NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas-Cal Showdown Coming Down to the Wire (Finals Heat Sheet)
The Texas Longhorns took a 55.5-point lead over Cal entering the final day of the NCAA Men’s Championships while Indiana was only 8.5 points behind the Golden Bears. As expected, the title will come down to the final races of the meet after Cal made a statement Saturday morning, securing 11 scoring swims for the finals session.
Click here to view the Saturday evening heat sheet.
Texas will have Hubert Kos aiming for his third national title of the meet in the 200 backstroke while Will Modglin also races in the A-final, but Cal can expect a boatload of points with three-time defending champion Destin Lasco, Gabriel Jett and Mewen Tomac finishing second, third and fifth, respectively. The Golden Bears also have Keaton Jones and Humberto Najera in the consolation heat.
The 100 freestyle should be more even as both Cal and Texas have one swimmer in the A-final, Jack Alexy for Cal and Chris Guiliano for Texas, while Cal has two B-finalists to just Luke Hobson for Texas. The 200 breaststroke could be something of a wash, with Yamato Okadome squeezing into the A-final for Cal by six hundredths but two Texas swimmers making the consol heat.
Dare Rose is a major player for Cal in the 200 butterfly, and Frank Applebaum made the B-final, but Texas countered with Cooper Lucas swimming a best time and tying for 14th. Cal did not get any divers into the platform final, with Geoffrey Vavitsas topping out at 18th, but Texas freshman Jacob Welsh finished 15th, giving his team the opportunity for points.
15 Welsh, Jacob FR Texas NP 349.20 16 Chambers, Nigel FR Alabama NP 341.35 17 Wills, Tyler FR Purdue NP 339.20 18 Vavitsas, Geoffrey SO California NP 338.95
Still to be decided are the 1650 freestyle and 400 free relay. Cal is seeded fourth in the relay with Texas seventh, but in the mile, David Johnston and Rex Maurer are seeded to finish 1-3, but with Cal’s Lucas Henveaux ranked second entering the meet. From the early heats, the teams will be looking for big swims from Jackson Huckabay (Texas) and Tyler Kopp (Cal). Diving will become clear following the completion of prelims.
Not to be forgotten is Indiana, with the Hoosiers’ four A-finalists the second-most of the day behind Cal. Owen McDonald is in the top heat of the 200 back, as is Matt King in the 100 free and the duo of Jassen Yep and Caspar Corbeau in the 200 breast. Then came diving, and Indiana came close to matching its three-up performance from the 3-meter event. Carson Tyler was third, with Quentin Henninger joining him in the A-final (fifth) and Maxwell Weinrich taking 11th.
If all seeds were to hold in Saturday’s finals, Texas would win the meet by 22 points over Cal, 491.5 to 471.5, and diving points put Indiana at 453. There could still be significant shifts in the timed-finals races, the mile and the 400 free relay. Swimmers could still move up and down within their respective heats, and relay disqualifications have already rocked this meet.
Cal did a lot Saturday morning, but more remains for the Golden Bears’ hopes of running down Texas. The Longhorns remain in the driver’s seat for their first title since 2021 while Bob Bowman is on track to helm his second consecutive national championships squad.
Day 4 Prelims Up-Downs (Swimming Only)
- Cal: 6-5
- Indiana: 4-2
- Texas: 3-4
- Tennessee: 3-2
- Georgia: 3-0
- Arizona State: 2-1
- Florida: 2-1
- Louisville: 2-0
- Stanford: 1-5
- Virginia Tech: 1-2
- Michigan: 1-1
- USC: 1-1
- Brown: 1-0
- LSU: 1-0
- Penn: 1-0
- Arizona: 0-1
- Cornell: 0-1
- Florida St.: 0-1
- Minnesota: 0-1
- NC State: 0-1
- Alabama: 0-1
- Cal Baptist: 0-1
- North Carolina: 0-1
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 14 1. Texas 368 2. California 312.5 3. Indiana 304 4. Florida 233 5. Georgia 177.5 6. Arizona St 172 7. Tennessee 162.5 8. Stanford 162 9. NC State 128 10. Michigan 83 11. Alabama 68 11. Ohio St 68 13. Virginia Tech 63 14. Texas A&M 57.5 15. Southern Cal 55 16. Louisville 53 17. Florida St 48 18. Purdue 33 19. Wisconsin 28 20. Lsu 26 21. Georgia Tech 24 22. UNC 21 23. Army 15 23. Yale 15 23. University of Utah 15 26. Auburn 14 27. Pittsburgh 13 28. Virginia 12 28. Smu 12 30. Miami (Fl) 11 30. Brown 11 32. Missouri 6 32. Kentucky 6 34. Arizona 1
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