DAY 1 RESULTS

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of West Florida senior Theresa Michalak claimed the second national championship in her career on Wednesday evening, winning the 50 Yard Freestyle at the NCAA Championships. After the first full day of action, UWF stands in 13th place overall with 24 points.
 
"We're delighted, it's a great way to start the week," head coach Andrew Hancock said. "This was one of our lighter days. The first is always really interesting because every program on that deck had some things they're really happy with and some things they have to work on, and we're no different. We'll make adjustments and continue to make those over the course of the meet, and our plan is to get stronger as we always do."
 
Michalak started the race strong, going 10.95 in the first 25 yards and pulling ahead of the field by a tenth of a second. By Michalak's own admission, the remainder of the sprint was not quite as easy.
 
"I started out really fast, faster than in the morning," Michalak said. "Then I was thinking so much, and I hit the wall, and missed it. I saw that I was probably last after the wall, and I just exploded after that because I wanted to win so badly."
 
Over the final 15 yards, Michalak surged from the middle of the pack and blew past the competition, coming away with a 22.79. The strong final push took Michalak past silver medalist Lara Marshall (23.01) from Queens and Cheyenne Rova (23.06) from Minnesota State-Mankato.
 
"It's a good example of Theresa's ability to persevere," Hancock said. "She jammed the turn a little bit, but as true champions do, she found a way to recover and win. She did a great job of persevering and overcoming adversity, and she's a national champion for a second time because of it."
 
Michalak won the national championship in the 100 Breast as a junior last year, and she will look to repeat in that event on Friday evening. She joins Monica Amaral as the only two-time national champion in UWF history.
 
The final event of the night for UWF was the 200 Medley Relay, and the team saw an honorable mention All-American performance there. Finishing 15th was the team of Pia Hulley, Michalak, Taby Read-Cayton and Danica Burnett, which came in at 1:43.90. That was good for the third-fastest time in school history, and Michalak put together the fastest second leg in the pool in the consolation final, at 27.80.
 
Madeline Pitt and Taby Read-Cayton saw action in the prelim session on Wednesday morning. Pitt clocked a 10:11.08 in the 1000 Free, which was less than a second off her personal best time, and finished 19th overall. Read-Cayton went in the 50 Free, coming in at 23.68, good for 27th overall.
 
"I think we're feeling pretty good," Michalak said. "The first day is always the hardest to figure out how you feel and get into the races, but I think we're doing a good job. The first day is over, and we see what is coming next."
 
West Florida will compete in the 200 Free Relay, the 400 IM, the 100 Fly, the 200 Free, 1-meter diving, and the 400 Medley Relay on Thursday night. The prelim session will begin at 10:30 am, and finals will begin at 6 pm.