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Highlight Hoos: Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass | UVA Swimming

Published

2 years ago

July 9, 2022

Highlight Hoos: Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass | UVA Swimming

Courtesy of Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports activities

With the 2021-2022 Virginia athletics season formally accomplished, we enter the faculty sports activities offseason optimistic for issues to come back for the Cavaliers subsequent season. However with the autumn seasons nonetheless a few months away, we have now time to have a look again at a number of the unimaginable athletic accomplishments achieved by UVA pupil athletes through the 2021-2022 sports activities 12 months in a collection known as Spotlight Hoos.

Up to now, we have coated Diana Ordóñez (Virginia girls’s soccer), Mia Barnett (Virginia cross nation and observe & area), Leo Afonso (Virginia males’s soccer), Brooklyn Borum (Virginia volleyball), and Amber Ezechiels (Virginia area hockey).

At the moment, we check out the final 12 months of spectacular accomplishments of the Virginia swimming dynamic duo of Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass, representing each UVA and Group USA.

Olympic Trials – June 2021

Touring again to simply over a 12 months in the past, this was a second each Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh catapulted themselves to the nationwide highlight. Because the reigning 2021 NCAA nationwide champions, the 2 Wahoo swimmers set their sights on the Tokyo Olympics.

Each swimmers participated within the 200-meter particular person medley on the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. After strong performances within the heats and semifinals on June fifteenth, Douglass and Walsh had been in good positions for the ultimate race, the place the highest two swimmers earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic staff.

The ultimate occasion was a nail-biter to say the least. After the primary 50 meters, Alex Walsh was in fourth place and Kate Douglass was in second. Walsh used a powerful backstroke and breaststroke leg to take the lead at 150 meters, whereas Douglass had fallen to 3rd place. Within the remaining 50 meters, Douglass used a powerful freestyle to catch up. Walsh completed first with a time of two:09.30, and Douglass completed two hundredths of a second behind her for second place. She edged out Madisyn Cox by two hundredths of a second as effectively, displaying how an infinitesimal margin can imply the distinction between pleasure and heartbreak in swimming. Walsh and Douglass had been in, Cox was out.

Whereas each Douglass and Walsh certified for the Olympic Trials in different occasions, they weren’t within the prime two finishers of these races, which meant their one shot at an Olympic medal in Tokyo can be within the 200 IM.

Tokyo Olympics – July 2021

Douglass and Walsh had grow to be Olympians for the primary time, however their work wasn’t executed but. The 200 IM race had the same construction with heats, semifinals, after which the ultimate race with the highest eight swimmers. Kate Douglass was seeded first heading into the finals, and Alex Walsh was seeded third.

The 200 IM as soon as once more proved to be a thriller, with swimmers altering locations all through the race and no clear winner till they touched the wall. Walsh and Douglass caught with the pack within the first 50 meters, after which Alex Walsh made her transfer through the backstroke and breaststroke, as she did within the trials. Within the freestyle lap, 4 swimmers had been neck and neck for the three medals. Walsh and Japan’s Yui Ohashi battled it out in lanes three and two, respectively, with Ohashi taking the victory by .13 seconds and Walsh taking second. Kate Douglass used a powerful end to beat Nice Britain’s Abbie Wooden by .09, securing the bronze medal. The UVA teammates embraced within the pool after securing the silver and bronze medals and cementing their names in USA Swimming historical past.

NCAA common season – November 2021 – January 2022

Again on the collegiate degree, each swimmers confirmed why they had been Olympians. With matching Olympic rings tattoos, Douglass and Walsh dominated the common season. Within the six meets Douglass and Walsh swam in, Walsh gained or was a part of 18 profitable occasions, and Douglass gained or was a part of 20 profitable occasions. Whereas a number of of those races are counted twice as Douglass and Walsh dominated in relays, a number of these had been particular person victories which helped propel the ladies’s swim staff to a dominant common season.

fifteenth FINA Quick Course World Championships – December 2021

Kate Douglass attended the 2021 FINA Quick Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi and had a profitable efficiency with two gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze medal. She took dwelling gold within the 200-meter freestyle relay and 400-meter freestyle relay. After swimming within the heats, she additionally earned silver medals within the girls’s 200-meter medley relay and the combined 200-meter medley relay. Lastly, Douglass gained bronze within the 200-meter particular person medley.

ACC Championships – February 2022

Virginia gained its third-straight ACC Championship in February and its two greatest stars shined vibrant firstly of the postseason.

