.18

200 Butterfly

100 butterfly winner from USC Louise Hansson was out fast in her usual fashion, way under record pace. Ella Eastin, the woman who owns the record in this event, started chasing her down after the first 100, putting the sprinter to the test. Hansson was able to just hold off Eastin’s charge, touching a fingertip ahead at 1:50.26 over Eastin’s 1:50.46.

1. GOLD: Louise Hansson, USC, 1:50.26
2. SILVER: Ella Eastin, Stanford, 1:50.46
3. BRONZE: Grace Oglesby, Louisville, 1:50.80

400 Freestyle relay

In the final event of the championships, the schools lined up to contest the 4×100 yard freestyle relay. It was a dead heat leading into the anchor leg; the gold could belong to anyone. But it was Abby Weitzeil still with her elbow wrapped in tape, whose speed could not be denied. She split a 46.07 on the way to Cal collecting a new NCAA record of 3:06.96. Although this time is also faster than the current American record, Weitzeil’s tape job is against the rules.

The meet ended with Stanford as the champions for the third year in a row. They scored 456.5 points to California’s 419.

Before 64 of the top women’s basketball teams begin their emotionally grinding three-week journey, here’s a preview to help guide you through the madness.

The top seeds across all four regions will be tough with up to 11 teams having a reasonable claim to winning the entire tournament. Luckily for us, the tournament is already broken down into neat little regions that are already named.

To start, we’ll take a trip to the region hosting the top team for most of the country in the Baylor Lady Bears. The Lady Bears have been the unanimous top ranked team in the AP Poll since late February in part to an undefeated Big 12 season. The Lady Bears beat the former top team, Connecticut, in early January to close the non-conference portion of their schedule in which their only loss was by five during a trip to Stanford. The Lady Bears will be looking to make their first final four since 2012 when they won it all.

The Iowa Hawkeyes will be their main challengers as the two seed after finishing the season ranked eighth and going 26-6, including beating Maryland for the Big 10 championship. Megan Gustafson will be leading Iowa as they search for the upset after winning ESPNW’s Player of the Year award after leading the nation by averaging 28 points per game.

North Carolina State is a three seed after a dominant season, but they lack any high-quality wins with their two best wins coming against Miami and Florida state near the end of the season. The Wolfpack, along with the Hawkeyes, will be happy that Florida State can’t meet them until the elite eight. The Seminoles beat both of those teams this season but still couldn’t do better than a five seed without any other ranked wins.

An underdog to watch out for from the Missouri Valley Conference are the Drake Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have spent the season just within or creeping outside the top 25 and were ranked #21 before losing in the conference championship game. Dropping to the 10 seed as a result, Drake still has an RPI rank of 20, thanks to a win over South Carolina, ranked 15^th, and a nine-point loss to Iowa in a game that could happen again in the second round.

The defending champion, Notre Dame Irish, are the top seed in the Chicago regional. Late-season losses to North Carolina and Miami shouldn’t overshadow how they got a top seed. A pair of wins over fellow top-seed Louisville, North Carolina State, Florida State, Syracuse, Oregon State, Iowa, DePaul and Marquette show this team can beat anyone.

The only real challenge in this region should be the Stanford Cardinals as the two seed, the team that knocked Notre Dame out in both 2016 and 2017. The Cardinals finished the year ranked sixth after winning a highly competitive PAC 12 championship by beating Oregon, to go along with being the only team to beat Baylor this season. With both Iowa State and Texas A&M ranked outside the top 10 as the three and four seed, Notre Dame and Stanford appear on a collision course.

One team Stanford will have to be careful of is a potential matchup with BYU in the second round. The Cougars swept Gonzaga, a top-20 team the last two and a half months, across three games this season to win the West Coast Conference.

Since I know you’re here for the underdogs, keep an eye on the Rice Owls who finished the year 28-3 in Conference USA, but only managed a 12 seed. Rice lost their only game against a top-25 team, an 11-point loss to TEXAS A&M, but have also gone undefeated since Dec.18.

Albany will be host to a highly anticipated Louisville-Connecticut showdown, although the region is also loaded with Maryland, Oregon State and Gonzaga all lurking. Louisville is the top seed after losing three games all season, with two, being to the Fighting Irish.

If the Cardinals want to make consecutive Final Fours they will need to get by one of the greatest dynasties in sports history as Connecticut is the two seed after losing two games all year. One was to Baylor, but much more importantly their second loss was on New Year’s Eve at Louisville, which was a nine-point loss.

Maryland was the Big 10 regular-season champ and had a win over South Carolina. Oregon State was a top-15 team all season thanks to wins over Oregon and South Carolina to go with a 10-point loss to Notre Dame. Finally, Gonzaga lost to two teams this season, BYU three times and Notre Dame so they should be on the hunt for revenge.

