This writeup was originally written live, as the meet unfolded. For the highlights, just read the sections underneath the event names. Items in italics are more detailed, and include recaps of B-finals. They also include thoughts and reactions from throughout the meet.
It’s time for the final day of competition at the 2011 NCAA Women’s Championships. Barring any DQ’s, USC is mathematically eliminated from title contention now after the consolation final for platform diving.
Georgia, on the other hand, is very much in this meet still. Depending on where Chelsea Nauta’s 15:57 mile from the earlier heats holds up (it should be in the top 8 at least), the “magic number” sits at about 50 for Cal to clinch the title. For a breakdown of what our “magic number” means, check out our prelims recap. Basically, any time USC doesn’t win a final (A or B, as seeded), it chips away at that number. Any time Cal doesn’t lose a final (A or B as seeded), it chips away at that number. Once the number hits zero, all Cal has to do is not DQ and they win the team championship, period.
Get ready, it’s time to hand out some trophies in Austin!
6:47 PM- USC Coach Dave Salo just tweeted that his charges are hoping for a 2nd-place finish over Georgia, but that they “may end 3rd”.
6:50 PM- Georgia’s Chelsea Nauta, swimming out of the first heat, did some big-time damage for the Bulldogs when she posted a 15:57. As I mentioned above, that could earn her in the neighborhood of 13 points. Her teammate, Shannon Vreeland, however, looked worn out, and added 20 seconds from her SEC time.
6:57 PM- Texas A&M’s Alyssa Connor won the “Elite 88” Award. This award is given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA competing at each of the NCAA’s 88 championship sites. This is the second consecutive year that an Aggie has won this award, as last year it was given to Ella Doerge. Coach Steve Bultman is building a first-class program in College Station.
7:00 PM- Final (fastest) heat of the timed-final 1650 free is in the water. Best times early are Nauta’s 15:57 and Chelsea Franklin’s (Arkansas) at 15:59.
7:01 PM- I’m picking an upset in this race. Towson’s Meredith Budner has been swimming awesomely, and I think that she can do it here.
7:03 PM- Budner previously placed 2nd in the 500 free on Day 1. She looked very strong there and nearly chased down Allison Schmitt in the final.
7:05 PM- Budner is under NCAA Record pace at the 500 yard mark in 4:43. Improbable that she’ll get it, as this is one of the most storied and untouchable records in NCAA History. Janet Evans set it in 1990 at 14:39. That mark was actually set at this pool.
7:07 PM- Steenvoorden has taken a strong lead. She didn’t have a great NCAA Championship last season, but seems to have reversed that this year. She does usually go out strong early on.
7:09 PM- Steenvorden’s 900 split was 9 seconds faster than it was last year at NCAA’s. That’s a second per 100. That’s huge if she can hang on to it.
7:10 PM- Budner’s just trying to keep it close. She’s easily the best finisher in the field, based on history.
7:12 PM- Trott is 5 seconds ahead of the time that won her the title last year at the 1400 mark.
1650 yard freestyle
Georgia’s Wendy Trott challenged a 21-year old NCAA Record in this 1650 free, and though she came up juts short, her winning mark of 14:40.32 was still the swim of a lifetime. That is the 5th-fastest 1650 swim in history, and second-fastest by a collegiate swimmer behind only the legendary Janet Evans.
Meredith Budner is the best closer in this field. She knew it, and Trott knew it. And though Budner finished very well in this race (her closing 200 was more than 2-seconds better than Trott’s), Trott had built too much of a lead by that point. Budner turned in a great mark for 2nd in 15:44.26, and ranks her as the 7th-fastest mile swimmer of all time. 3rd-place went to USC’s Haley Anderson, who shockingly had an identical time (15:48.63) as her seed time, which she only missed by .01 seconds.
Georgia’s Nauta finished 6th overall out of the 1st heat, which keeps Georgia in this meet. Cal earned no points, which leaves the magic number at 50.
7:23 PM- Another all-time ranked performance at this meet. I get the feeling there was a buffer year coming out of the polyurethane suits, and now that everyone has adjusted, we’re back to record-breaking.
7:24 PM- That’s two runner-up finishes for Budner, placing Towson in the top 20. Georgia actually takes a 12.5-point lead. Next up-200 back.