Alex Walsh gained three particular person occasions: the 200-yard particular person medley, the 200-yard freestyle, and the 200-yard breaststroke. She set UVA and ACC information with the 200 breast in addition to a UVA file on the 200 free. Walsh additionally was a part of the profitable 400 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay, and 800 freestyle relay. Virginia’s 400-yard medley relay staff broke an NCAA, US Open (quickest time within the U.S), and American (quickest time by an American) file. All of those accomplishments led to Walsh being named the ACC Girls’s Most Worthwhile Swimmer within the meet.

Kate Douglass earned Girls’s Swimmer of the 12 months honors within the ACC for her efficiency through the common season, however she additionally excelled on the ACC championships. She gained particular person titles within the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly and likewise gained 4 relays. She was a part of the record-breaking 400 medley relay with Walsh, and she or he additionally contributed to the NCAA, US, Open, and American file time within the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay. Lastly, Douglass additionally was victorious within the 400 free relay.

Girls’s NCAA Championships – March 2022

Walsh and Douglass had been the driving pressure behind Virginia’s second consecutive nationwide championship. They each gained three particular person occasions and joined forces to win three relays, after which Douglass earned a relay win within the 200 medley relay and Walsh got here in second within the 800 free relay.

Within the 400 medley relay and the 400 free relay that included each Douglass and Walsh, Virginia set NCAA, US Open, and American information. The 400 medley relay file truly tied the file from the ACC Championships, made by the very same group. Additionally they gained the 200 free relay collectively.

Douglass set NCAA, US Open, and American information in each the 50 freestyle and 200 breaststroke on the nationwide championships, and she or he set an American file within the 100 fly. Within the seven complete occasions she participated in, she gained all seven and broke a file in 5 of them. Much more impressively, she set American information in three occasions that had been every completely different strokes and completely different distances, a feat by no means earlier than completed on the NCAA Championships.

Walsh took dwelling the person title for the 200 IM, the 400 IM, and the 200 fly in her completed meet, together with an NCAA, US Open, and American file within the 200 IM. She gained six out of the seven occasions she participated in.

Honda Sport Award – April 2022

The Honda Sport Award is given to the highest feminine athlete in 12 completely different sports activities, after which the winner is eligible to win the Collegiate Lady Athlete of the 12 months award. Each Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh had been named among the many 4 finalists for the award, together with Katharine Berkoff and Tarrin Gilliland. Douglass ended up profitable the award, giving her the title of the perfect feminine collegiate swimmer.

U.S. Worldwide Group Trials – April 2022

The Phillips 66 Worldwide Group Trials came about on the finish of April in Greensboro, North Carolina, and was the choice meet for the 2022 FINA World Championships. Alex Walsh competed in three occasions and Kate Douglass competed in 4, after selecting to skip two occasions she might have swam as a result of meet scheduling.

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Alex Walsh set a US Open file with a time of two:07.84 within the 200 IM and gained gold, guaranteeing her a spot on the FINA World Championship staff. She additionally got here in fifth within the 100 breaststroke and sixth within the 200 freestyle.

Kate Douglass positioned second within the 200 breaststroke to earn her roster spot, and likewise completed fourth within the 100 butterfly and fifth within the 50 freestyle, displaying how versatile of a swimmer she might be but once more.

nineteenth FINA World Championships – June 2022

A couple of weeks in the past, Douglass and Walsh completed competing for Group USA in Budapest, Hungary for the FINA World Championships, the largest swim meet in non-Olympic years.

Douglass earned a bronze medal within the 200 breaststroke, ending behind USA teammate Lilly King and Australia’s Jenna Strauch. She additionally added a bronze medal within the 400 freestyle relay together with teammates Torri Huske, Erika Brown, and Claire Curzan. She swam within the heats of the 400 combined freestyle relay which finally gained a bronze medal, so she will be able to add that to her medal haul as effectively.

Walsh set a private finest in her signature race of the 200 IM with a time of two:07.13, and took dwelling the gold medal on the World Championships. She additionally swam within the heats for the 800 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay which each ended up profitable gold, so Walsh walked away with three gold medals from the meet.

Present U.S. Data – Alex Walsh

Lengthy course (25 m)

US Open 200 IM (2:07.84) at 2022 US Worldwide Group Trials

Quick course (25 yd)

American and US Open 200 IM (1:50.08) at 2022 NCAA Championships
American and US Open 200 freestyle relay (1:24.47) at 2022 ACC Championships
American and US Open 400 freestyle relay (3:06.91) at 2022 NCAA Championships
American and US Open 400 medley relay (3:22.34) at 2022 ACC Championships and 2022 NCAA Championships

Present U.S Data – Kate Douglass

Quick course (25 yd)

