Another NCAA Championship meet has fallen by the wayside. Let’s hand out some awards (voted on by our staff of Chris Harrell, Jim Richardson, Talor Whitaker, and Julia Wilkinson-Minks) and recap the meet:
Swimmer of the Meet: Margo Geer, Arizona. This was a tough decision as Haley Anderson of USC also won two events and Elizabeth Pelton earned a gold, two silvers and one monstrous record but Geer simply had too much of an effect on the meet as a whole. Geer proved herself the nation’s unequivocal sprint queen and was the cornerstone of the Arizona relays that never finished worse than third the entire meet. Without her, the Wildcats would’ve likely dropped several spots in the team standings. Honorable mention: Haley Anderson, USC; Elizabeth Pelton, California. Megan Romano, Georgia. Rachel Bootsma, California.
Diver of the Meet: Victoria Lamp, Tennessee. She may not have won any of the three boards, but she proved herself to us to be the most versatile diver in the NCAA at this meet. She was the only diver to ‘A’ final in all three events, placing sixth (1M) and seventh (3M) on the springboards and grabbed the silver medal on the tower. Honorable mention: Haley Ishimatsu, USC; Samantha Pickens, Arizona; Casey Matthews, Purdue.
Freshman of the Meet: Elizabeth Pelton, California. She won the 200 backstroke in record-demolishing fashion and took second in 200 IM and third in the 200 free and scored more points for her team than any other athlete in the meet. Honorable mention: Rachel Bootsma, California. Natalie Hinds, Florida. Faith Johnson, Tennessee. Sinead Russell, Florida.
Coach of the Meet: Jack Bauerle, Georgia. It had been quite a while, eight years to be exact, since Georgia’s last title. Not only did the Bulldogs win but they showed up early and often on the final day to salt away the title before the 400 free relay even started. Georgia did a great job of setting itself for the win on Saturday morning then was even better at night. They left no doubt it’s a Dawgy Dawg world this season. Honorable mention: Matt Kredich, Tennessee. Rich DeSelm, North Carolina. Teri McKeever, California.
Swim of the Meet: 200 Back. Elizabeth Pelton took down the (fill-in-the-blank) record with an utter destruction of the 200-yard backstroke field in her first NCAA meet. Pelton went for it early and just kept getting faster as the race went on. When you beat an Olympic medalist in one of their primary events by more than three seconds, you’ve done something pretty special. Rachel Bootsma, California, 100 Back; Breeja Larson, Texas A&M, 100 Breast; Georgia, 400 Free Relay.
Race of the Meet: 100-Yard Butterfly. Coming into this meet, this was the one race where no one really knew what was going to happen and it turned out to be the biggest barnburner. This ended up the one race where we all had to look up the scoreboard to figure out who won. Olivia Scott of Auburn moved up from a runner-up finish a year ago to top freshman Rachel Bootsma of California (51.68) and junior Ellee Zalewski of Florida (51.69). The difference between first and eighth place was exactly one half-second. Honorable mention: 1,650 Free, 200 Breast, 400 Medley Relay.
Recapping my Top 10 Predictions:
10. Minnesota (141). (My pick: Texas) The Gophers did a lot of pulling folks out of individual events to save them for relays on the final two days. If the goal was to grab a top 10 finish, then they were successful. I had them tabbed for one spot higher than this. Diver Meg Keefer turned in a second-place finish on the one-meter and sixth on the three-meter, Haley Spencer was runner-up in the 200 breast while all the Gopher relays finished 12th or higher to lead them to 10th.
9. Texas (186). (My pick: Minnesota) Texas really exceeded expectations on the relays which is what pushed them one spot past my predictions. Texas earned exactly 100 points in the relays with three seventh place and two 10th-place finishes. The Longhorns also got one of the swims of the meet out of senior Laura Sogar who earned the upset win in the 200 breast.
8. Stanford (246). (My pick: Stanford) Stanford came out like gangbusters on day one and I was originally thinking I whiffed badly however they started slipping on day two and ended up exactly where I thought. The Cardinal were terrific on relays (three fourths, a fifth and a seventh). Maya DiRado was their go-to girl individually taking second and third in the IM’s and fifth in the 200 back. Stanford also got great swims out of Felicia Lee in the 100 fly (third) and Maddy Schaefer in the 50 free (fourth). They simply didn’t have a lot girls who could get big individual points in multiple events which is why they ended up in the eight spot at the end of the week.
7. USC (291). (My pick: Arizona) Of all the teams bunched together between places three through seven, the Trojans came out on the short end of the stick. Don’t blame Haley Anderson though as the NCAA distance queen successfully defended her 500 free title while adding the 1,650 title to her resume as well. Haley Ishimatsu put on one of the great NCAA platform diving performances of all-time, destroying the former NCAA platform record by more than 30 points but did fail to score on the springboards. The Trojans stalled out on many of the relays, finishing amongst the top eight only twice (sixth in the 200 free and 200 medley) but were hurt even more by a DQ on the 400 medley. That mistake alone could have cost them two to three points in the team standings with things so tight between spots three through seven).