7:26 PM- Stephanie Au from Cal goes from 16th seed to win the consolation final. Nobody’s going down without a fight here…this could be a blood bath. Get out of Cal and Georgia’s ways, nation. Magic number down to 42.
7:28 PM- I’m going to feel dumb saying this, I know it, but I don’t think Cal can take this win. I think Meyer from Wisconsin takes it.
7:29 PM- Meyer’s MO is to go out hard. Thus far in this meet, that has played into swimmers’ favors. Beisel, Crippen, Bard, et al finish hard. So does Bouchard from Missouri, by far the best closer in the field, so don’t count her out.
200 yard backstoke
This year’s NCAA Championship, which is one of the fastest on record, has seriously rewarded aggressiveness. Maggie Meyer, knowing that, went out in a 53.1, which was well ahead of National Record pace. You knew that Florida’s Elizabeth Beisel would close hard, and you knew that Missouri’s Dominique Bouchard would close harder than anybody. And though Meyer was visibly tiring, you could see that she wasn’t giving the race up. Her arms were weak, but her legs stayed strong, and she eke’d out every last bit of fuel in her tanks to touch the wall first in 1:50.76, which ties her with Julia Smit as the 6th-fastest swimmer of all time. There’s no other way that you can describe this swim other than absolutely gutsy.
Bouchard did as she does and started this race out slow. And if you hadn’t seen her swim before, and you had watched her finish dead-last in the 100 backstroke, you might’ve totally counted her out of this race. But she actually negative-split this race! Not only did she negative-split it, she did so by nearly a second (56.21-55.33). Bouchard has really mastered that technique, and is only a sophomore. If she can even improve the front-half just a tiny bit, she’s going to be scary good. She took 2nd in 1:51.54.
Elizabeth Beisel and Teresa Crippen were both looking to take over the torch from their graduated fellow-Gator Gemma Spofforth, who has dominated this race the past few years. Both looked good, but in the end they were battling each other for 3rd. Beisel, the freshman, out-touched Crippen, the junior 1:51.60-1:51.61.
Cal did themselves no favors when Deborah Roth slid to 8th. Georgia’s Kelsey Gaid was 7th, and the Bulldogs held on to their lead for another event.
7:40 PM- Great to see a good performance from LSU, as Amanda Kendall wins the 100 free B-final in 48.12, followed by Erica Dagg from Cal and Lauren Perdue from Virginia.
7:41 PM- Nobody is going to touch Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace in this 100 free. Can she break her own U.S. Open Record of 46.81? She had a big drop in the 50 free final, but at SEC’s matched her prelims time in finals identically in this race. Georgia needs to go 2-3, or close to it.
100 free
Auburn’s Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace had the U.S. Open Record in her sights, but seemed to balk a little on her very last stroke. But that’s no big loss, because she still exits the meet with the best time in history and with two NCAA Championships. To put the swim in context, her opening split of 22.48 would’ve scored 13th in the individual 50.
She won in convincing fashion, with Stanford’s Kate Dwelley well back in 47.78. Stanford freshman Margo Geer picked up her second third-place medal with a time of 47.95. Cal’s Liv Jensen took this race out very hard, but ended up falling all the way back to 8th place. Georgia’s Morgan Scroggy and Megan Romano finished 4th and 5th, respectively.
7:49 PM- Cal’s not doing themselves any favors; Georgia’s still ahead by 6.5. It might be too little, too late, but Cal is collapsing on the final day. The lead should evaporate after the 200 fly, where Cal has two A-finalists and Georgia has no scorers. But up next is the 200 breaststroke.
7:51 PM- This 200 breast final should be pretty “fair,” meaning that the same swimmers will hold positions mostly throughout the race. Watch the battle for 2nd between Leverenz and Larson, the latter of whom has a chance at the freshman record.
200 yard breaststroke
If you picked a top 3 in the 200 breaststroke of Haley Spencer-Breeja Larson-Caitlin Leverenz, you’re probably not telling the truth. I don’t think anyone would’ve been labeled sane if they picked even 2 out of those 3 spots. But this race came down the the great equalizer in breaststroke that separates it from every other stroke: the finish. In breaststroke, all you can do is throw the last stroke at the wall, and hope momentum carries you there first. On this day, physics were in the favor of Spencer: the sophomore from Minnesota. While all eyes were focused on the battle in the middle between Leverenz and Spencer’s teammate Jillian Tyler, the two heavy favorites, Spencer said “oh crap, it’s the end” and went for it on the last 10 yards, and took a huge win in 2:06.12. (That’s an actual post-race quote, by the way). Spencer was visibly shaken after her shocking finish, and I can understand why.
