California, Georgia in Tight Battle after Day Two Prelims at Women’s NCAA Championships

Smoliga,O.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Editorial content for the NCAA Division I Championships is sponsored by Nike Swim. For full Swimming World coverage, check out our coverage page.

By David Rieder

GREENSBORO − California had a huge second morning at the women’s NCAA Championships, placing 12 individual swimmers into the evening finals, including eight A-finalists. Georgia, however, held tough, picking up seven individual spots in the evening session, and the Bulldogs even broke serve against the Golden Bears based on psych sheet projections.

In a meet where time drops are the exception rather than the norm, steady drops across the board put Georgia in a position to score 32 more points than their original psych sheet projection. Hali Flickinger (second) and Amber McDermott (fifth) got into the championship final of the 400 IM, and teammate Olivia Smoliga joined them as a championship finalist in the 100 back.

However, the Bulldogs will have trouble improving too much on these projections, thanks to a pair of ninth-place finishes. Lauren Harrington (100 fly) and Jordan Mattern (200 free) each missed a spot in the championship heat by one spot, which means they can go nowhere but down from there.

Cal, meanwhile, is projected to earn four points less than their psych sheet projection during day two finals, but one major miss will hurt them significantly: Celina Li, the sixth-seed in the 400 IM (and the sixth-place finisher in the 200 IM on Thursday) added more than five seconds from her seed time to finish 20th in prelims.

They should still score upwards of 200 points in finals (not including the 800 free relay), and the Bears should cash in in both the 200 free and 100 back finals. Missy Franklin, Cierra Runge, and Caroline Piehl all qualified for the championship heat of the 200, while Rachel Bootsma, Melanie Klaren, and Elizabeth Pelton will score big points in the dorsal.

Despite the Bears’ best efforts, what was a 140-point cushion on the psych sheet now projects (based on the psych sheet for tomorrow’s events) just 43 points between the Bears and the Bulldogs. The relays tonight should be key; Cal is seeded one spot (second) ahead of Georgia (third) in the 200 medley, while they are also 1-2 in the 800 free relay, though the Bears have a five second-advantage on the psych sheet.

Stanford had a rough morning after their 200 medley relay failed to qualify for the championship final. Coach Greg Meehan rested Simone Manuel, last night’s hero in the 400 medley, in prelims, but the move backfired. They will have A-finalists, however, in Manuel and Lia Neal in the 200 free, and in top seed Sarah Haase in the 100 breast. The Cardinal appears safe for third place in the team race.

Despite getting Sarah Henry into finals as the top seed in the 400 IM (up from fourth on the psych sheet), the Texas A&M Aggies had a rough morning, losing 21 points from their pre-meet projection. The big blow came in the 100 fly, where Beryl Gastaldello, the second seed behind new American record-holder Kelsi Worrell, ended up 17th overall.

Worrell’s Louisville Cardinals, meanwhile, continued their climb towards a top-five finish when they took the top seed in the 200 medley relay with a half second drop from their seed time. Louisville outperformed their seed projections by 11 points this morning.

Virginia, meanwhile, dropped 8 points from their psych sheet projections, but they did get Leah Smith (eighth, 200 free), Laura Simon (third, 100 breast), and Courtney Bartholomew (first, 100 back) into A-finals. The Cavaliers also will get top-eight points in the 200 medley relay, and they should be battling Louisville and Texas A&M for the last two spots in the top five.

Team Performance vs. Psych Sheet, Day Two Prelims

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Team, Day Two, Overall
Cal, -4, -5
Georgia, +32, +88
Stanford, -14, +9
Virginia, -8, -53
Texas A&M, -21, +2.5
Louisville, +11, +45
Florida, -6, -42
USC, -16, -14
Tennessee, -3, 3
Texas, +26,+ 33

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