NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas Successful in Saturday Prelims, Poised to Pull Away From Florida
Back-to-back wins Friday evening put Florida into the lead at the NCAA Men’s Championships. Ahmed Hafnaoui and Ahmed Jaouadi finished 1-2 in the 500 freestyle before Josh Liendo grabbed first in the 50 free. That win would be short-lived, however, as Texas jumped back in front following 3-meter diving and the 400 medley relay. The advantage stood at 9.5 points entering the final day of competition.
The Longhorns were under pressure entering Saturday morning, and the team delivered with the results needed in the qualifying heats. Texas placed three swimmers into championship finals as Baylor Nelson and Will Modglin are in the mix in the 200 IM while Hubert Kos remains the huge title favorite in the 200 backstroke. But just as critically, Texas had six swimmers finish between ninth and 16th place. There are no consolation finals this year, but those swimmers still score.
Campbell McKean and Nate Germonprez placed ninth and 14th, respectively, in the 200 IM. Garrett Gould snuck into the 100 free scoring in 14th position. Kyle Peck got 13th and Cooper Lucas 14th in the 200 butterfly before Rex Maurer moved up to 11th in the 200 back. That’s an additional 25 points guaranteed to the Texas scorecard in the evening session in addition to the team’s A-final swims.
Compare that with Florida, which has only two scoring swims Saturday. Josh Liendo will be favored in the 100 free, and Jonny Marshall goes in the 200 back final. Platform diving is still to be adjudicated, but it’s nearly impossible to see the Gators outscoring Texas or even coming close. The final day was always going to be a challenge with the team’s distance group finished for the meet, but these results essentially sealed the deal.
The best morning overall belonged to the Indiana Hoosiers, who should pull away from Arizona State to finish in third place. Indiana’s Owen McDonald took first in 200 IM qualifying, and freshmen Noah Cakir and Josh Bey joined McDonald in the final. Additionally, Raekwon Noel made it to the final in the 200 fly, as did Kai Van Westering in the 200 back, and Mikkel Lee got a point for 16th place in the 100 free.
The Sun Devils, on the contrary, will only have two finalists, Jonny Kulow in the 100 free and Ilya Kharun in the 200 fly. Remi Fabiani ended up ninth in the 100 free, limiting his ability to move up. ASU will be favored in the 400 free relay, but Indiana should have the spot locked up by then.
Fifth place should come down to Tennessee and NC State. The Volunteers have two finalists, Gui Caribe in the 100 free and Nick Simons in the 200 back, while NC State got three up, Daniel Diehl and Arsenio Bustos in the 200 IM plus Quintin McCarty in the 100 free. Michigan, with just one finalist, will not have enough to catch those two, and Cal should fall back from its current sixth place. The Golden Bears got 10 individual points from prelims before posting the top morning time in the 400 free relay, but they are done for the meet.
Finally, a huge morning for Virginia guaranteed the Cavaliers a return to the top-10, with an outside chance at moving as high as eighth place. Maximus Williamson is a title contender in the 200 IM, and fellow freshman Thomas Heilman could contend in the 200 fly. A 2-3 finish for David King and Jack Aikins in the 200 back finished off the team’s individual swims in the morning, and then those four swimmers combined to swim the second-best 400 free relay.
Day 4 Prelims Up-Downs
- Indiana 5-1
- Virginia 4-0
- Texas 3-6
- NC State 3-2
- Arizona State 2-1
- Tennessee 2-1
- Florida 2-0
- Michigan 1-3
- Arizona 1-1
- Georgia 1-1
- Princeton 1-1
- Virginia Tech 1-1
- Alabama 1-0
- Florida State 1-0
- LSU 1-0
- Auburn 1-0
- Minnesota 1-0
- Pitt 1-0
- Stanford 0-3
- Cal 0-2
- Louisville 0-2
- North Carolina 0-2
- Ohio State 0-2
- Missouri 0-1
- USC 0-1
- SMU 0-1
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 15 1. Texas 340.5 2. Florida 331 3. Indiana 254 4. Arizona St 245 5. Tennessee 199 6. California 186 7. NC State 175.5 8. Michigan 163 9. Virginia 110 10. Stanford 95 11. Louisville 72 12. Virginia Tech 67 13. Ohio St 63 14. Kentucky 52 14. Southern California 52 16. Georgia 50.5 17. Miami (Fl) 46 18. Auburn 44 19. Smu 41 20. Northwestern 29 20. UNC 29 20. Lsu 29 23. Alabama 27 24. Princeton 25 24. Florida St 25 26. Missouri 20 27. Pittsburgh 19 27. Wisconsin 19 29. Army 17.5 30. Yale 17 30. Utah 17 30. Georgia Tech 17 33. Notre Dame 16 34. Delaware 12 35. Purdue 10 36. Harvard 9 37. Texas A&M 8 38. IU Indianapolis 6 39. Penn St 5 40. Arizona 2