American and US Open 50 freestyle (20.84) at 2022 NCAA Championships
American and US Open 200 breaststroke (2:02.19) at 2022 NCAA Championships
American 100 fly (49.04) at 2022 NCAA Championships
American and US Open 200 freestyle relay (1:24.47) at 2022 ACC Championships
American and US Open 400 freestyle relay (3:06.91) at 2022 NCAA Championships
American and US Open 200 medley relay (1:31.81) at 2022 ACC Championships
American and US Open 400 medley relay (3:22.34) at 2022 ACC Championships and 2022 NCAA Championships

It’s been an unimaginable 12 months for each of those swimmers, however the potential of what’s to come back is extraordinarily thrilling. At 20 years outdated, each Douglass and Walsh have remaining collegiate eligibility in addition to years of worldwide swimming forward of them, so we will definitely be watching to see what they will accomplish within the subsequent 12 months and past.

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Five Takeaways From Virginia’s 70-50 Loss to Louisville

Published

36 minutes ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

Five Takeaways From Virginia’s 70-50 Loss to Louisville

Virginia went cold from three-point range and struggled on both ends of the floor down the stretch as the Cavaliers (8-6, 1-2 ACC) suffered a 70-50 loss to Louisville (10-5, 3-1 ACC) in their first game of 2025 on Saturday evening at John Paul Jones Arena. Here are our five key takeaways from UVA’s loss, which was the first time the Cavaliers had ever lost to Louisville at John Paul Jones Arena.

There was stretches of Saturday’s game where the Cavaliers were going punch-for-punch with the Cardinals. A three-pointer from Andrew Rohde made it a four-point game with 15 minutes left in the first half, but that was the closest UVA ever got, as Louisville outscored Virginia 29-13 over the last 15 minutes of regulation. While the Virginia defense had been playing fairly well up to that point, the Cavaliers had too many breakdowns and gave up way too many open looks for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the other end of the floor was the much bigger issue for Virginia.

Virginia came into the game ranked 27th in the country in three-point shooting, converting at 38.5% as a team. Against Louisville on Saturday, the Cavaliers went a dismal 5/26 from beyond the arc. Isaac McKneely and Andrew Rohde went a combined 5/12 from three, which isn’t bad, but the rest of the team shot 0/14. There were a couple of three-point attempts that rimmed out and UVA missed a few open shots, but the Cavaliers struggled mightily to generate open looks against Louisville and it showed in the final perimeter shooting numbers.

Part of Louisville’s ability to pull away in this game was the sharpshooting of Reyne Smith. UVA knew Smith was Louisville’s best three-point shooter and yet Smith continued to make the Cavaliers pay for losing track of him off of screens. Smith drained five three-pointers and most of them were open looks. Virginia needs to take a hard look at the tape from this one and replicate what Louisville was doing with Reyne Smith for Isaac McKneely. As a side note, Smith and the Louisville bench scored 34 points as compared to just two points for the Virginia bench.

The Cardinals won the rebounding battle 42-25 and had 14 offensive rebounds to UVA’s six. The Cavaliers were fortunate that Louisville only scored 10 second-chance points. There was an obvious gap in athleticism between these two teams, but more concerningly, there was an evident gap in the levels of energy, aggressiveness, and desire with which the Cardinals pursued rebounds that the Hoos simply couldn’t, or wouldn’t match.

We’ve talked at length about UVA’s point guard situation and the lack of depth this team has in terms of ball-handlers and offensive facilitators. Dai Dai Ames is UVA’s best ball-handler, but in the last two games, he has played just nine and ten minutes, respectively. He was 0/2 from the floor and scored zero points against Louisville. Andrew Rohde played a good game and he deserves some recognition for his efforts, recording 16 points, three assists, and three steals. But when Andrew Rohde is the team’s primary, and in some ways, only offensive playmaker, that underscores some of the fundamental offensive flaws this team is facing right now.

Up next, Virginia heads west for a pair of games in California, starting with a late-night contest at Cal on Wednesday at 11pm ET (ESPNU).

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Game Preview: Oklahoma State Tips Off New Year at West Virginia

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11 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

Game Preview: Oklahoma State Tips Off New Year at West Virginia

Oklahoma State is in a new era, but it needs to come with new results.

OSU is looking to get its first conference win against West Virginia, but winning on the road is one of the most difficult tasks in the Big 12. While the Cowboys have already surpassed their road win total from last season, getting those victories in conference play is another animal.

OSU didn’t win its first conference game last season until its seventh try. Of course, that game was against West Virginia. If the Cowboys can find a way to take down the Mountaineers again this season, it would be an ideal start to 2025.

