NCAA A-Cuts Roll In At Invites Nationwide

By Lauren Sampl, Swimming World intern

BOULDER, Colorado, November 22. SIX major invitationals highlighted this weekend's college swimming action, with many swimmers reaping the rewards of their hard fall training with NCAA A and B cut times. Swimmers from Stanford, Texas A&M, Louisiana State, and North Carolina established themselves as the nation's best as the fall semester comes to a close. Here's a look at the major invites.

Arena Invite

Stanford rocked the competition to easily win the Arena Invite, hosted by UC San Diego. Freshman Maya DiRado posted three NCAA A cuts, winning the 200 IM (1:56.28), 400 IM (4:03.73) and 200 back (1:52.04). Betsy Webb (50 free, 22.26; 100 back, 52.76), Kate Dwelley (200 free, 1:45.24; 100 free, 48.58), Liz Smith (100 breast, 1:00.53; 200 breast, 2:09.41), and Andie Taylor (500 free, 4:40.91; 200 fly, 1:56.86) also won two events apiece for the Cardinal women.

Matt Thompson (400 IM, 3:48.90; 200 back, 1:43.40), John Criste (100 breast, 53.37; 200 breast, 1:57.60) and Bobby Bollier (500 free, 4:14.42; 100 fly, 47.84; 200 fly, 1:43.77) all won multiple events each to pace the Stanford men to victory.

Georgia Tech Invite

The Texas A&M women roared to victory at the Georgia Tech Invite, scoring 1735.50 points to beat out second place Florida State (1045.50 points) and a host of other schools, including the defending NCAA champion Florida Gators.

A pair of Aggie freshmen, Sarah Henry and Breeja Larson, had outstanding swims to lead the A&M women to victory. Henry won the 500 free (4:41.08, B cut) and 400 IM (4:06.66, A cut), while Larson raced to wins in the 100 breast (1:00.03, B cut) and 200 breast (2:11.38, B cut). Elizabeth Beisel (400 IM, 4:06.84, A cut; 200 back, 1:54.40, B cut) and Sarah Bateman (50 free, 22.41, B cut; 100 free, 49.29, B cut) had strong swims for the Gator women.

Florida State took the men's crown over the Gator men with 1,398 points. Mark Weber put up an impressive swim for the Seminoles in the 50 free, winning in a B cut time of 19.83. Rob Holderness and Mateo de Angulo also swam well for Florida State. Conor Dwyer led the Florida men with wins in the 200 IM (1:45.52, B cut), 400 IM (3:45.21, B cut), and 200 free (1:36.16, B cut).

Purdue Invite

The Purdue men and Arkansas women were victorious at the Purdue Invitational.
Ben Wachtel of Purdue won the 200 free in 1:39.29 and 100 free in 44.92, while teammate Andrew Starr took the 500 free in 4:26.69. David Boudia won all three diving events contested, scoring 415.10 points on the 1 meter, 502.65 points on 3 meter, and 524.20 points on the platform.

Jamie Marks (400 IM, 4:15.29) and Chelsea Franklin (500 free, 4:42.43; 1650 free, 16:11.63) both won events to pace the Arkansas women to victory.

Louisville got two wins apiece from Therese Bergstrom in the 100 breast (1:01.07) and 200 breast (2:12.07), Megan Detro in the 50 free (22.90) and 100 free (49.22), and Krissie Brandenburg in the 100 back (54.04) and 200 back (1:57.32).

Cougar Classic

Louisiana State took home first place at the annual Cougar Classic, hosted by the University of Houston. Southern Methodist finished runner up, while the host Cougars rounded out the top three teams.

Jane Trepp of LSU won four events for the lady Tigers, nearly recording A cuts in each of her races. Trepp posted B cuts in winning the 50 free (22.16), 100 fly (52.11), 100 breast (1:00.70), and 100 free (48.85).

SMU had several swimmers post impressive times as well. Therese Svendsen won a trio of events for the Mustangs, taking the 200 IM (2:00.04, B cut), the 100 back (53.70, B cut), and the 200 back (1:56.22, B cut). Nina Rangelova won the 500 free in a B cut time of 4:45.69 and the 200 free in 1:46.20, also a B cut.

Nike Cup

North Carolina's men's and women's teams swam to victory at the Nike Cup, hosted at their home pool. Duke and South Carolina finished second and third in the women's meet, while Navy and South Carolina rounded out the top three men's teams.

Joe Kinderwater (1650 free, 14:52.93), Steve Cebertowicz (100 free, 43.80) and Tom Luchsinger (200 fly, 1:45.10) of North Carolina all posted NCAA B cuts en route to wins. Rebecca Kane (100 free, 49.24) and Candace Cooper (200 back, 1:56.56) posted speedy times for the Tar Heel women.

South Carolina's Amanda Rutqvist smoked the 200 breast, nearly clearing the A cut with a 2:10.35 effort. Arni Arnason of ODU posted a quick 1:57.87 to win the men's 200 breast.

TYR Invite

The Northwestern Wildcats scored 1,155 points en route to a team victory over Cleveland State, Kenyon, University of Illinois-Carbondale, North Dakota and Iowa State.

Alex Tyler led the way for the Wildcat men with victories in four individual events: 400 IM (3:51.63), 100 back (49.71), 200 IM (1:46.57), and 200 breast (2:02.14). Alexandria Kraus (100 fly, 55.42), Kathleen Patterson (200 IM, 2:03.88) and Jackie Powell (200 free, 1:48.52; 100 free, 50.52) picked up wins for the Wildcat women.

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