6. Florida (305). (My pick: Tennessee) Elizabeth Beisel was her usual strong self, turning in the win in the 400 individual medley, the bronze in the 200 back and fifth in the 200 IM. Freshman Sinead Russell proved that the Gator backstroke will be strong for years to come as she grabbed silver in the 100 back and sixth in the 200 back in her first NCAA try. Junior Ellese Zalewski was third in 100 fly and fourth in the 100 free giving the Gators another pair of solid ‘A’ final finishes. The Gators were solid but unspectacular on the relays which did not help their final finish. They did manage a fourth-place effort in the 200 medley relay though. The Gators were one of the youngest teams at the meet however and will take their experiences back to Gainesville to learn and build on for the coming years.
5. Arizona (311). (My pick: Florida) Margo Geer was as advertised winning both sprint frees and led the Wildcats to top three finishes in all five relays. The Cats were also bolstered by diver Samantha Pickens’ win on the one-meter, freshman Bonnie Brandon who was terrific in the 500 free and won consols in the 200 back and getting two young ladies into the ‘A’ final of the 100 breast. But the ‘Cats bread and butter was, and seemingly always is, the relays and they delivered once again pushing them to a top five finish.
4. Texas A&M (323.5). (My pick USC) The Aggies did the exact opposite of Tennessee, stumbling out of the gate on day one and that cost them a spot in the final standings. That said, they rebounded to have the second best day of any team on day two, becoming the only team with a swim in every night race on Friday. Breeja Larson successfully defended her NCAA title in the 100 breast in a new championships record time while U.S. Olympic teammate Cammile Adams finally broke through to win her first NCAA title in the 200-yard butterfly. Sarah Henry responded from a dismal opening swim to win consols in the 500 free and give USC’s Haley Anderson everything she wanted in the 1,650 freestyle. The Aggies were also boosted by fifth-place finishes in both medley relays and the 800 free relay.
3. Tennessee (325.5). (My pick: Texas A&M) There’s not a whole lot of question about who exceeded the most expectations this weekend. The Vols won the first three relays and nearly took the day one lead back to the hotel after smacking the rest of the field in the mouth right out of the gate. Kelsey Floyd was a relay master on the first two days, turning Lady Vol deficits into gold medals the like the Tennessee program has never experienced before. The Lady Vol divers were on point, garnering five ‘A’ final spots out of six chances, culminating in Diver and Diving Coach of the Meet honors for Tori Lamp and Dave Parrington. The relays were the huge difference for the Vols in this meet. Had they simply finished second instead of first in those relays they could have been fifth and only 1.5 points out of sixth. I missed three spots on Tennessee’s finish and those relays were the difference. Job well done Lady Vols.
2. California (393). (My pick: California) The Golden Bears didn’t go quietly after they hit the field with a barrage of points on day two but they simply didn’t have enough bullets to combat the Bulldog artillery. Caitlin Leverenz successfully defended her title in the 200 individual medley out of lane eight in one of the meet’s more memorable performances. The Cal freshman class paid off like a slot machine with Elizabeth Pelton mauling the NCAA record in the 200 back and eventually being named the Swimmer of the Meet. Rachel Bootsma was nearly as good while Rachael Acker was solid and gained good experience for what will be Cal last year B.M. (Before Missy). For not having a true sprint breaststroker and a dearth of sprint freestylers like they are accustomed to, they still had a great meet and gave the new champs all they wanted for the bulk of the three day meet.
1. Georgia (477). (My pick: Georgia) Charlie Brown finally made contact with the football. For the first time in three years of doing projections, I successfully picked Georgia to grab the team win. Third time is the charm I guess. The Bulldogs mauled the field in the freestyles, the IM’s and the relays and could do no wrong on day three, the best day in which to do no wrong. Allison Schmitt closed out her career with her third career NCAA 200 free title and was a stalwart on the Bulldog relays as was Megan Romano who earned two silvers and a bronze during her individual races. Georgia set a new NCAA record in the 400 free relay, waxed everyone in the 800 free relay and suffered few ill effects from a 14th-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Amber McDermott was clutch in the 500 free by taking home silver and added a solid fourth place finish in the 1,650 free while Shannon Vreeland added three top eight finishes, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 500 free. Melanie Margalis was a solid top eight finisher in both IM’s and added solid 200 breast points as well. While I completely whiffed on the Laura Ryan pick on the three-meter, Ryan did come back to take a solid fifth on the tower to close out the meet. I could go on and on. Georgia was simply too deep, too talented and too good for the rest of the field in 2013. Congrats to Captain Jack and 2012-2013 Georgia Bulldogs on a job well done.