A sneaky upset could come from Buffalo, a team that finished fourth in the MAC before winning the tournament to make it this far. The Bulls only lost by seven to Stanford though during the regular season, which they can use as motivation against top teams.

The final region is based out of Portland with many expecting a Mississippi vs Oregon final, which would be a home game for the two seed. The Bulldogs will be making the long trip as the top seed after they lost two games by eight points each; one was to Missouri while the other was at Oregon. A cruel fate could doom the Bulldogs with the selection committee doing them no favours this year.

Oregon isn’t unbeatable though having dropped games to Michigan State and UCLA, which were unranked, along with defeats to the other top teams out west in Oregon State and Stanford in the PAC 12 championship game. Sabrina Ionescu will be expected to put up her usual triple-double as Oregon battles for a championship.

Lacking any true upset hunters in this region keep an eye on a pair of teams from the Summit league that sit just outside the top 25: South Dakota and South Dakota State. South Dakota picked up a pair of big wins over Iowa State and Missouri this season and will look to pull off some surprises as an eight seed. South Dakota State lacks such wins but did only lose to Baylor by six and Oregon by eight so they know they can scare top teams as a six seed.

My pick to win it all is Oregon, due to the star talent of Ionescu, along with the fact that they are the one team I can confidently pick to reach Tampa for the Final Four.

Last weekend, the best varsity swimmers in Canada stormed into the UBC Aquatic Centre to compete for the title of best women’s or men’s program in the country. It was an intense battle for both the women’s and men’s titles, with the lead being passed back and forth between teams. When the water had calmed, UBC reigned supreme as the penultimate swimming program in the country. The UBC women had claimed the title by only 25 points, fending off a University of Toronto (UofT) program with several gutsy swims in the last night of the competition.

The swimming on the women’s side was some of the best the country had ever seen at the university level. A total of ten U SPORTS championship records were set by the women in the water over the weekend.

Day One

Kylie Masse, who broke the world record in the 100m backstroke in 2017, started the meet with a bang by breaking her own U SPORTS record in the event. She touched in 59.33, celebrating a win for the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Emily Overholt then broke the 400 freestyle record, taking down a four-year record set by her former teammate, Savannah King. She bested the record by almost eight seconds, touching in 4:06.27. Her performance led a UBC podium sweep of the event, with Megan Dalke and Maia Brundage touching second and third, respectively.

The night ended with the UofT breaking the U SPORTS record in the 4x100m medley relay in 4:05.55. This back and forth set the stage between UofT and UBC, who fought for points throughout the meet.

The men broke four records on the first day in the 100 fly (Josiah Binnema, UBC, 52.89), 200IM (Montana Champagne, Ottawa, 2:02.09), 100 backstroke (Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 53.78) and 4x100m medley relay (UBC, 3:41.62).

See the full list of medalists and records below, courtesy of usports.ca

Day Two

The second day of finals began with the UBC Thunderbirds leading the total point, however, the UofT chipped away slowly at the lead throughout the night. Overholt was back in record-breaking form, winning the 200m freestyle in 1:57.26, a three-second drop on the previous mark. Later that night, she broke another record in the 400m IM. Again, she blew the previous record of 4:44.41 out of the water, clocking a 4:40.95.

Masse won the 50 backstroke, winning the Grand Slam title for the third year in a row. The Grand Slam is awarded to the woman who wins both the 50 and 100 backstroke at the U SPORTS championship. Masse was then a part of the University of Toronto relay team that broke the U SPORTS record in the 4x200m freestyle event. That made three records broken for Masse, and three for Overholt at the conclusion of day two.

The men’s side saw Markus Thormeyer from the UBC Thunderbirds break 200m freestyle meet record in 1:48.02. He then joined his teammates to break the 4x200m freestyle relay event record, with the young rookie anchor Brodie Young touching in 7:27.78.

See the full list of medalists and records below, courtesy of usports.ca

Day Three

The final day of the competition saw the UBC women edge out the Toronto Varsity Blues 1255.5 points to 1230.5, and four more U SPORTS records fall for the ladies. Masse completed her sweep of the backstroke events, winning the 200m backstroke in a new record of 2:08.70. Overholt struck back in the records race in the 800m freestyle, putting a gutsy performance together to touch in 8:46.89. However, Masse edged her out on the total number of individual records on the last event, when her team won the 4x100m freestyle relay in an impressive record time of 3:43.90. That made Masse USPORT records, five, Overholt, four. The final women’s record of the day was broken by Kelsey Wog from the University of Manitoba in the 200m breaststroke. She broke a four-year old record of 2:27.63 set by Fiona Doyle in a time of 2:25.50.

The men saw four more records fall on the last day of finals in the 200m fly (Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 2:00.41), 100m free (Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 48.71), 200m backstroke (Markus Thormeyer, UBC), 1500m freestyle (Eric Hedlin, Victoria, 15:34.16), and 4x100m freestyle relay (UBC, 3:23.39).

