The #2 recruit in the country Bonnie Brandon out of Colorado has chosen her college, and for a change, a top-5 recruit has chosen a school that wasn’t Cal. Brandon will be headed to another Pac-10 school, the University of Arizona.
This is the first big test for the recruiting draw of new Arizona coach Eric Hansen, who in the spring took over for the legendary Frank Busch. It’s no surprise that his recruiting rang loudest with the women’s recruits first, given his success with the Wisconsin women.
Brandon is one of those freestylers who will excel from the 50 all the way to the mile. She goes 23.0/49.6 in the sprint freestyles, though with the incredibly young Arizona freestyle crew, even those times will be a battle to get her on a shorter relay.
Into the 200, she’s got a best of 1:46.83 that should put her in good position to take over the spot that will be vacated by Alyssa Anderson’s graduation and keep the momentum going.
But it’s the longer freestyles where she’s got a chance to be really special. She’s got a 4:38.69 in the 500 free and a best of 16:02.80 in the 1650 free. Those two races would have combined for 23 individual points at last year’s NCAA Championships, including a 6th in the 500 free, and should enter college as an immediate top-three contender in that race as a freshman.
She’s also a very good backstroker, with bests of 53.42/1:53.82 in those two races, and could probably score in either of those as a freshman as well.
Aside from her big times, looking at Brandon’s “soft” accomplishments raises her wow-factor even further. At the 2010 Jr. Pan Pac Championships, she took silver in the 200 back and 6th in the 1500 free. She’s also the former 13-14 yards National Age Group Record holder, and placed 3rd at the 2011 USA Swimming National Championships in that same 200 backstroke. Her likely schedule as a freshman will be the 500 free, the 1650 free, and the 200 back.
She swims for the Mission Aurora club team and from Cherry Creek High School. For those who follow college sports of all types, Cherry Creek is famous for producing a ridiculous number of elite athletes, including 6-time Olympic gold medalist Amy van Dyken. Among her high school teammates is Jordan Mattern, who is starting her freshman year at Georgia this fall.
Interesting choice. I always thought of Arizona as a ‘sprinting’ school. I find it very impressive that hansencanland one of the top recruits in his first year!! I thought for sure that Brandon would’ve chose somewhere like Georgia, or USC. But arizonas 800 free relay is gunna be monster with her!!!