Perhaps even more shocking was that Texas A&M freshman Breeja Larson, who has stunned the country this year, placed 2nd in this event in 2:06.18. In the process, she crushed Haley Spencer’s freshman record set last year by a second-and-a-half. For a swimmer only two-years into her serious swimming career, this wraps up Freshman of the Year in my mind. This time easily breaks her 17-18 National Age Group Record that she set in prelims this morning.
As an indicator of how much this race came down to the touch, Leverenz was 2nd in 2:06.23, and Jillian Tyler, who it didn’t look like anyone would touch after prelims, was 3rd in 2:06.35. Wow.
8:05 PM- I can’t blame Spencer for crying after that race. I wasn’t even swimming, and I was on the verge of tears.
8:06 PM- The 200 fly is next. I think Hosszu wins easily, but this is the race where Cal puts away the field in team scoring.
8:07 PM- Cal now up 7 over Goergia, and it’s soon to be much, much more.
8:08 PM- Towson is on fire. Cari Czarnecki takes the consolation final in 1:55.25
200 yard butterfly
USC’s Katinka Hosszu swims the 200 butterfly that everyone wants to swim. She takes the race out seemingly without concern for where anyone else is. She doesn’t get too concerned about racing, and saves a ton of energy on her walls. And on the last 25, in this race, she wasn’t fighting the water.Sshe touched 1st in 1:51.69. This isn’t her best time of the season, but was good for a win by more than a body-length.
Texas A&M had another incredible freshman performance in this meet, when Cammile Adams took 2nd 1:52.93. Unlike Hosszu, she appeared to be fighting the water on the last 25. Unlike every other swimmer in the field (she had the second-fastest closing 50), she looked like she was winning. If you watched her swim, she clearly looked like she was swimming with a fire and an anger at the end of her race. Even though she wasn’t getting much love in this race, she had a fantastic swim.
Arizona’s Alyssa Anderson just barely out-touched USC’s Lyndsay DePaul 1:53.679-1:53.81 for 3rd. This is a surprisingly good finish for Anderson, and she may have found a new focus event for her senior season. Amanda Sims, who had the early lead, fell back to 5th in 1:54.21.
8:18 PM- With a 37.5 point lead, all Cal can do to lose this meet is DQ the 400 free relay, and even then, Georgia would have to win.
8:20 PM- Hosszu is obviously the swimmer of the meet. There’s no question about that. Coach of the meet is a whole different story. Right now, Cal’s Teri McKeever, Towson’s Pat Mead, and Texas A&M’s Steve Bultman all have incredibly strong cases. Who do you like?
8:25 PM- So we know now, barring DQ’s, that the top 3 is going to be Cal-Georgia USC. But there’s still a ton of team battles to be had.
8:26 PM- The battle for 4th is tighter than expected, thanks in no small part to Anderson’s 200 fly swim. Arizona is currently up 4, and so will have to outplace Stanford by two-places in the 400 free relay to ensure a tie, three to ensure 4th place. A win also seals it for them.
8:30 PM- In the battle for 6th place, Florida is currently 6 points ahead of Texas, but Texas has a ton of points left in platform diving. The Longhorns also have an A-final 400 free relay, and Florida only has a B. 6th and 7th are pretty much set for Texas and Florida.
8:36 PM- Texas’ Maren Taylor appears to have severely damaged her elbow and is out of the platform. Texas should still be ok for 6th. Hope it’s not as bad as it looks.
8:38 PM- The battle for 8-9-10 is very interesting. Minnesota has the inside track, but Auburn (37-points back) has the best 400 free relay. Minnesota has no 400 free relay, so if Auburn wins, the Tigers are 8th. If not, the Gophers are. Texas A&M is basically locked into 10th place, with a 29-point advantage over Wisconsin. If Wisconsin does something really special in the A-final of the 400 free relay (A&M is in the B), they could theoretically outpl
ace the Aggies. But it will take them out-placing A&M by roughly 13 spots to overtake them and move into the top 10.
8:44 PM- Auburn’s 800 free relay DQ’ed on Day 2, which at the time seemed insignificant as it only cost them 2 or 4 points. I bet they’d really like those 2 or 4 points back right about now.