Kylie Masse won Female Swimmer of the Meet, with her teammate from Toronto, Rebecca Smith winning Rookie of the Meet. The Student-Athlete Community Service Award went to Taylor Snowden-Richardson from the University of Victoria, for her creation of Tay’s Team, an initiative that knits fun character hats for children in the hospital.

This is only the second national championships held under the new U SPORTS organizations of the university swimming league, which was formally designated as Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). There are new changes in the format of the meet that still have swimmers, coaches, and spectators struggling to adapt.

Last year, the officials added ‘C’ finals to the meet, increasing the opportunities for a point-scoring second swims. This change required the top points earned by finishes in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals. For example, this boosted the points won by a first place finish from 20 to 32. This change sought to provide opportunities for swimmers from smaller, less dominant schools to get a second swim. The points overhaul also extended to relays, which used to earn double points, now earn the same number of points as individual wins.

While the changes have pros and cons, where most concerns lie is in the distribution of the total points records. In addition, the racing format has been changed. Traditionally, short course has been the format of the championships, even though the Olympics are held in long course meters. This mirrors the American NCAA championships, which run a 25 yard pool. Now, the U SPORTS championships are ran short course meters (25m) for the morning prelims and long course meters (50m) for finals night. This presents problems for the athletes, who may struggle with short course and miss out on a final, or vice versa and underperform at night. It also presents disconnect with the spectators, who won’t understand the finals they are watching are not based on an equivalent format. There is much to be done to make the competition more accessible to coaches, athletes, and supporters and continue to grow the sport in Canada.

DAY ONE RESULTS

Women 50m Free

1. Charis Huddle, Western, 25.74
2. Hoi Lam Karen Tam, UBC, 26.05
3. Ainsley McMurray, Toronto, 26.13

Men 50m Free

1. Alex Loginov, UBC, 23.21
2. Matthew Schouten, Laurentian, 23.36
3. Stephen Calkins, Calgary, 23.42

W 100m Back

1. Kylie Masse, Toronto, 59.33 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Danielle Hanus, Victoria, 1:01.56
3. Ingrid Wilm, UBC, 1:01.82

M 100m Back

1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 53.78 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Robert Hill, Calgary, 56.27
3. Anders Klein, Calgary, 56.38

W 50 Breast

1. Kelsey Wog, Manitoba, 31.80
2. Hillary Metcalfe, UBC, 32.26
3. Marie-Laurence Godin, Sherbrooke, 32.47

M 50 Breast

1. Cale Kooyman, Alberta, 28.81
2. Matthew Loewen, Western, 28.93
3. Jonathan Naisby, Sherbrooke, 29.00

W 400 Free

1. Emily Overholt, UBC, 4:06.27 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Megan Dalke, UBC, 4:15.57
3. Maia Brundage, UBC, 4:16.48

M 400 Free

1. Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 3:53.46
2. Alexander Pratt, UBC, 3:56.92
3. Peter Brothers, Calgary, 3:57.95

W 100 Fly

1. Rebecca Smith, Toronto, 59.03
2. Hannah Genich, Toronto, 59.33
3. Danielle Hanus, Victoria, 1:00.61

M 100 Fly

1. Josiah Binnema, UBC, 52.89 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Matt Dans, Toronto, 54.21
3. Clement Secchi, McGill, 54.64

W 200 IM

1. Kelsey Wog, Manitoba, 2:13.98
2. Hillary Metcalfe, UBC, 2:16.87
3. Georgia Kidd, Toronto, 2:17.79

M 200 IM

1. Montana Champagne, Ottawa, 2:02.09 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Brian Palaschuk, Regina, 2:02.26
3. Josh Zakala, Victoria, 2:04.35

W 4 x 100m Medley

1. Toronto, 4:05.55 (U SPORTS Record & Canadian Club Record) 
   (Kylie Masse, Kelsey Crocker, Hannah Genich, Rebecca Smith)
2. UBC, 4:08.24
   (Ingrid Wilm, Hillary Metcalfe, Kirsten Douglas, Emily Overholt)
3. Montreal, 4:18.43
   (Ariane Mainville, Marie-Lou Lapointe, Katerine Savard, Anais Arlandis)

M 4 x 100m Medley

1. UBC, 3:41.62 (U SPORTS Record)
   (Markus Thormeyer, Jaren LeFranc, Josiah Binnema, Alexander Pratt)
2. Toronto, 3:47.19
   (Matthew Mac, Graeme Aylward, Matt Dans, Mitch Ferraro)
3. Calgary, 3:47.59
   (Anders Klein, Benjamin Blackmon, Emil Goin, Stephen Calkins)

DAY TWO RESULTS

Women 200m Free

1. Emily Overholt, UBC, 1:57.26 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Rebecca Smith, Toronto, 1:59.69
3. Aleksa Gold, Toronto, 2:01.17

Men 200m Free

1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 1:48.02 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 1:49.03
3. Alexander Pratt, UBC, 1:51.41

