{"id":608965,"date":"2025-03-29T12:47:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T19:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=608965"},"modified":"2025-03-29T15:37:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T22:37:45","slug":"ncaa-mens-championships-texas-cal-showdown-coming-down-to-the-wire-finals-heat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-mens-championships-texas-cal-showdown-coming-down-to-the-wire-finals-heat-sheet\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas-Cal Showdown Coming Down to the Wire (Finals Heat Sheet)"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas-Cal Showdown Coming Down to the Wire (Finals Heat Sheet)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Texas Longhorns took a 55.5-point lead over Cal entering the final day of the NCAA Men’s Championships while Indiana was only 8.5 points behind the Golden Bears. As expected, the title will come down to the final races of the meet after Cal made a statement Saturday morning, securing 11 scoring swims for the finals session.<\/p>\n

Click here to view the Saturday evening heat sheet<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Texas will have Hubert Kos<\/strong> aiming for his third national title of the meet in the 200 backstroke while Will Modglin<\/strong> also races in the A-final, but Cal can expect a boatload of points with three-time defending champion\u00a0Destin Lasco<\/strong>,\u00a0Gabriel Jett<\/strong> and\u00a0Mewen Tomac<\/strong> finishing second, third and fifth, respectively. The Golden Bears also have\u00a0Keaton Jones<\/strong> and\u00a0Humberto Najera<\/strong> in the consolation heat.<\/p>\n

The 100 freestyle should be more even as both Cal and Texas have one swimmer in the A-final,\u00a0Jack Alexy<\/strong> for Cal and\u00a0Chris Guiliano<\/strong> for Texas, while Cal has two B-finalists to just\u00a0Luke Hobson<\/strong> for Texas. The 200 breaststroke could be something of a wash, with Yamato Okadome<\/strong> squeezing into the A-final for Cal by six hundredths but two Texas swimmers making the consol heat.<\/p>\n

Dare Rose<\/strong> is a major player for Cal in the 200 butterfly, and\u00a0Frank Applebaum<\/strong> made the B-final, but Texas countered with\u00a0Cooper Lucas<\/strong> swimming a best time and tying for 14th. Cal did not get any divers into the platform final, with\u00a0Geoffrey Vavitsas\u00a0<\/strong>topping out at 18th, but Texas freshman\u00a0Jacob Welsh<\/strong> finished 15th, giving his team the opportunity for points.<\/p>\n

15 Welsh, Jacob           FR Texas                  NP     349.20  \r\n 16 Chambers, Nigel        FR Alabama                NP     341.35  \r\n 17 Wills, Tyler           FR Purdue                 NP     339.20  \r\n 18 Vavitsas, Geoffrey     SO California             NP     338.95<\/pre>\n
Still to be decided are the 1650 freestyle and 400 free relay. Cal is seeded fourth in the relay with Texas seventh, but in the mile, David Johnston<\/strong> and\u00a0Rex Maurer<\/strong> are seeded to finish 1-3, but with\u00a0Cal’s\u00a0Lucas Henveaux<\/strong> ranked second entering the meet. From the early heats, the teams will be looking for big swims from\u00a0Jackson Huckabay\u00a0<\/strong>(Texas) and\u00a0Tyler Kopp<\/strong> (Cal). Diving will become clear following the completion of prelims.<\/p>\n
Not to be forgotten is Indiana, with the Hoosiers’ four A-finalists the second-most of the day behind Cal.\u00a0Owen McDonald<\/strong> is in the top heat of the 200 back, as is\u00a0Matt King<\/strong> in the 100 free and the duo of\u00a0Jassen Yep<\/strong> and\u00a0Caspar Corbeau<\/strong> in the 200 breast. Then came diving, and Indiana came close to matching its three-up performance from the 3-meter event.\u00a0Carson Tyler<\/strong> was third, with Quentin Henninger<\/strong> joining him in the A-final (fifth) and\u00a0Maxwell Weinrich<\/strong> taking 11th.<\/p>\n
If all seeds were to hold in Saturday’s finals, Texas would win the meet by 22 points over Cal, 491.5 to 471.5, and diving points put Indiana at 453. There could still be significant shifts in the timed-finals races, the mile and the 400 free relay. Swimmers could still move up and down within their respective heats, and relay disqualifications have already rocked this meet.<\/p>\n
Cal did a lot Saturday morning, but more remains for the Golden Bears’ hopes of running down Texas. The Longhorns remain in the driver’s seat for their first title since 2021 while\u00a0Bob Bowman<\/strong> is on track to helm his second consecutive national championships squad.<\/p>\n