8:48 PM- Maren Taylor is taken out on a stretcher, but that’s likely precautionary. Can’t take any injury from 33-feet up lightly though.
9:08 PM- This is a great battle on the platform. This is why diving needs to stay combined with swimming.
8:50 PM- Let’s give big kudos to Vennie Dantin from Auburn for stepping up and having a great diver after Taylor’s injury. She really brought all of the competitors back to focus, and there should be a great finish to this event.
9:09 PM- Let’s look forward to the 400 free relay. Cal was well back in prelims, but if we’ve learned once, we’ve learned a dozen times this weekend not to count them out. That being said, however, they haven’t looked as good on this final day, and I don’t see them pulling off a 4th relay win. I think that this will be a battle between Auburn, Georgia, and Stanford for the win. Auburn’s two seniors, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and Caitlin Geary, held up strongly for them in prelims. My money’s on the Tigers.
9:10 PM- The key for Auburn is freshman Emily Bos. If she can get her split down to about a 48.8 on their anchor leg, I think her teammates will have given her enough of a lead for her to hang on.
Platform Diving
This platform diving was full of serious up-and-downs. Early in the event, Texas’ Maren Taylor injured her elbow going into the water. She had to be taken out of the water on a backboard, and carried out of the pool on a stretcher. But then Auburn’s Vannie Dantin stepped back up, after a considerable delay, to nail her next dive and refocus the 7 remaining competitors. This turned into a great back-and-forth battle that was tight until the very end.
Miami’s Brittany Viola, who in 2009 set the NCAA Record in this event as a sophomore, stepped up with a big last dive to win in 354.25. This just edged Arizona States’ Elina Eggers (345.60) for the win. Eggers had a chance to pull this out, but didn’t have a great dive on her final dive, which is usually her best.
Viola’s teammate Carrie Dragland finished 3rd with 326.10 points.
9:22 PM- Now it’s time for the final relay, and then it’s all done but the shouting at NCAA’s 2011.
9:30 PM- Nice exclamation mark from Katinka Hosszu of USC by finishing off the B-final of the 400 free relay in 48.52. She ran down Virginia, who placed 10th thanks to a great leadoff from Lauren Perdue of 48.35. Nice finish for both of those teams, and Florida places 11th in 3:16.54.
9:33 PM- Cal and Georgia side by side. Georgia needs to be loud and energetic and hope to psych Cal into a DQ. Won’t happen.
400 free relay
In all of the drama and excitement of the battle for the team National Championship, Georgia snuck in under the radar and actually claimed an American Record in this 400 free relay with a winning time of 3:11.03. That clipped the old mark of 3:11.14 set by Stanford back in 2009. On their relay, they had three 47’s, which is incredible, and Megan Romano hit the 2nd-leg with a 47.03 split.
But Auburn gave them a good target to shoot at. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace bettered her time from the individual competition, and just barely missed her U.S. Open Record with a leadoff split of 46.82. She now has 4 out of the 5 fastest 100 yard frees in history. But Auburn, who led the first 250 yards of this race, just couldn’t hold off an anchor leg from Schmitt. They still had a spectacular winning time of 3:11.70. Both of these cleared last year’s winning time.
Georgia did their part by winning, but Cal blocked them by not DQ’ing the final relay, and they finished 3rd in 3:12.20. Arizona beat Stanford in this relay for 4th, but not by enough places (Stanford was 5th) to overtake the Cardinal in the team standings.
Overall Standings
Cal did everything they needed to do to win this meet, and despite some great swimming from both Georgia and USC, Cal simply swam fantastically. This includes some great maneuvering by coach Teri McKeever to ensure the victory.
Auburn did finish well enough (2nd) in the 400 free relay, thanks to that and some good diving points, to move up into 8th overall. A&M DQ’ed their 400 free relay, which would have tied them for 9th, but instead they were 10th. Still a great effort for a very young Aggie squad.
Here’s a look at the final top 10 standings. Tomorrow morning, after a night to sleep on it, we’ll be back with complete standings and our TSC awards.
1.Cal 424
2. Georgia 394.5
3. USC 351
4. Stanford 272
5. Arizona 266
6. Texas 232
7. Florida 226
8. Auburn 202
9. Minnesota 192
10. Texas A&M 182