The Bulldog Last Chance Meet in Athens, GA the past two days has given a slew of Division I athletes the opportunity to improve upon their times in hopes of a NCAA Championship invite. This is the last possible event for DI women to earn qualifying and provisional standards for March’s NCAA Championships hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The men still have another weekend’s worth of nationwide competitions for their shot at standards. The official lists of 2016 NCAA invitees will be announced on March 2 for the ladies and March 9 for the gentlemen.
Complete Results With Time Trials
Taylor Worrell of South Carolina already set a new school record last week at SEC’s, but she lowered the 500 free a bit further in Saturday’s prelims. Her pace of 4:41.67 in the 500 free is safely under the 2014-2015 invite cut off of 4:43.01 and the swim also ranks the Gamecock in the top 30 in the country. With all of the women’s conferences completed, Worrell’s time will get her to Atlanta. Worrell is the younger sister of NCAA Champion, and Record holder, Kelsi Worrell of Louisville, who will get to compete at her last NCAA meet with her younger sister.
Georgia Bulldog Hali Flickinger put together the only sub-4:10 400 IM of the meet during the prelims session. The senior already owns four automatic qualifying swims but she picked up another provisional standard (4:08.49) while finding a spot in the nation’s top 20.
For the men, time trial swims from Georgia’s James Guest’s 1:54.64 200 breast and Powell Brooks’ 1:42.90 200 fly placed them under last year’s cut off and among the nation’s top 20 in their respective events. Georgia picked another standout performance from Matias Koski and his 1:33.33 200 free. That time is dangerously close for an A-final appearance at NCAA’s as it stands as the nation’s 9th quickest.
Alabama swimmer Pavel Romanov clocked a 52.85 in the prelims of the 100 breast for a swim worthy of a three-way split for 23rd. He was successful in defending his top seed in finals, but added .19 in the process. After winning the 50 free final in 19.72, Nathan Lie from Gardner-Webb stepped up for a solo time trial and posted the nation’s 18th fastest 50 free in 19.45.
Other significant swims:
- Alabama’s Caroline Korst set a new school record in the finals of the 100 back for the Crimson Tide. Her touch of 53.25 lowered Emma Saunder’s former record of 53.32 as the quickest 100 back in the meet.
- South Carolina’s 200 fly school record was broken twice; once in the morning by Paige Maynard’s 1:58.03, but was lowered in finals by Marissa DelGado at 1:57.81.
- Tennessee’s Anna DeMonte posted a 52.61 in the 100 fly which put’s her in a three-way tie for 35th in the nation.
- Georgia’s Shauna Lee took second overall in the 200 free (1:46.58) to Florida’s Lindsey McKnight (1:46.03), but swam a 1:45.43 in a time trial for the nation’s 33rd fastest time.
- UNC’s Annie Harrison got the Tar Heels a top spot in the 200 back (1:54.39) and swam under the 2014-2015 cut off of 1:54.66.
- Kentucky’s Kyle Higgins swam a 1:43.65 as the fastest 200 fly in finals and snuck under last year’s invite time by a hundredth.
Florida State’s Summer Finke’s 1650 time of 16:15.07 moved her to 29th in the rankings joining her sister, Autumn of University of Florida, who swam a 16:11.00 at SEC’s (finishing 4th) and is 23rd on the list.
I don’t see the time trials anywhere on the meet results page? Can anyone link to them?