W 50m Back

1. Kylie Masse, Toronto, 27.94
2. Danielle Hanus, Victoria, 28.78
3. Ingrid Wilm, UBC, 28.81

M 50m Back

1. Clement Secchi, McGill, 26.15
2. Josh Dow, Calgary, 26.18
3. Robert Hill, Calgary, 26.23

W 100 Breast

1. Kelsey Wog, Manitoba, 1:08.23
2. Renae Ledoux, Alberta, 1:10.44
3. Hillary Metcalfe, UBC, 1:10.60

M 100 Breast

1. Jonathan Naisby, Sherbrooke, 1:03.98
2. Benjamin Blackmon, Calgary, 1:04.34
3. Ruishen Yu, UBC, 1:04.40

W 400 IM

1. Emily Overholt, UBC, 4:40.95 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Megan Dalke, UBC, 4:48.21
3. Allison McCloy, Calgary, 4:54.38

M 400 IM

1. Montana Champagne, Ottawa, 4:24.25
2. Ambroise Petit, Laval, 4:25.73
3. Brian Palaschuk, Regina, 4:26.05

W 50 Fly

1. Rebecca Smith, Toronto, 26.84
2. Kylie Masse, Toronto, 27.18
3. Marie-Lou Lapointe, Montreal, 27.20

M 50 Fly

1. Josiah Binnema, UBC, 24.52
2. Stephen Calkins, Calgary, 24.71
3. Matt Dans, Toronto, 24.85

W 4 x 200m Free

1. Toronto, 8:07.20 (Canadian & U SPORTS Record)
   (Aleksa Gold, Ainsley McMurray, Rebecca Smith, Kylie Masse)
2. UBC, 8:10.56
   (Emily Overholt, Maia Brundage, Megan Dalke, Ingrid Wilm)
3. Calgary, 8:19.37
   (Marit Anderson, Allison McCloy, Danica Ludlow, Robyn Lee)

M 4 x 200m Free

1. UBC, 7:27.78 (U SPORTS Record)
   (Alexander Pratt, Markus Thormeyer, Josiah Binnema, Brodie Young)
2. Calgary, 7:36.01
   (Peter Brothers, Stephen Calkins, Teddy Kalp, Emil Goin)
3. McGill, 7:39.35
   (Clement Secchi, Kade Wist, David Brenken, Will Simpson)

DAY THREE RESULTS

Women 200m Fly

1. Danielle Hanus, Victoria, 2:13.54
2. Hannah Genich, Toronto, 2:13.77
3. Megan Dalke, UBC, 2:15.40

Men 200m Fly

1. Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 2:00.41 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Josiah Binnema, UBC, 2:00.95
3. Dmitriy Lim, UBC, 2:01.16

W 100m Free

1. Rebecca Smith, Toronto, 55.45
2. Charis Huddle, Western, 56.02
3. Hoi Lam Karen Tam, UBC, 56.22

M 100m Free

1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 48.71 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Davide Casarin, Ottawa, 50.73
3. Mitch Ferraro, Toronto, 50.94

W 200m Breast

1. Kelsey Wog, Manitoba, 2:25.50 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Renae Ledoux, Alberta, 2:32.50
3. Jasmine Raines, Laurier, 2:32.98

M 200m Breast

1. Jaren LeFranc, UBC, 2:16.41
2. Jonathan Naisby, Sherbrooke, 2:18.39
3. Benjamin Blackmon, Calgary, 2:19.17

W 200m Back

1. Kylie Masse, Toronto, 2:08.70 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Olivia Ellard, UBC, 2:13.75
3. Ingrid Wilm, UBC, 2:14.51

M 200m Back

1. Markus Thormeyer, UBC, 1:58.64 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Robert Hill, Calgary, 2:02.93
3. Anders Klein, Calgary, 2:03.76

W 800m Free

1. Emily Overholt, UBC, 8:46.89 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Marit Anderson, Calgary, 8:50.17
3. Megan Dalke, UBC, 8:51.14

M 1500m Free

1. Eric Hedlin, Victoria, 15:34.16 (U SPORTS Record)
2. Hau-Li Fan, UBC, 15:34.24
3. Peter Brothers, Calgary, 15:50.47

W 4 x 100m Free

1. Toronto, 3:43.90 (U SPORTS Record)
   (Aleksa Gold, Ainsley McMurray, Kylie Masse, Rebecca Smith)
2. UBC, 3:45.75
   (Hoi Lam Karen Tam, Quincy Brozo, Mackenzie Gunther, Emily Overholt)
3. Montreal, 3:47.20
   (Katerine Savard, Charlotte Beauchemin, Frédérique Cigna, Ariane Mainville)

M 4 x 100m Free

1. UBC, 3:23.39 (U SPORTS Record)
   (Alexander Pratt, Josiah Binnema, Araya Therrien, Markus Thormeyer)
2. Montreal, 3:26.56
   (Vincent Laperle, Antoine Bujold, Vincent Taboga, Antoine Bernard-Lalonde)
3. Toronto, 3:26.75
   (Bjoern-Ole Schrader, Matt Dans, Ethan Fazekas, Mitch Ferraro)

It’s that wonderful time of year in which every NCAA Division One women’s basketball team has one last shot at a conference championship in a single elimination format, with hopes of reaching nationals.

