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

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AUBURN, Alabama, March 16. WITH defending champions California staked to a 132-118 lead over Stanford after day one, the second day of preliminary qualifying is underway at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

200 medley relay
California's Cindy Tran, Caitlin Leverenz, Colleen Fotsch and Liv Jensen nearly tracked down the NCAA record with a blazing time of 1:35.16 to top qualifying. Cal's 1:35.03 from last year by the same foursome stands as the American, U.S. Open and NCAA standard. The Golden Bears are looking to defend their title from last year, and give Cal its third title ever in the event. Haley Cope, Staciana Stitts, Waen Minpraphal and Joscelin Yeo won the short course meter version of the event in 2000 with a 1:49.23.

Texas A&M's Tess Simpson, Breeja Larson, Paige Miller and Erica Dittmer powered through to a second-seeded time of 1:35.71, with Larson turning in a swift 26.40 breaststroke leg.

Tennessee's Jenny Connolly, Molly Hannis, Kelsey Floyd and Caroline Simmons finished third in 1:35.75, and would claim their first title in the event in the program's history if they can pull off a victory this evening.

Arizona (1:35.97), Auburn (1:36.19), Southern California (1:36.97), Stanford (1:37.14) and Wisconsin (1:37.35) picked up the rest of the championship final spots.

Texas (1:37.72), Arizona State (1:37.85), Georgia (1:37.96), SMU (1:38.26), Ohio State (1:38.35), Minnesota (1:38.42), Penn State (1:38.58) and UCLA (1:38.85) earned the consolation heat spots. Missouri drew a disqualification.

400 IM
Florida's Elizabeth Beisel, the defending world champion in the 400-meter IM, reminded the world that she's still a legitimate threat even after yesterday's shocking disqualification in the 200-yard IM. Beisel threw down the gauntlet in the distance medley with a 4:01.57. She has plenty in the tank, as she owns the second-fastest time ever with a 3:58.35 from the Southeastern Conference Championships last month. She will be looking to secure Florida's seventh 400 IM title since Tracy Caulkins won the first three iterations from 1982 to 1984 for Florida. Mary Wayte (1985), Julie Gorman (1988) and Allison Wagner (1995) also have won the title for the Gators. Stanford currently owns the record for most team wins with seven.

Indiana's Allysa Vavra turned in a sterling time of 4:02.81 for the second seed. She's been a bit faster wtih a 4:01.41 from Big Tens, that ranks her eighth all time. She is looking to join Kate Fesenko (200 back) as the only Hoosiers to win a women's swimming NCAA title.

California's Caitlin Leverenz qualified third with a 4:04.04 after clocking a third-ranked 3:58.46 at the Pacific 12 Championships last month, while defending champion Katinka Hosszu qualified fourth in 4:04.63 after touching in 3:58.86 in December 2011 for fourth in the rankings behind Julia Smit's top-ranked 3:58.23.

Stanford's Maya DiRado (4:05.79), Florida's Teresa Crippen (4:05.99), Georgia's Jana Mangimelli (4:06.01) and Texas A&M's Cammile Adams (4:06.06) snagged the rest of the championships seeds.

Southern California's Stina Gardell (4:07.10), Georgia's Melanie Margalis(4:07.23), Georgia's Amber McDermott (4:08.23), Southern California's Meghan Hawthorne (4:08.43), North Carolina's Caroline Blalock (4:09.01), California's Shelley Harper (4:09.16), Florida's Jennie Smith (4:09.63) and Southern California's Tanya Krisman (4:09.79) made up the consolation finalists.

With two up and one down, Florida will gain the lion share of the points from the distance medley.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Florida (34.125), Southern California (28.625), Georgia (24), California (19.375), Indiana (14.75), Stanford (14.75), Texas A&M (14.75), North Carolina (4.625)

100 fly
Auburn had a big event, taking the top two spots in qualifying. Olivia Scott led qualifying in 51.46, while Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace placed second in 51.57. The duo will be looking to be Auburn's first NCAA titlist in the event since Mimi Bowen became the first and only with a 52.05 in 1997.

