NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Day Three Prelims

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AUBURN, Alabama, March 17. DAY three is underway at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, as California is looking to secure its third team title in four years.

200 back
Florida's Elizabeth Beisel posted the top time in the morning with a 1:51.44, but has much more in the tank. She'll be gunning for both Gemma Spofforth's NCAA record (1:48.34) and Elizabeth Pelton's American record (1:49.16) tonight. Beisel's top time is a fourth-ranked 1:49.82 from the Southeastern Conference Championships earlier this year. Beisel will also look to give Florida its sixth triumph in the event's history. Previous winners are Kristen Linehan (1989, 90) and Spofforth (2007, 08, 09).

Missouri's Dominique Bouchard placed second in 1:51.91, while Arizona's Sarah Denninghoff qualified third out of earlier heats with a 1:52.85. Virginia's Meredith Cavalier (1:52.89), Florida's Teresa Cripepn (1:52.92), Notre Dame's Kelly Ryan (1:53.67), Stanford's Maya DiRado (1:53.80) and Virginia's Ellen Williamson (1:53.82) completed the top eight.

Georgia's Kelsey Gaid (1:53.87), Georgia's Kristen Shickora (1:54.02), SMU's Therese Svendsen (1:54.30), California's Melanie Klaren (1:54.31), Texas' Katie Riefenstahl (1:54.35), Minnesota's Tess Behrens (1:54.36), Ohio State's Emily Creran (1:54.63) and Maryland's Virginia Glover (1:54.64) comprised the consolation heat. California's Cindy Tran paid for an aggressive strategy, going out under American and NCAA record pace with a 53.56 at the 100 before falling to 18th with a 1:54.83.

Florida and Virginia both went two up in the event, while Georgia should pick up a few points on California with two down compared to the Golden Bears' one.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Florida (29.5), Virginia (29.5), Missouri (14.75), Arizona (14.75), Notre Dame (14.75), Stanford (14.75), Georgia (9.25), SMU (4.625), California (4.625), Texas (4.625), Minnesota (4.625), Ohio State (4.625), Maryland (4.625)

100 free
Georgia's Megan Romano continued her career meet with a remarkable time of 47.05. That swim vaulted her to third all time in the event's history behind only Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (46.61) and Natalie Coughlin (46.84). Her swim is the 11th fastest performance ever. Romano will be looking to break the tie between Stanford and Georgia for the most 100 free titles in NCAA history, as both have won seven in the past. Courtney Shealy (2000), Maritza Correia (2002, 03) and Kara Lynn Joyce (2004, 05, 06, 07) were the previous Bulldog victors in the event.

Arizona's Margo Geer qualified second in 47.22, bettering her lifetime best of 47.32 from December of last year. She jumped up to sixth all time in the event behind Dana Vollmer, and just ahead of Kara Lynn Joyce. Both Geer and Romano cleared Correia's pool record of 47.29 from her 2003 NCAA title triumph.

Texas' Karlee Bispo (47.58), Auburn's Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (47.62), California's Liv Jensen (47.71), Stanford's Andrea Murez (47.82), Missouri's Shara Stafford (48.01) and Stanford's Madeline Schaefer (48.29) completed the championship field.

Stanford's Elizabeth Webb (48.36), Georgia's Madeline Locus (48.48), Arizona State's Shannon Landgrebe (48.48), Florida's Sarah Bateman (48.49), Georgia's Shannon Vreeland (48.49), Stanford's Samantha Woodward (48.56), Wisconsin's Rebecca Thompson (48.58) and Tennessee's Caroline Simmons (48.68) snared the consolation transfer spots.

With four total scoring qualifiers, Stanford will make some serious noise with nearly 40 points coming from the event. Georgia will look to pick up some valuable points on California with three total qualifiers, while Cal picked up just one.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Stanford (38.75), Georgia (24), Arizona (14.75), Texas (14.75), Auburn (14.75), California (14.75), Missouri (14.75), Arizona State (4.625), Florida (4.625), Wisconsin (4.625), Tennessee (4.625)

200 breast
Utilizing a wicked final 50 split of 32.37, California's Caitlin Leverenz clocked a 2:06.79 to pace prelims after setting an American record in the 400 IM last night. That swim is well off her second-ranked personal best of 2:05.49 from the Pacific 12 Championships last month, indicating that Leverenz has a legitimate shot to rattle Rebecca Soni's American, U.S. Open and NCAA record of 2:04.75 from 2009. Leverenz hopes to be just the second Golden Bear to win the event, joining Hiroko Nagasaki's 2:11.65 winning swim in 1988.

Texas A&M's Breeja Larson, fresh off an American record in the 100 breast last night, qualified second with a 2:07.23. She had a front-half strategy that included going out in 28.74, under American record pace. Her best time is a sixth-ranked 2:06.18 from NCAAs last year.

Louisville's Gissell Kohoyda qualified third in 2:08.49, while George Mason's Ashley Danner (2:08.53) placed fourth. Minnesota's Haley Spencer, the defending champion, qualified fifth in 2:08.75, while Texas' Laura Sogar (2:09.04), Indiana's Allysa Vavra (2:09.06) and Southern California's Stina Gardell (2:09.28) rounded out the A final.

Georgia's Michelle McKeehan (2:09.29), Georgia's Jana Mangimelli (2:09.77), South Carolina's Amanda Rutqvist (2:09.82), Purdue's Emily Fogle (2:09.84), Notre Dame's Emma Reaney (2:09.90), Southern California's Jessica Schmitt (2:09.91), Georgia's Melanie Margalis (2:10.39) and Florida's Hilda Luthersdottir (2:10.59) will compete for team points in the consolation heat.

