NCAA Men’s Championships Pre-Cut Psych Sheet: Texas Favored for Repeat Title
The pre-cut psych sheets for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Championships were released Tuesday. These are not the final entry lists for the meet, which will take place March 25-28 in Atlanta. Only a select number of athletes will be invited to compete in each event, but the top seeds for each event will remain unchanged.
Click here to view the full psych sheet.
The Texas Longhorns are the reigning national champions and considered a strong favorite to repeat despite graduating 200 free NCAA champion Luke Hobson and top sprinter Chris Guiliano. However, Texas returns a pair of swimmers who combined to win five individual national titles last year. Hubert Kos will defend his titles in both backstroke events plus swim the 100 butterfly instead of the 200 IM. He has not competed as much in the 100 fly and enters the meet with the 68th seed, 2 seconds off the top spot.
Rex Maurer enters as defending champion in the 500 free and 400 IM. Maurer tops the entries in the 500, but it is teammate Baylor Nelson atop the pile in the medley, with Texas holding three of the top six entry times in the race. Also in pole position for Texas are Will Modglin in the 100 back, the event in which he set an American record earlier this year, plus Nate Germonprez in the 100 breaststroke and the 800 freestyle relay team.
Florida and Arizona State each rank first in four events entering the competition. Florida’s Josh Liendo, who hopes to add to his already sterling collection of national titles in the sprint events, is the top-ranked swimmer in the 100 fly and 50 free while Jonny Marshall tops entries in the 200 back. Marshall and Liendo were both part of the Gators’ 200 medley relay team that swam the fastest time ever at the SEC Championships.
For the Sun Devils, Ilya Kharun shares the top mark in the 50 free with Liendo. His team paces the country in three relays, both sprint freestyle races plus the 400 medley relay.
The only other team with multiple top-seeded swimmers is Indiana, which has two-time defending national champion Zalan Sarkany entered first in the 1650 free while Owen McDonald is the leader of the 200 IM.
Also back in competition this year is Georgia’s Luca Urlando, who is favored to defend his national title in the 200 fly. Urlando swam the fastest time ever in the event at last season’s NCAA Championships and then broke his own record in December. Urlando is first in his pet event while also entering the 100 fly and 200 IM. While plenty of top-ranked swimmers from past seasons have graduated, Cal’s Yamato Okadome has emerged s the country’s top performer in the 200 breast.
Schedule of Events and Top Seeded Swimmers
Wednesday, March 25
- 1650 Freestyle: Zalan Sarkany, Indiana (14:23.85)
- 200 Medley Relay: Florida (1:20.03)
- 800 Freestyle Relay: Texas (6:06.24)
Thursday, March 26
- 100 Butterfly: Josh Liendo, Florida (43.06)
- 400 IM: Baylor Nelson, Texas (3:34.83)
- 200 Freestyle: Koby Bujak-Upton, Tennessee (1:30.77)
- 100 Breaststroke: Nate Germonprez, Texas (49.71)
- 200 Freestyle Relay: Arizona State (1:12.98)
Friday, March 27
- 100 Backstroke: Will Modglin, Texas (43.26)
- 200 Breaststroke: Yamato Okadome, Cal (1:48.87)
- 500 Freestyle: Rex Maurer, Texas (4:08.46)
- 50 Freestyle: Josh Liendo, Florida & Ilya Kharun, Arizona State (18.40)
- 400 Medley Relay: Arizona State (2:57.48)
Saturday, March 28
- 200 IM: Owen McDonald, Indiana (1:40.11)
- 100 Freestyle: Jere Hribar, LSU (40.42)
- 200 Butterfly: Luca Urlando, Georgia (1:36.41)
- 200 Backstroke: Jonny Marshall, Florida (1:36.38)
- 400 Freestyle Relay: Arizona State (2:42.15)