Tennessee's Jenny Connolly qualified third in 51.84, and will be hoping to return the title to Knoxville for the first time since Christine Magnusson captured the hardware with a 50.70 in 2008. Yale's Alex Forrester (51.95), Tennessee's Kelsey Floyd (52.05), California's Sara Isakovic (52.13), Arizona State's Carol Kuczynski (52.27) and Virginia Tech's Heather Savage (52.31) completed the A final field.

Stanford's Samantha Woodward (52.32), Michigan's Caitlin Dauw (52.34), UCLA's Yasi Jahanshahi (52.46), Texas A&M's Carol McElhany (52.49), California's Cindy Tran (52.49), UNLV's Kat Herrington (52.49), Alabama's Kristel Vourna (52.51) and Stanford's Felicia Lee (52.54) earned the consolation heat transfer spots.

Auburn and Tennessee will secure more than 20 points each after earning two big finalists.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Auburn (29.5), Tennessee (29.5), California (19.375), Yale (14.75), Arizona State (14.75), Virginia Tech (14.75), Stanford (9.25), Michigan (4.625), UCLA (4.625), Texas A&M (4.625), UNLV (4.625), Alabama (4.625)

200 free
Arizona's Alyssa Anderson clipped 1:43 with a top-seeded time of 1:42.91. That performance shot her up to eighth all time in the event's history, pushing the total sub 1:43 swimmers to nine. She will be looking to be the first Wildcat to win the event since Lacey Nymeyer topped the 2007 event with a 1:43.49. Other Arizona winners were Ashley Tappin (1995) and Sarah Tolar (2001, 2002).

Georgia's Shannon Vreeland placed second in 1:43.28, while teammate Megan Romano qualified third in 1:43.41 after clocking an anchor split last night of 46.07. That anchor is believed to be the fastest freestyle split of all time.

Stanford's Andrea Murez (1:43.52), Texas' Karlee Bispo (1:43.82), California's Liv Jensen (1:44.06), Arizona State's Shannon Landgrebe (1:44.35) and Tennessee's Lindsay Gendron (1:44.57) also earned spots in the championship field.

Georgia's Jordan Mattern (1:44.72), Missouri's Shara Stafford (1:44.72), California's Catherine Breed (1:44.72), Indiana's Margaux Farrell (1:44.74), California's Sara Isakovic (1:44.75), California's Caroline Piehl (1:44.79), SMU's Nina Rangelova (1:45.05) and Florida's Jamie Bohunicky (1:45.14) comprised the consolation field.

Georgia and California will amass some serious points after the 200 free with Georgia projected to clear 30 points and California nearly hitting 30.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Georgia (34.125), California (28.625), Arizona (14.75), Stanford (14.75), Texas (14.75), Arizona State (14.75), Tennessee (14.75), Missouri (4.625), Indiana (4.625), SMU (4.625), Florida (4.625)

100 breast
Texas A&M's Breeja Larson led qualifying with a 58.54, and will be looking to break Tara Kirk's American and U.S. Open record of 57.77 during finals. Larson already set the NCAA record at the Big 12 Championships last month with a sterling time of 57.92 during prelims, which is only the second sub 58 time in the history of the event. Ironically, Larson's prelim time of 58.54 today broke Kirk's pool record of 58.62 she used to win the NCAA event back in 2003 here in Auburn.

Larson is looking to become just the third Aggie to win an NCAA title as Alia Atkinson and Julia Wilkinson are the only other alums to win previously.

George Mason's Ashley Danner, already the 15th-fastest performer all time with a 59.06 from 2010, raced to second in 59.20. Arizona State's Rebecca Ejdervik (59.41) and Texas' Laura Sogar (59.43) qualified third and fourth.