Breaking down the conferences, there is a clear divide. Those with multiple teams will expect to make the NCAA tournament regardless of performance, such as the ACC. There are conferences where the top regular season team will be slight favourites to punch their guaranteed ticket to the tournament with a conference championship. The final group of conference have a top team that will be hoping to avoid any potential traps that would end their season prematurely at the expense of an underdog.

To begin, we’ll go through the major conference tournaments for those interested in top-10 matchups. The ACC will have the favourites: Notre Dame (ranked #3) and Louisville (#4) on opposite ends of the bracket, thanks to them sharing the regular season title with 14-2 records. For what it’s worth Notre Dame won at home 82-68 on Jan. 10^th in their only meeting of the season. Two other teams received a double bye; North Carolina State (#9) and Miami (#16), which upset the top two seeds during the season. Syracuse (#18) and Florida State (#22) round out the ranked teams fighting for seeding in the NCAA tournament.

The southeast part of the country is home to another power conference in the SEC, which hosts the national championship finalists in consecutive years: the Mississippi State Bulldogs (#5), Kentucky (#13), South Carolina (#12) and Texas A&M (#15). Beyond those top teams a second group including Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee were ranked throughout the season, and Missouri already upset the Bulldogs on Valentine’s Day 75-67.

The west coast is proving to become a breeding ground for top teams with Oregon (#6), Stanford (#7) and Oregon State (#11), all pushing each other near the end of the season. The Oregon schools split their season series, while Stanford got the upper hand on Oregon State in their one game and losing their only game to Oregon. The Pac-12 also has Arizona State (#20) and UCLA (#25) waiting in the lurks, Oregon already fell to UCLA while the Sun Devils swept Oregon State. Even California and Utah were ranked at one point in time and have wins over Stanford to give them hope in the tournament.

Baylor may have destroyed the Big 12 with a perfect season on their way to the top ranking but both Texas (#19) and Iowa State (#21) will give it their all to take down the Lady Bears. Maryland (#8) and Iowa (#10) ruled over the Big 10 together in the polls. Rutgers was ranked before losing three in a row, including to Maryland after upsetting them earlier in the season and also losing to the Hawkeyes by only six points just before the streak started.

Connecticut (#2) will be safe regardless but will be looking to get past UCF and Cincinnati in the AAC. The Big East has Marquette (#17) who dropped three of their last six and could face a DePaul team that was ranked but was swept by Marquette during the regular season.

Out west, Gonzaga (#14) won the WCC by one game over BYU despite being swept by the Cougars sweeping the series. BYU was ranked before three consecutive losses cost them a top 25 spot, but they will be hoping for another shot at Gonzaga. In the MVC, Drake (#23) finally lost a conference game for the first time in three seasons when Missouri State beat them 85-79 in Iowa. The bulldogs got revenge with a nine-point win in Missouri, expect to see them in the conference championship.

With the big games out of the way, buckle up for some rapid fire now. Here are the conferences broken up and the top teams listed:

• American East: Maine and Hartford were separated by a game and split their season series.
• A-10: Fordham and VCU tied with Fordham winning their one match-up.
• Big Sky: Idaho is one game up on Northern Colorado and two ahead of Portland State and Idaho State. All four teams have two games left.
• Big South: Radford two up on High Point, swept series including a double OT game. Both teams have two games remaining.
• CAA: James Madison two up on Drexel, won first of two meetings, two games left including meeting on Thursday March 7 at James Madison.
• Horizon: Wright State leading Green Bay by one, split series, one game remaining for both.
• Ivy: Penn and Princeton tied after also splitting series. Both still have two games left.
• MAC: Central Michigan leading both Miami and Ohio by one, Buffalo two back. Miami travels to face Ohio on Wednesday with all four teams having two games left on their schedule.
• MWC: Boise State leads a tight race with New Mexico and Wyoming two back and closing the regular season Thursday against each other in New Mexico.
• Patriot: American and Bucknell are tied, but American swept the series including a one-point win on Saturday. With one game left each, American will be looking to maintain their advantage.
• Southland: Lamar is a game and a half up on Stephen F. Austin after they split their series. Lamar has one game left while Stephen F. Austin has two games remaining.
• SWAC: Prairie View A&M is two behind Southern but beat them once already and has a second game against them Thursday. In an extremely tight race Jackson State, Grambling, Alabama State and Texas Southern are all just one game behind Prairie View with two games left each.
• Summit: South Dakota State edged South Dakota by a game after they split their series.
• Sun Belt: Little Rock currently trails UT-Arlington by half a game but swept their series. Little Rock has a game in hand and has two left to close the season.

