NCAA Men’s Championships: Team Race to Come Down to the Wire (Heat Sheets, Up/Downs)

gabriel-jett-
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Men’s Championships: Team Race to Come Down to the Wire (Heat Sheets, Up/Downs)

Three teams enter the final day of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Championships within shouting distance of one another. Three more are in a jumbled contest for fourth place.

There will be plenty of scoreboard watching in the final night session at the University of Minnesota Saturday.

California enters the final session with 315 points., Arizona State trailing by 13 points and Texas a further 10 behind. Indiana owns fourth place in 259, with Florida fifth with 251 and NC State in 246.5.

Points will be on offer Saturday in four individual events, plus the 1,650 freestyle and platform diving ahead of the culminating 400 free relay. Cal is in control with seven A finalists and 10 swimmers in finals, the most in the field. Arizona State pushed four A finalists and five B finalists through the morning, while Texas has only five total (two A finalists and three B finalists).

Texas does have one swimmer in the fastest heat of the 1,650 freestyle, third seed David Johnston, while Arizona State has the eighth seed, Zalan Sarkany. Texas and Cal have divers on platform.

The title race will play out in the 200 back, where Cal owns the top two seeds in Destin Lasco and Hugo Gonzalez. Arizona State also has two A finalists.

Cal grabbed a surprising top seed in the 100 free via Jack Alexy’s time of 40.88 seconds. That final is loaded with 50 free champ Jordan Crooks, 100 fly gold medalist Youssef Ramadan and multi-time medalists like Josh Liendo, Brooks Curry and Bjorn Seeliger.

The 200 breaststroke will pit a pair of champions against each other. Max McHugh, the three-time 100 breast champ, won in 2021 before Leon Marchand usurped his throne last year. The double IM champ is looking for a third gold medal.

The 200 fly is the last individual event of the night, with Cal again stepping up to own the top two seeds. Gabriel Jett was perhaps expected, Dare Rose less so. The third seed is Alexander Colson of Arizona State, for another mano a mano title race installment. Last year’s champ Brendan Burns of Indiana, who won the 100 back, is also in the mix. (That field required a swim-off for the eighth and final place, won by Michigan’s Gal Groumi over Martin Espernberger of Tennessee.)

The meet wraps with the 400 free relay. Cal is the top seed in 2:45.67 with Arizona State second, a half-second behind. Texas is in the next-to-last heat, seeded 12th, though the Longhorns have managed to make that work for them this week with several big jumps in sprint relays. Florida, winner of the 200 free and 400 medley relays, is seeded fourth, just behind Tennessee.

NCAA Men’s Championships Men’s Scores

                      Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 14                      
 
  1. California                        315   2. Arizona St                        302
  3. Texas                             292   4. Indiana                           259
  5. Florida                           251   6. NC State                        246.5
  7. Tennessee                         144   8. Stanford                        112.5
  9. Auburn                             96   9. Virginia Tech                      96
 11. Louisville                         71  12. Virginia                           67
 13. Texas A&M                          65  14. Ohio St                          54.5
 15. Georgia                            53  16. Missouri                         50.5
 17. Lsu                                40  18. Alabama                            38
 19. Notre Dame                         34  20. Southern California                31
 21. UNC                                27  21. Wisconsin                          27
 23. Michigan                           24  24. Minnesota                          20
 25. Utah                               14  26. Columbia                           12
 27. Arizona                            10  28. Siuc                                9
 28. Miami                               9  30. Princeton                           4
 30. Penn St                             4  30. Pittsburgh                          4
 33. Georgia Tech                        3  34. Air Force                           2
 34. Towson                              2  36. Purdue                              1

NCAA Men’s Championships Day 4 Ups/Downs

(excludes 1,650 freestyle)

  • California 7 up, 3 down
  • Arizona State 4-5
  • Texas 2-3
  • Indiana 4-0
  • Florida 2-4
  • NC State 3-2
  • Tennessee 1-4
  • Stanford 0-1
  • Auburn 0-2
  • Virginia Tech 2-0
  • Louisville 0-1
  • Virginia 0-1
  • Texas A&M 1-0
  • Ohio State 1-0
  • Georgia 1-1
  • Missouri 1-0
  • LSU 1-0
  • Alabama 0-1
  • Notre Dame 0-2
  • Minnesota 1-0
  • Michigan 1-0
  • Princeton 0-1
  • Southern Illinois 0-1
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