Auburn Carries Momentum into Final Morning

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The top two teams in final morning of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Championships offered a contrast in demeanors.  First you have the Longhorns.  Serious, diligent, hard-working American boys with a workman’s like demeanor to them.  This was a young team that had arrived on campus in wave-after-wave of highly-touted recruiting classes.  This was the group destined to bring home the Longhorn’s twelfth NCAA team title and now they were ready.  This is the relative your parents want you to aspire to be.

Across the pool was Auburn.  These were the neighbors who keep you up at night, what with their loud music and excitability.   They were excitable, loose, and loud.  They’re not bad neighbors.  They’re likable and all, but they’re just TOO dang happy and loose.  How can a team afford to act this happy – what with a NCAA trophy on the line, with an ailing coach at home, and a sour taste left by the sudden departure just a couple short years ago.

How can a team not afford to be that loose?  Morning trials are nothing when compared to the real-life trials these Auburn Tigers have faced.  That enthusiasm carried the day.  The Tigers racked up a dozen nighttime swims (plus a 400-freestyle relay), eight up and four down.  Texas, by way of comparison went five and four.  The morning puts Auburn in the driver’s seat heading into the night with the biggest question being – which Texas divers will rise to the platform today.  Will it be the Drew Livingston and Jonathan Wilcox who on and finished fifth on the one-meter or will it be the pair that finished 14th and 17th on the three-meter?

To maintain their lead against a loaded Auburn lineup, the Longhorns were going to need big swims from their second tier of swimmers and in the 200 backstroke they did just that.  Neil Caskey and Bryan Collins secured the final two spots in consolations following huge drops.  Hill Taylor did the same, moving from a 22nd seed into the top eight.   

Normally a solitary animal, the Auburn Tigers traveled in a pack and went on the attack.  Minnesota transfer Jared White swam out of the first heat into the final one, going from 1:45.07 to 1:40.21.  He was to be joined in finals by teammates Pascal Wollach and Kohlton Norys.  Taylor denied the Tigers a fourth entrant, edging Max Murphy by 6/100 for the final spot.  The top spot is held by Tyler Clary.  Clary (1:38.17), who has already erased Ryan Lochte’s name from the record books twice this meet, could do it a third time if he drops down to 1:37.67.  Rounding out the top heat are the familiar teams – Arizona (Jake Tapp), Florida (Omar Pinzon) and Stanford (Eugene Godsoe).

Finals of the 100 freestyle continued to be the domain of the top five programs with one exception – Yale’s Alex Righi.  Much heralded when he arrived on campus four years ago, the 2005 Swimming World High School Swimmer of the Year has yet to capture a NCAA title.  He will get one last shot, but will have to overcome top seed Matt Target (Auburn) on his right and America’s fastest man, Nathan Adrian (Cal) on his left.   Texas’ James Feigen, last year’s High School Swimmer of the Year, qualified third, next to last NJCAA Swimmer-of-the-Year Gideon Louw of Auburn.  Texas got a second finalist in Dave Walters.  Stanford’s Austin Staab and Nico Nilo claimed the final spots for Stanford and Arizona respectively.  It took a 42.34 to make it into the top eight, and a 42.78 to make it back at all.

California’s resurgence towards the fourth-place and final NCAA trophy continued in the 200 breaststroke where they placed three finalists.  Sean Mahoney began by going under Neil Versfeld’s (Georgia) NCAA record in the 200 breaststroke.  A heat later Stanford’s John Criste made a similar run but was crushed coming home.    For his part, Versfeld swam an exceptionally-controlled race, nearly replicating his time from SEC’s last month.  Adam Klein kept Auburn in the hund, qualifying third while defending champion Paul Kornfeld qualified fourth just ahead of teammate Criste.  Nolan Koon and Martti Aljand will swim side-by-side for Cal after qualifying sixth and eighth respectively.  The Golden Bears nearly had a fourth finalist, but Damir Dugonjic – better known for his sub-51 time yesterday, finished 10th.  Clark Burckle of Florida rounded out the field – qualifying in seventh.  One had to go under 1:54 to make it back in the top eight and under 1:55.22 just to get a second swim.

No event was more emblematic of Texas’ and Auburn’s contrasting fortunes than the 200 butterfly.  The record runs continued in the 200 butterfly when Logan Madison (Auburn) found himself ahead of Michael Phelps’ US Open Record.  He faded – ultimately qualifying second behind Florida’s Shaune Fraser (1:41.17).  Both went under Gil Stovall’s NCAA record from a year ago, but the bigger story was the match-up between Auburn’s Tyler McGill and Texas’ Ricky Berens.  Swimming from lane seven, McGill knocked two seconds off of his previous best to qualify fourth.  All Berens could do was watch.  The Olympian added nearly two seconds and failed to make it back, finishing 24th.  Mark Dylla, Stovall’s former training partner at Georgia qualified third for tonight ahead of Stanford’s Bobby Bollier and David Mosko.  AJ Tipton of Arizona and South Carolina’s Nick Walkotten complete the top eight.  

By the relay the Longhorn section held a lot of long faces – both in the stands and on deck.  Swimming in the final heat, Texas and Auburn faced off in what many expect to be a preview of the deciding event tonight.  As Targett and David Walters began their anchor legs, Tigers held a slight edge.  It was there that Target toyed with his American counterpart.  The Aussie went out on 20.74 and blew past Walters with a final split of 21.76.  The pair will again line up side-by-side tonight, with Auburn, the third seed in lane three, and the Longhorns, seeded fifth, in lane two.  The other storyline to watch will take place in the middle of the pool where California and Stanford will square off.  Twice now Cal has fallen short of a relay title, yet bested their Bay brethren.  California qualified in 2:48.78, ahead of Stanford’s 2:49.74.   Florida and Arizona also qualified while the Big Ten will send Minnesota and Michigan into the big final.

Finals for tonight’s even begin at 5:00 pm with the 1650-yard freestyle.  The Longhorns have three potential scorers in the event compared to none for Auburn.  That event, along with diving (underway now), will go a long way towards setting the stage for tonight’s final champion.