Finally, we end up with the conferences where one team flexed their muscle and should feel comfortable clinching their auto-bid to nationals with a conference championship.

• C-USA: Rice (#24) has a four-game lead with one game left to finish a perfect season.
• A-Sun: Florida Gulf Coast is perfect with one game left and built a four-game lead.
• Big West: UC Davis dropped one game but also had a four-game lead with two games remaining.
• MAAC: Quinnipiac was another flawless team going 18-0 while winning the conference by four games.
• MEAC: North Carolina A&T is currently undefeated with a four-game lead and one left to play.
• NEAC: Robert Morris is up two on Sacred Heart after losing to them on Monday night, but both teams only have one game left.
• OVC: Belmont won by three games over Morehead State thanks to a sweep.
• Southern: Mercer ran away with a five-game lead on Furman thanks to a perfect regular season so far with one game to go.
• WAC: New Mexico State may have lost a game but still leads by three and a half with one left to play.

This is a great time of year to watch big schools square off on a constant basis, or to watch small schools looking for a magical run begin their journey. Watching some of these games may require being a little creative to watch but it’s guaranteed the emotions and effort levels from the players will make it worth it, so enjoy the next two weeks.

The path to success has not been linear for Black. The small-town girl joined the Prince George Barracudas Swim Club and quickly set her sights on earning a scholarship to a college in the States. Her hard work as an age-group swimmer paid off, and she earned a scholarship to Western Kentucky University.

However, in April of her first year, the swim and dive team at Western Kentucky was suspended for five years, and coaches terminated. This decision came in the conclusion after a Title IX investigation into accusations of hazing that included the discovery of a house with compromising pictures of students and drugs.

Black had to think fast, and landed on her feet at the University of Auburn. In her junior year she qualified for NCAAs and set the school record in the 100m fly. She continued to be an asset to the team through her career at Auburn, concluding her time with the school record in the 100m fly and as a three-time NCAA All-American.

Black graduated from Auburn in 2018 and now trains at the High Performance Centre in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia. As someone accustomed to overcoming difficult circumstances, Black is one to watch in the lead up to the 2020 Olympics.

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is remarkable for its ability to consistently bring swimmers prepared for battle at championship time. They repeated this feat by capturing both the women’s and men’s Canadian Western Championship banners at this year’s championships hosted in Calgary. This was the sixth consecutive season the UBC men and women have swept the banners.

Many small battles must be won to create a stellar performance. A team must  coordinate their swimmers in a team effort to capture a championship banner – this is the true excitement and excellence of university swimming and why it stands unique to individual performances.

The UBC Women ran away with their 10^th consecutive title, outscoring the nearest competitors, the Calgary Dinos, by 274 points. They completed the event with the 969 points won in the finals. The men’s competition was closer, with the Thunderbirds defeating the second-place Dinos by 98.5 points, or the equivalent of five first-place finishes.

The standout swimmers of the meet were UBC’s Hoi Lam Karen Tam and University of Manitoba’s Kelsey Wog. Both women broke Canada West records throughout the meet.

On day one, Wog was just two one hundredths off her own Canada West record in the 50 breaststroke (30.56) on her way to gold. UBC won the 4x200m freestyle relay, blasting away the field by 14 seconds. Megan Dalke repeated as the 800m freestyle champion with a commanding lead, winning in 8:37.73. She was ten seconds ahead of the silver medalist, who is her teammate, Emily Overholt (8:47.54).

On day two, the UBC women began the night by sweeping the 50m freestyle. The winner, Hoi Lam Karen Tam, won gold with a new Canada West record in 25.12. Quincy Brozo (25.58) won silver and Mackenzie Gunther took bronze (26.04).

Later in the night, the Thunderbirds dominated the podium in the 400m individual medley event. Overhold took gold (4:39.77), Dalke (4:44.56) was second, and veteran Maia Brundage came in third (4:44.89).

Wog added two more gold medals and showed her diversity, winning gold in the 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle. In the 200m free she was only swimmer in the final not from UBC and stole the gold and the show.

Danielle Hanus from University of Victoria set the second Canada West record of the night on her way to winning the 100m butterfly, clocking a 58.89.

The UBC swim team won the women’s and men’s 100m freestyle relay.

On the final day, Tam earned her second Canada West record in the 100m freestyle in 54.44. Wog was not to be outdone, putting up the swim of the week with her time of 2:22.28 in the 200m breaststroke, breaking a six-year-old record held by Olympian, Martha McCabe, by 12 hundredths.

It’s been 13 years since the uOttawa Gee-Gees made an appearance at the U Sports National Soccer Championship and over two decades since their inaugural win in 1996. But, on Nov. 11th, the Gee-Gees walked out onto their home field and earned the right to call themselves national champions once again.

