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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, March 26. THE final day of prelims is complete at the NCAA Division I Men’s Championships held at the University of Minnesota.
200 back
Indiana’s Eric Ress, who is still recovering from a broken hand suffered a month ago, vaulted up to seventh all time in the event with a smoking time of 1:39.52. He will be looking for Indiana’s first triumph in the event since Michael Stamm won for the Hoosiers back in 1973. Overall, IU has six 200 back titles with wins from Frank McKinney (1959), Charlie Hickcox (1967, 68, 69), Gary Hall (1971) and Stamm (1973).
Florida’s Marco Loughran finished second in 1:40.49, while defending champion Cory Chitwood qualified third in 1:40.67. Stanford’s Matt Swanston (1:40.88), Texas’ Austin Surhoff (1:41.62), Arizona’s Michael Sheppard (1:41.66) and Stanford’s Matt Thompson (1:41.72) made the finale, while Texas’ Cole Cragin and Auburn’s Kyle Owens set up a swimoff with matching 1:42.04s for eighth. Cragin won the swimoff, 1:42.38 to 1:44.43.
Auburn’s Max Murphy (1:42.14), Southern California’s James Lendrum (1:42.36), Texas’ Patrick Murphy (1:42.61), Ohio State’s Markus Sievers (1:42.66), California’s Guy Barnea (1:42.84), California’s Mathias Gydesen (1:43.07) and West Virginia’s Jared Christie-Goldthorpe (1:43.07) rounded out the consolation heat field.
Top 10 Average Scoring Running Projections*:
California (361.25), Texas (322.625), Stanford (308), Arizona (243.5), Florida (227.75), Auburn (187.75), USC (150.625), Virginia (145), Michigan (131), Ohio State (101.625)
100 free
Auburn’s Adam Brown moved into a 10th-place tie with William Copeland on the all time performers list with a 41.75 for the top seed out of the morning. He will be looking for Auburn’s fifth title in the event with previous victories coming from Cesar Cielo (2007, 08) and Rowdy Gaines (1980, 81). Texas’ Jimmy Feigen qualified second in 42.01, while Auburn’s Marcelo Chierighini earned third in 42.26.
Texas’ Dax Hill (42.28), Stanford’s Austin Staab (42.33), California’s Graeme Moore (42.35), Southern California’s Vlad Morozov (42.36) and California’s Nathan Adrian (42.39) also made the A final. In the team race, Cal matched Texas with two up.
Virginia’s Scot Robison (42.48), North Carolina’s Steve Cebertowicz (42.56), Stanford’s Alex Coville (42.62), Stanford’s Jakob Allen (42.81), Florida’s Brett Fraser (42.94), Arizona’s Adam Small (42.98), Texas A&M’s Balazs Makany (43.02) and Texas A&M’s John Dalton (43.07) comprised the consolation heat.
Top 10 Average Scoring Running Projections*:
California (390.75), Texas (352.15), Stanford (332), Arizona (248.125), Florida (232.375), Auburn (217.25), USC (165.375), Virginia (149.625), Michigan (131), Ohio State (101.625)
200 breast
California and Texas remained status quo after the 200 breast with Texas going 3 up, while California went 2 up and 2 down. Texas’ Nick D’Innocenzo (1:53.46) and Eric Friedland (1:53.58) went 1-2 in the event for the Longhorns. They will be looking for UT’s first 200 breast title since Brendan Hansen won four years straight from 2001-04. Texas’ other win came from Kirk Stackle back in 1988. Texas’ Scott Spann also snuck into the finale with en eighth-seeded 1:54.59.
California’s Martti Aljand (1:53.92) and Damir Dugonjic (1:54.07) qualified third and fifth, while Stanford’s Curtis Lovelace (1:54.01), Florida State’s Rob Holderness (1:54.36) and Louisville’s Carlos Almeida (1:54.36) also made the big final.
California’s Trevor Hoyt (1:54.63), California’s Nolan Koon (1:54.76), Arizona’s Carl Mickelson (1:54.85), Arizona’s Austen Thompson (1:55.20), Indiana’s Cody Miller (1:55.21), SMU’s Thomas Cole (1:55.22), Tennessee’s Bradley Craig (1:55.29) and Arizona’s Kevin Munsch (1:55.32) grabbed the consolation heat transfer spots.
