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ATLANTA – Sophia Umstead got here into her first faculty season at Virginia as one of many prime recruits within the nation.
Umstead proved to be one of many prime freshman within the nation – and a nationwide champion – by the top of the season as she earned two All-American honors and helped Virginia win the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship on Saturday, March 21, at Georgia Tech.
“It was truly incredible. I was more than I could ever have dreamed of happening,” Umstead mentioned. “This group of girls is amazing. Training with them has such an amazing experience.”
Virginia received their sixth NCAA championship in a row, however this was the primary with out the highly effective Walsh sisters (Olympians Gretchen and Alex), who graduated.
Umstead, who trains with Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics in Holland and is from Jenison, was a part of a gaggle of underclassmen with so much to show – and so they did.
Umstead, Madi Mintenko and Sara Curtis led the freshmen class of scorers.
“It has been amazing to watch. It is amazing how together our group is,” Mintenko mentioned. “It is really special what we have. We connect really well. I love seeing people like Sophia work their butt off all year and get their butts kicked in practice, then kick my butt in practice and we all show up here and just absolutely dominate. I am so happy for (the freshmen).”
Umstead took ninth within the 200-yard breaststroke to earn second-team All-American honors in 2:07.73.
“It meant a lot. My biggest goal was to make it to NCAAs and score. I wanted to contribute to the sixth national title. It really meant the world to me to be a part of this,” Umstead mentioned. “It was very validating. I wanted to see what I could do and scoring showed my hard work. I felt really good about the 200 breast. I have been working a lot on stroke count and paces and to see it all pay off meant a lot.”
It was a part of a banner occasion for Virginia, which put two within the finals (Aimee Canny, second; Emma Weber, eighth) and in addition took ninth (Umstead), eleventh (Zoe Skierboll) and twelfth (Leah Hayes).
Her coaching group eased her transition to the elite faculty degree.
“The girls made it very easy to get comfortable. It really was a big transition but you get the hang of it quickly,” she mentioned. “We have the best team atmostphere in the NCAA. I am so grateful to have the opporutnity to compete at this level.”
Umstead completed twelfth within the 200 IM on Saturday, March 21, once more incomes second-team All-American honors and scoring factors for her staff with a swim of 1:55.64.
Umstead’s first race of the meet was the 400 IM and the freshman took 18th with a time of 4:06.84.
Three top-20 finshes as a freshman makes the longer term look shiny for Umstead.
“Well I would definitely like to make an A final for sure,” she mentioned. “But I really accomplished all of my goals, so I have to take some time to think about new ones – but I am excited for the future for sure.”
Contact sports activities editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on X, previously referred to as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
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