Columbia's Catherine Meili (59.44), Georgia's Michelle McKeehan (59.57), Wisconsin's Ashley Wanland (59.58) and Northwestern's Jennifer Wilson (59.61) rounded out the top eight.

Southern California's Kasey Carlson (59.63), Notre Dame's Emma Reaney (59.88), Louisville's Gissel Kohoyda (1:00.02), Auburn's Abigail Duncan (1:00.07), Purdue's Emily Fogle (1:00.21), Florida's Hilda Luthersdottir (1:00.21), Toledo's Laura Lindsay (1:00.23) and Penn State's Merritt Krawczyk (1:00.23) made their way into the B final.

This event produced some definite parity as no team earned more than one spot in finals.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Texas A&M (14.75), George Mason (14.75), Arizona State (14.75), Texas (14.75), Columbia (14.75), Georgia (14.75), Wisconsin (14.75), Northwestern (14.75), Southern California (4.625), Notre Dame (4.625), Louisville (4.625), Auburn (4.625), Purdue (4.625), Florida (4.625), Toledo (4.625), Penn State (4.625).

100 back
California's Cindy Tran, who won the 2011 title with a 51.30, posted the 13th-fastest effort all time with a 50.83 for the top seed heading into tonight. She will be looking to break the tie between California and Stanford with six 100 back victories each. Marylyn Chang (1999) and Natalie Coughlin (2001, 02, 03, 04) are previous Golden Bear victors.

Arizona's Sarah Denninghoff qualified second in 51.33 to move to seventh all time in the event's history, while Georgia's Megan Romano picked up third in 51.67 to tie for 15th all time. Texas A&M's Paige Miller (51.78), Tennessee's Jenny Connolly (51.92), Stanford's Elizabeth Webb (51.97), Georgia's Kristen Shickora (52.26) and SMU's Therese Svendsen (52.28) qualified fourth through eighth.

Wyoming's Kelsey Conci (52.36), Missouri's Dom Bouchard (52.37), Arizona's Lauren Smart (52.38), Stanford's Felicia Lee (52.42), Richmond's Lauren Hines (52.59), Virginia's Charlotte Clarke (52.64), California's Stephanie Au (52.69), and California's Melanie Klaren (52.85) completed the consolation heat field.

Georgia and California will make moves in the team race with both teams qualifying multiple finalists.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Georgia (29.5), California (24), Arizona (19.375), Stanford (19.375), Texas A&M (14.75), Tennessee (14.75), SMU (14.75), Wyoming (4.625), Missouri (4.625), Richmond (4.625), Virginia (4.625)

Three-meter
Texas A&M's Jaele Patrick posted the top tally in the afternoon with 358.25 points. She, along with Breeja Larson, will be looking to join Alia Atkinson and Julia Wilkinson as the only other Aggie NCAA titlists.

Ohio State's Bianca Alvarez placed second with 357.00 points, while USC's Victoria Ishimatsu earned third with 355.55 points. Arizona State's Elina Eggers (341.10), South Carolina's Courtney Forcucci (336.85), Indiana's Laura Ryan (328.50), Auburn's Vennie Dantin (326.50) and Arizona's Samantha Pickens (325.75) made up the rest of the championship field.

Tennessee's Jodie McGroarty (316.20), Michigan's Amanda Lohman (313.50), Minnesota's Margaret Keefer (313.00), Miami's Kara McCormack (312.00), Virginia Tech's Logan Kline (311.00), Miami's Thea Vock (307.35), LSU's Alexandra Bettridge (306.30) and Connecticut's Danielle Cecco (303.75) will dive in the consolation final.

Average Scoring Projections For Event*:
Texas A&M (14.75), Ohio State (14.75), Southern California (14.75), Arizona State (14.75), South Carolina (14.75), Indiana (14.75), Auburn (14.75), Arizona (14.75), Miami (9.25), Tennessee (4.625), Michigan (4.625), Minnesota (4.625), Virginia Tech (4.625), LSU (4.625), Connecticut (4.625)

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

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