Stanford Falls Out of Hunt, Texas Still Battling Cal on Day 3 Prelims at NCAA's

There were a ton of close finishes in prelims on Day 3. Between Texas and Cal, they finished 8th in 3 out of the 4 individual events, and another favorite, Tom Shields in the 200 fly, finished 6th. All four of those swimmers will be much better tonight, and 3 still have a great chance at winning titles. The big swing events tonight will be the 200 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle. Texas will need to shut down Cal in head-to-head battles there to have a chance.

For Stanford, Chad La Tourette will have to hold off Texas’s top two in the mile, though not having David Mosko (shoulder injury) will hurt there. They are consistent throughout the day, unlike Cal and Texas who both have weak events, but don’t have any divers with which to hold off the Longhorns.

Breakdown of tonight:

(*Update* Texas’ Will Chandler didn’t final, and Livingston made the A, cutting down their diving points and comeback potential significantly)

200 backstroke

This 200 back is Eric Ress’ specialty event, and even though at Big Ten’s it didn’t seem that way (he swam it while still sort of digesting his broken hand), and so his 1:39.52 to take the top overall seed wasn’t really a surprise. But it was still a phenomenal prelims swim, and was a full-second ahead of Florida’s Marco Loughran for 2nd, and Arizona’s Cory Chitwood (who was right next to him in prelims) is 3rd.

In team scoring battles, Stanford got two swimmers into the A-final, and Cal got 2 into the B-final. Texas has 1 in the A and 1 in the B, and one in between with Cole Cragin forced into a swim-off against Auburn’s Kyle Owens to see who goes up and who goes down. That could be huge for Texas’ hopes to make a comeback against Cal.

(Update, Cragin won the swim-off giving Texas two in the A-final. Click the link for details)

100 freestyle

This race was an absolute nail-biter for Cal. Nathan Adrian swam a 42.39 in the final heat of the 100 free, and you could hear the pencils scribbling across the country trying to see if he made it. Adrian was expected to challenge the NCAA Record in this race, but was just a hair out of not making the A-final. And there were plenty of swimmers who could’ve made the difference (like Florida’s Brett Fraser, Virginia’s Scot Robison, and UNC’s Steve Cebertowicz). But as it was, the cards fell into place, and Adrian is still in the hunt. But he’ll need to well outplace his 8th seed in finals for Cal to feel satisfied. His teammate Graeme Moore also earned a spot in the A-final.

And they needed both of those spots, because Texas had two up, with 2nd seed Jimmy Feigen (42.01) and 4th seed Dax Hill (42.28). This is a key “battleground race” between those two teams. Stanford earned one swimmer in the A-final (Austin Staab), and two into the B-final, though they probably hoped to have one of those jump into the A.

Only one swimmer was under 42 in prelims, and that was Auburn’s Adam Brown. I expect this whole final to be way faster in finals, and Brown gave Adrian a run for his money in the 50. This race is on epic upset alert.

The home team Minnesota scratched three of their 4 swimmers, and the other one, Curt Carlson, failed to final. It’s not clear what the thought process was on that, besides focusing on the final relay.

200 breaststroke

Texas probably figured that they were good for two A-finalists in this 200 breaststroke (though not knowing which two), but 3 is a dream come true for Eddie Reese. Nick D’Innocenzo and Eric Friedland were seeded 1-2 after prelims (1:53.46 and 1:53.58, respectively). Just like Adrian in the 100 free, Scott Spann was a favorite who barely made the A-final with an 8th seed.

This race is going to be a huge showdown between the contending teams. Besides Texas’ 3, Cal got two into the A-final, Martti Aljand and Damir Dugonjic. Dugonjic was great to see, because despite his absolute domination in the 100 breaststroke, he didn’t even make the B-final in this 200 last year. This season, he’s seeded 5th in 1:54.07. Aljand is 3rd. Stanford also got one up with Curtis Lovelace seeded 4th.

Though Texas got 3 in the A, Cal supplemented their 2 with the top two B-finalists: Trevor Hoyt and Nolan Koon. There’s going to be a lot of place shuffling in the A-final, but the two teams should end up about even on scoring in this event. Stanford only has 1 scorer, and will probably fall off of the pace a little bit after this event.

Auburn’s Adam Klein, who was 3rd in this event last season, placed 17th in the morning to miss a second swim. This season has been a bit of a disappointment for him.

200 butterfly

This race was yet another nail-biter for the contenders. Cal’s Tom Shields, who broke the NCAA Record in prelims. He ended up taking 6th in 1:43.25, which left him in the top 8 by just a few tenths.

The top seed went to Stanford’s Bobby Bollier, who is a National Teamer in this event and has been having a great meet, in 1:41.63. Mark Dylla, who’s the ultimate bridesmaid in this event, was appropriately 2nd in 1:42.15, and Michigan’s Dan Madwed was 3rd in 1:42.40. This is really a loaded final with a lot of big-name butterfliers, including 4 out of the top-10 best performers in history. We know Shields will be much better than a 1:43 in finals (I’d be shocked if he was any slower than a 1:41.5), but all 4 of those guys easily have the potential to win this race.

400 free relay

Cal had a few scares earlier in this session, but in this 400 free relay they didn’t mess around. Adrian only led of in a 42.19, probably saving something for his two big swims tonight, but Graeme Moore split a 41.96, and Cal touched in 2:49.61 to take the top overall seed in finals tonight.

Auburn will be next to them in lane 5 tonight, thanks to a 2:49.73 and a race-best 41.16 anchor from Adam Brown. USC had four solid splits (though none under 42) to take the third seed in 2:50.86, and Texas (with a 41.75 Dax Hill anchor) is 4th in 2:51.10. This is significant because it keeps the Longhorns separated by a lane in tonight’s final, which could be psychologically important.

Virginia is 5th, and Minnesota’s strategy to scratch three of their four 100 freestylers paid off with a 6th-place finish. For what it’s worth, Michael Richards’ 42.95 leadoff would’ve made the B-final, but making that A-final ultimately should be worth more points. Stanford shockingly didn’t make the A-final, after a 12th-place finish in 2:52.83, which should officially take them out of contention for the top 2.