After a stellar regular season, the Gee-Gees headed into the Ontario University Athletics Championship with 14 wins and only one loss behind them. That momentum propelled them ahead of the McMaster Marauders with a 2-1 win in the semi-finals to face the Western Mustangs in the OUA Gold Medal game on Nov. 4th. Dominating the field and maintaining tight possession, uOttawa scored the only goal of the game to claim the moniker of OUA Champions.

Clear underdogs at the beginning of the season, the Gee-Gees started their season tying with Nipissing before hitting their stride and commanding the field with an almost perfect season.

Their team chemistry and drive to win made them a force on the field this year. Speaking with the Ottawa Sun after their National Victory, head coach Steve Johnson said, “This whole year has been wonderful and it’s a really good group of girls. No egos. Nobody is a super star, yet everybody is a super star.” The head coach since the women’s soccer team began at uOttawa in 1994, Johnson added: “They’ve been very good as a team, probably one of the most together teams since 1996 and the results show on the field”.

The culmination of skill, cohesiveness and comradery on the team carried them to the U Sports National tournament on Nov. 8th. With temperatures in Ottawa dropping below zero and high winds intercepting passes and shots over the weekend, every team had to fight to come out on top.

The Gee-Gees first national outing came against the Calgary Dinos in a 2-1 victory on Thursday leading to a rematch against the McMaster Marauders on Saturday, Nov. 10th.

Facing the Marauders again proved an easy feat for the Gee-Gees, who dominated McMaster to win 4-1 and secured a spot at the championship game against the Trinity Western Spartans.

On Nov. 11th at Gee-Gees Stadium, the uOttawa women’s soccer team took to their home pitch, surrounded by fans, friends and family, to win the National title again after 22 years.

Within 19 minutes, uOttawa scored against the Spartans with a shot by top goal scorer, Mikayla Morton. Fighting hard for a National win, Trinity Western responded five minutes later with a successful shot by Seina Kashima to tie it up.

Solid Gee-Gee defense and Miranda Smith’s goal 64 minutes into the game secured the lead for uOttawa but it was the stellar diving save by goalkeeper Margot Shore at the 72-minute mark that carved their names into the National Cup and crushed the Spartans.

On Sunday night, in the cold and snow on their home field, the uOttawa Gee-Gee’s women’s soccer team hoisted the National Cup up high and celebrated the highest victory they’d been working towards all year, breaking a two-decade drought and solidifying uOttawa women’s sports in university history once again.

The University of British Columbia (UBC) made history at this year’s Canadian University (CUs) Rowing Championships, winning both the women’s and men’s overall points banners. Brock University held the regatta for the first time, and racing was held in St. Catherine’s on the Canadian Henley rowing course.

The UBC Thunderbird women won their first banner in 14 years, scoring 16 points more than their closet competitor, the University of Victoria.

They won five medals on the way to the title: gold in the women’s eight, silver in the pair, gold in lightweight single, gold in the lightweight four, and silver in the lightweight double sculls.

The hardest win was in the premier event, the women’s eight. UBC was behind the University of Victoria early in the race, struggling a boat-length behind as the crews went through the 500m mark. With a big push, they were even and moving through the leaders at the 1000m mark. In the last half of the race UBC had a commanding lead, and celebrated going over the line.

To top off a great weekend, their coach, Craig Pond, was named Women’s Coach of the Year.

The Thunderbird men’s contest came down to the final race, the men’s eight. The UBC men were dominant, taking the lead from the third stroke and moving away throughout the race. For more results click here.

Women’s results:

Women’s Eight
GOLD – Paula Cameron, Lucy Vincent-Smith, Caitlin Greber, Claire Armstrong, Katie Clark, Jessica Sevick, Kristina Walker, Claire Brillon, Alex Birkenshaw (Coxswain) – 6:13.461 
 Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls
SILVER – Renee LaFreniere, Emma Starr – 7:37.370
 Women’s Coxless Pairs
SILVER – Paula Cameron, Claire Brillon – 7:41.350
 Women’s Lightweight Four
GOLD – Renee LaFreniere, Julia Lindsay, Emma Starr, Paige Reinhard, Alex Birkenshaw (Coxswain) – 7:34.430

For more results on UBC click here. For all results click here.

After all four #1 seeds made the final four last year, a pair of exciting overtime games saw Notre Dame outlast Connecticut and Mississippi State survive Louisville before they met in the finals. A veteran-filled Fighting Irish squad beat Mississippi State 61-58 to win their second national championship in program history.

That’s enough of a history lesson, though. It’s time to get excited about the upcoming NCAA season, which should be full of even more drama if we’re lucky. Read on to find out more about the top teams in each conference.

ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference is the deepest conference in terms of elite talent and quality depth in the middle. It sent eight teams to the tournament, which was the most of any conference. The conference is loaded at the top, with the defending champions and Louisville, which is always a top-10 team.