Southern California's one up, one down will yield some strong points, while Georgia's three consolation qualifiers will try to counter Leverenz' major A final points.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Southern California (19.375), California (14.75), Texas A&M (14.75), Louisville (14.75), George Mason (14.75), Minnesota (14.75), Texas (14.75), Indiana (14.75), Georgia (13.875), South Carolina (4.625), Purdue (4.625), Notre Dame (4.625), Florida (4.625)

200 fly
Katinka Hosszu, the defending champion from Southern California, cruised to the top seed in 1:52.84. She has much more potential for speed this evening, owning six of the top 15 times all time, including a third-ranked personal best of 1:51.02. She will be gunning for Elaine Breeden's NCAA and U.S. Open standard of 1:49.92, as well as defending her title.

Texas A&M's Cammile Adams qualified second in 1:53.76, and will look for the upset this evening to give the Aggies a third NCAA titlist this meet. California's Sara Isakovic (1:54.71), Southern California's Tanya Krisman (1:54.72), Tennessee's Kelsey Floyd (1:54.75), Florida's Teresa Crippen (1:54.79), Arizona's Alyssa Anderson (1:54.90) and Texas A&M's Caroline McElhany (1:55.15) placed third through eighth.

Texas A&M's Rita Medrano (1:55.33), West Virginia's Amanda Nugent (1:55.50), UCLA's Yasi Jahanshahi (1:55.54), Louisville's Tanya Kylliainen (1:55.62), California's Shelley Harper (1:55.63), Virginia's Alison Haulsee (1:56.55), Southern California's Amanda Smith (1:56.68) and Penn State's Chelsea Weedman (1:56.85) all made the consolation heat.

Southern California and Texas A&M are looking at monster events, with both teams going two up and one down, while California will counter a Georgia push as the Bulldogs have zero qualifiers against Cal's two.

Heading into the relay, California went three up, two down for the day, while Georgia went one up, seven down. Even with Georgia's two milers likely scoring big points, California's 64-point lead is likely too much for Georgia to overcome this evening, barring a disqualification along the way.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Southern California (34.125), Texas A&M (34.125), California (19.375), Tennessee (14.75), Florida (14.75), Arizona (14.75), West Virginia (4.625), UCLA (4.625), Louisville (4.625), Virginia (4.625), Penn State (4.625)

400 free relay
Powered by an easy speed 46.71 anchor leg from Megan Romano, Georgia's Madeline Locus, Shannon Vreeland and Melanie Margalis earned the top seed with a 3:12.74. The foursome will look to defend Georgia's 2011 title, and give the Bulldogs a sixth victory in the 400 free relay all time. Previous triumphs also came in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Stanford's Madeline Schaefer, Andrea Murez, Felicia Lee and Elizabeth Webb finished second in 3:13.46, while Arizona's Kaitlyn Flederbach, Margo Geer, Emma Darlington and Monica Drake placed third in 3:13.65. California's Kaylin Bing, Katherine Raatz, Camille Cheng and Liv Jensen posted a safe fourth-seeded time of 3:13.80 to keep doing the work needed to bring home the team title safely.

Auburn (3:14.07), Tennessee (3:14.74), Texas (3:14.83) and Southern California (3:14.88) also made the championship heat.

Florida (3:15.72), Minnesota (3:15.86), Penn State (3:16.16), Wisconsin (3:16.33), SMU (3:16.64), Texas A&M (3:16.86), Missouri (3:17.02) and Virginia (3:17.68) earned the consolation heat spots.

Platform Diving
Tennessee's Victoria Lamp put up the day that the Lady Volunteers have been looking for ever since recruiting the NISCA High School Diver of the Year two years ago. Lamp lit up the crowd with several 10s being doled out by the judges throughout her preliminary list, securing 350.45 points in qualifying. Lamp redshirted her freshman year of 2009-10 due to injury and illness, and lost most of her second year due to a shoulder surgery. She is looking to join Kathy Pesek (1998) as the only other Lady Vol Platform NCAA Champion.

Lamp will have some serious competition as 2010 champion Chen Ni of IUPUI qualified second with 334.15 points. She won in 2010 with a lesser tally of 325.50. Indiana's Amy Cozad (319.30), Arizona State's Elina Eggers (301.60), North Carolina State's Hannah Hopkins (299.80), Florida State's Katrina Young (295.10), California's Kahley Rowell (289.40) and Virginia Tech's Kaylea Arnett (284.40) will compete this evening in the championship finale.

USC's Victoria Ishimatsu (282.05), Virginia Tech's Kelli Stockton (275.00), Auburn's Vennie Dantin (273.40), Indiana's Laura Ryan (271.65), Auburn's Anna Aguero (257.65), Texas A&M's Janie Potvin (254.50), Minnesota's Margaret Keefer (252.90) and Texas' Diana Wilcox (244.60) will compete in the consolation finale.

California's Rowell will give crucial points in salting away her team's title defense this evening with Rowell's championship final points.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Indiana (19.375), Virginia Tech (19.375), Tennessee (14.75), IUPUI (14.75), Arizona State (14.75), North Carolina State (14.75), Florida State (14.75), California (14.75), Auburn (9.25), Southern California (4.625), Texas A&M (4.625), Minnesota (4.625), Texas (4.625)

* Average Scoring Projections based on the average points allotted to an A finalist (14.75) and a B finalist (4.625).

Editorial coverage of all NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships is brought to you by our sponsor Colorado Time Systems.

Swimming World's NCAA Division I Women's Championships Notes Package Sponsored by NISCA

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