Game Information: Oklahoma State (8-4, 0-1 Big 12) vs. Opponent (10-2, 1-0)

Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 4 at 11 a.m. CT

Where: WVU Coliseum – Morgantown, WV

TV/Streaming: CBSSN

Spread: West Virginia -9.5

Total Points: Over/Under 146.5 points

Moneyline: West Virginia -465, Oklahoma State +350

While OSU won its first conference game against West Virginia last season, it was the teams’ only matchup and was in Stillwater. The Cowboys’ last win in Morgantown came in 2021, with back-to-back losses there since.

With former Cowboy Javon Small leading the way for West Virginia, OSU will have to find a way to contain its leading scorer from a season ago. Without Small, OSU has struggled to find anyone to emerge as the go-to scorer, which could come with major consequences in Big 12 play.

OSU lost its conference opener to Houston, shooting only 25.9% in the 60-47 loss. While OSU’s offense sputtered, it showed its defensive ability, something Steve Lutz’s team will have to hang its hat on in conference play.

The Mountaineers upset Kansas on the road in their Big 12 opener, with Small’s late free throws pushing his team ahead. The Cowboys are hoping for a letdown from West Virginia after its big win, but they must be prepared for a surge in front of the West Virginia crowd, where the home team is 7-0 this season.

Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

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3 takeaways from Virginia Tech's loss to Minnesota in the Duke's Mayo Bowl

Published

19 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

3 takeaways from Virginia Tech's loss to Minnesota in the Duke's Mayo Bowl

Minnesota shortened the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Friday and leaned on its defense for a 24-10 win over Virginia Tech.

The Gophers ran a 15-play drive in the third and fourth quarters that took 9:20 off the clock and ended with a field goal. They took 4:35 off the clock on the previous possession just to go 29 yards and punt. But it worked. Virginia Tech got just 3 second-half possessions and the Gophers flummoxed each of them.

With the win, Minnesota extended its streak of consecutive bowl victories to 8, a mark that stretches back to 2015. The Gophers end the year at 8-5 while Virginia Tech drops to 6-7.

Here are 3 takeaways from the game.

Minnesota defense dominates

Virginia Tech averaged 8.3 yards per pass attempt — a fine number — but the Hokies were constantly behind the chains. Minnesota sacked Hokie quarterback Pop Watson 5 times. And it held the Hokies to just 4 yards per play on first downs. A disruptive defensive performance had the Hokies out of sorts all night.

Virginia Tech began the game with 3 consecutive 3-and-outs. After an 8-play, 80-yard touchdown march from Virginia Tech to take a 7-0 lead, Minnesota responded with a 21-3 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. In the second half, Minnesota limited the Hokies to 76 total yards of offense and just 18 plays.

The Hokies only got 3 second-half possessions while the Gophers sat on the ball on offense. The lone possession in the third quarter ended in a punt after 7 plays gained only 22 yards. On the Hokies’ final 2 drives, Minnesota held on fourth down twice.

After Max Brosmer threw an interception with 7:03 to play, Virginia Tech had one last chance to tighten things up and make a game of it. Defensive back Dante Lovett caught Brosmer’s pass off a deflection and returned it to Minnesota’s 15-yard-line.

In a 14-point game, the Hokies desperately needed a score. Instead, they went backward. After an 11-yard pass from Watson, 3 straight plays were stopped in the backfield for losses and Virginia Tech was forced to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 14. Za’Quan Bryan jumped a Watson pass and ended the threat without any damage done.

Minnesota was able to run out the remaining 4:24 to walk away with the victory.

Darius Taylor closes strong

Minnesota tailback Darius Taylor ran it 20 times for 113 yards and a touchdown. He also threw a 10-yard touchdown pass. The 100-yard effort was Taylor’s fifth of the season and the ninth of his Minnesota career. That pushed him into a tie for the 10th-most such games by a Gopher player in program history.

Just a sophomore, Taylor will have a chance to leave his mark all over the Minnesota record book if he stays healthy. With Max Brosmer playing his final game for the Gophers (he went 18-for-29 for 211 yards, 1 score, and the aforementioned pick), Taylor could very well be the offensive engine next season for Minnesota just like Mo Ibrahim was several years ago.

Virginia Tech, shorthanded, does itself no favors

The Hokies were missing their entire starting secondary because of opt-outs and the transfer portal. Their regular starter at quarterback was once again unavailable. There were reasons to enter into Friday night with tempered expectations. Still, Virginia Tech didn’t help itself.

Offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen drew the ire of Hokie fans all throughout the game with his play-calling. After the Hokies’ fourth-quarter interception, Bowen’s sequencing was questionable at best. Rather than let Watson — who has flashed considerable potential late in the year — cook, Virginia Tech split his time with Colin Schlee and never really let Watson find a rhythm. He threw for 254 yards in the win over Virginia on Nov. 30 and threw just 12 passes on Friday.