Notre Dame is lead by a quarter of seniors: Arike Ogunbowale, Brianna Turner, Jessica Shepard, and Marina Mabrey. Ogunbowale broke out during the NCAA tournament hitting clutch shots to help propel her team to victory on her way to Most Outstanding Player for the tournament and ACC Female Athlete of the Year. Turner, a 2016/2017 All-American, is returning from an ACL injury suffered during the 2017 tournament which forced her to redshirt last season to recover.
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For Louisville, they will rely on reigning conference Player of the Year Asia Durr who will be competing in her final season for the Cardinals. Louisville won the ACC tournament last year and will be looking to repeat that.

A group of teams will be looking to challenge, including Syracuse, North Carolina State, Duke, Miami, and Florida State.

SEC
Mississippi State lost in the national championships, which was a tough blow, but they also lost four starters from that game to graduation. The Bulldogs will look to Teaira McCowan as they attempt to make a third straight trip to the national finals.

The other major contender in the conference, South Carolina, will be looking to replace the current WNBA Rookie of the Year, A’Ja Wilson, who graduated after last season.
Tennessee (finished ranked #12), Texas A&M (14), Missouri (17), Georgia (18), LSU (24) are all ready to compete to varying degrees.

PAC 12
This might be the conference with the most predictable race in the country, with the number of starters returning for top contenders in Oregon, Stanford and Oregon State. The defending regular season and tournament champion Oregon Ducks will return four starters, including Sabrina Ionescu. Ionescu was an All-American, and for good reason after setting the career NCAA women’s record for triple-doubles in only her sophomore season. She will have a good chance to set the career record if she can reach 13 total this season.

Stanford finished half a game behind Oregon during the regular season and lost in the championship game. The Cardinals will be returning 12 players from last year’s roster as they look to make their 12th straight sweet 16. Oregon’s other challenge will come from their biggest rival: Oregon State. The Beavers will return four starters from a team that is coming of an elite eight loss to Notre Dame. The Beavers did lose their leading scorer and rebounder from last season — Marie Gullich — and will rely on junior’s Mikalya Pivec and Kat Tudor.

BIG 10
This is a deep conference that is lacking a truly elite team and may struggle beyond Maryland on a national stage. Defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes lost to first team all-conference players, Kelsey Mitchell and Stephanie Mavunga, as well as second team all-conference Linnae Harper. Those three helped the Buckeyes win the conference and finish 10th in the polls, but they were upset in the second round of the national championships.

The only other team to finish in the top 25 was Maryland, which will be led this year by Kaila Charles. Charles was first team all-Big 10 last season and is one of four returning starters for a Terrapins squad that had a three-year streak of conference titles snapped.

The main challenge will come from Iowa, which is lead by preseason player of the year pick Megan Gustafson. The senior was a consensus All-American and is the reigning conference player of the year after a dominant junior season. The Hawkeyes will also be returning six of their top seven scorers last season.

BIG 12
After Baylor and Texas both finished in the top 10 last season, second and eighth respectively, they were only able to advance to the elite eight but look to be in good shape again this season. Baylor lost only one game heading into the national championship, but couldn’t get past Oregon State. Baylor is returning their top two scorers from last year: senior Kalani Brown, who averaged over 20 points per game, and rising junior Lauren Cox.

Texas will have to survive the graduation of Ariel Atkins but should still be in good shape for this season. Grad transfer Danni Williams from Texas A&M should help, but the team will be looking to seniors Lashann Higgs and Jatarie White to make up for the absences of their top two scorers from last season.

The University of British Columbia (UBC) won the total point score banners on both the men’s and women’s sides, showing great depth in their junior varsity and varsity crews.

The men won the banner with 185.5 points, ahead of the University of Victoria (UVic), who was in second with 151. On the women’s side, UBC was 42 points ahead of UVic with 165 points. This was the second consecutive win for the UBC men, and the second banner in three years for the women.

The UBC men won gold in the varsity and junior varsity four (4-), lightweight quad (4+), varsity and junior varsity pair (2-), and junior varsity and varsity eight (8+). The UBC Thunderbird women won gold in the lightweight and heavy single (1x), the lightweight 4+, the pair, the lightweight double (2x), and junior varsity and varsity eight (8+).

UBC and UVic are the typical powerhouses of the Western Canadian university circuit, and they dominated the medal standings.

There were also notable performances from the smaller teams. University of Fraser Valley won the women’s junior varsity 4-. The University of Calgary, who, due to weather and water restrictions are confined to indoor training for eight of the ten university competing months, won the women’s four, and the novice women’s and men’s 8+. Mount Royal University in Calgary, which was granted university status in 2009, had its first rower ever compete at the event, Adam Mills in the men’s single.

The next event for the university rowers is the Canadian University Championships, November 3-4 in St. Catharines, Ontario.