Top 10 Average Scoring Running Projections*:
California (429.5), Texas (396.375), Stanford (346.75), Arizona (262), Florida (232.375), Auburn (217.25), USC (165.375), Virginia (149.625), Michigan (131), Ohio State (101.625)
200 fly
California likely iced the team title with a two up performance in the event, while Texas claimed zero points.
Stanford’s Bobby Bollier led the way with a 1:41.63, which moved him from 11th all time to ninth all time on the performers list. The time bumped Olympic gold medalist Mel Stewart from the top 10 for the first time since he clocked an ahead-of-its-time 1:41.78 back in 1991.
Georgia’s Mark Dylla qualified second in 1:42.15, but has a fourth-ranked personal best of 1:40.85 to his credit. Michigan’s Dan Madwed (1:42.4) and Wisconsin’s Dan Lester (1:42.59) rounded out the top four. California’s Robbie Sullivan qualified fifth in 1:43.18, while NCAA record holder Tom Shields qualified sixth for Cal with a 1:43.25. Florida’s Sebastien Rousseau (1:43.40) and Marci Cieslak (1:43.41) picked up seventh and eighth.
North Carolina’s Tom Luchsinger (1:43.50), Ohio State’s Quincy Lee (1:43.65), Florida’s Cameron Martin (1:43.89), Florida’s Balazs Gercsak (1:44.03), Arizona’s Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or (1:44.04), Georgia’s Matt Bartlett (1:44.22), Northwestern’s Sean Mathews (1:44.34) and Arizona’s AJ Tipton (1:44.44) will look to score points in the B final.
Top 10 Average Scoring Running Projections*:
California (459), Texas (396.375), Stanford (361.5), Arizona (271.25), Florida (271.125), Auburn (217.25), USC (165.375), Virginia (149.625), Michigan (145.75), Ohio State (106.25)
400 free relay
California’s Nathan Adrian, Graeme Moore, Josh Daniels and Tom Shields turned in the top seed with a 2:49.61. The Golden Bears will be looking to defend their 2010 title, and push their program total to nine triumphs in the event’s history.
Auburn’s Marcelo Chierighini, Kohlton Norys, Karl Krug and Adam Brown qualified second in 2:49.73, while USC’s Vlad Morozov, Dimitri Colupaev, Clement Lefert and Jeff Daniels took third in 2:50.86. Texas (2:51.10), Virginia (2:51.58), Minnesota (2:51.76), Arizona (2:51.80) and Michigan (2:52.05) will swim in the finale as well.
Texas A&M (2:52.49), Florida (2:52.57), Ohio State (2:52.79), Stanford (2:52.83), North Carolina (2:53.23), Iowa (2:54.19), Tennessee (2:55.26) and UNLV (2:55.49)
Top 10 Average Scoring Running Projections – Not counting 1650 free*:
California (488.5), Texas (428.875), Stanford (370.75), Arizona (300.75), Florida (280.375), Auburn (246.75), USC (194.875), Virginia (179.125), Michigan (175.25), Ohio State (115.5)
Platform Diving
Purdue’s David Boudia will be looking to sweep the diving events after checking in with 466.85 points during prelims. Duke’s Nick McCrory qualified second with 423.45 points, while Texas’ Drew Livingston earned third with 408.55 points.
Virginia Tech’s Logan Shinholser (401.55), Missouri’s David Bonuchi (399.50), Purdue’s JP Perez (381.80), Purdue’s Danny Cox (376.60) and Texas A&M’s Grant Nel (372.65) also made the diving finale for this evening.
Auburn’s Daniel Mazzaferro (371.55), USC’s Harrison Jones (352.35), Tennessee’s Ryan Helms (329.60), Florida State’s Michael Neubacher (329.40), Minnesota’s Andrew Brown (329.30), Stanford’s Brent Eichenseer (326.05), Missouri’s Dante Jones (324.20) and Wyoming’s Mark Murdock (322.40) will dive in the consolation final here shortly.
Texas only scoring one diver definitely hurt its chances of making a big comeback with a strong diving and 1650 performance as California is look at a 40-50 point win thus far.
Top 10 Average Scoring Running Projections – Not counting 1650 free*:
California (488.5), Texas (440.625), Stanford (375.375), Arizona (300.75), Florida (280.375), Auburn (251.375), USC (199.5), Virginia (179.125), Michigan (175.25), Ohio State (115.5)
* Average Scoring Projections based on the average points allotted to an A finalist (14.75) and a B finalist (4.625). Double points for relays.
Swimming World’s NCAA Division I Men’s Championships Notes Package Sponsored by NISCA
