Heading into the 2013 Men's NCAA Championships, Michigan Head Coach Mike Bottom tried to defect expectations on a team that, on paper, was a prohibitive favorite to win the meet. It's not an easy task for a team that hasn't won the NCAA title since since Jon Urbanchek led the Wolverines to the 1995 title right here.The morning didn't make Michigan's task any easier but tonight they held their ground at night in what is looking to be a battle of attrition. The Wolverines emerged from the 500 Freestyle with a 32 point lead and they'll head into the final relay with a 31.5 point lead.
Now Bottom and his staff have the opportunity to prove themselves not just great developers of talent, but also big-meet coaches. California's Dave Durden has already proved his mettle in that department, having collected a pair of hard-fought titles. Neither team, however, asserted themselves on a night where nearly everything was outshone by the 17.86 split from USC's Vlad Morozov. Both the Wolverines and Golden Bears gave up nine places from their morning swims. If the meet turns into a battle of attrition, it could be a Big Blue tide. Then again, Tom Shields has yet to hit the pool individually and he could provide the spark that sends the Golden Bears onto another magical title.
Other observations from the day:
Indiana and Stanford were the most opportunistic teams of the night. The Cardinal had some near misses in the morning and the relay DQ was killer, but they couldn't have squeezed another point out of the night's session. The Hoosiers and their striped warm-ups roared back to take the consol heat of the 400 Medley Relay while Daniel Kanorr did the same in the 50 Freestyle.
Best shirt of the day - Derek Toomey's dad - a Gopher hockey jersey sporting a 18.9 for the number. Toomey was a 19.10 - close, but no 18.90.
With the 200 Freestyle Relay Zach Turk has become an All-American in both Division I and Division III. Turk was 19.38 a year ago at Kenyon and 19.52 this morning.
Whoever was worrying about Texas' lack of a breaststroker need not worry - not with Dax Hill going 51.86 in the morning and 52.60 at night. Granted 52.60 isn't what it used to be, but the Longhorns gave up more time in the freestyle. John Murray was 42.89 in the morning, Clay Youngquist 43.05 at night.
Some teams have clearly learned how to work the new qualifying standards. Forget your relays. Get two guys. Rest 'em for your conference meet. Get 'em into the big show. Then bring along a few more relay guys who can help get you into the top 20.
Twenty-nine teams score in the first day. That's impressive, especially considering Old Dominion and UMBC came awfully close to making it thirty-one teams. Leading the way is Michigan with 153 points. 2-time defending champions California are in 2nd with 123.5 points. Auburn, with a relay win is in 3rd with 112.5 points. Southern California is in 4th with 100 points, and Texas rounds out the top 5 with 99 points. Stanford is tied for 7th with Arizona with 81 points. If it were not for a relay DQ this morning, they would be right in the thick of things.
