since we've beaten that other thread into submission, time for a new one...any guesses on how high the Ags finish?

I say no worse than sixth and they score well over 200 points

I agree with 6th place. 5th might be possible with divers, but not this year.

Link to the meet info below:

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1362521&KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=17300&DB_LANG=&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT=

First event is the 200 free relay. I think it will say a lot about how fast the girls are. I'm betting on a strong start for the girls.

The page at the link above includes a link to realtime results. Hopefully it is working when the swimming starts at 11 a.m. (EST?).

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 3/17/2008 1:08p).]

LOB any insight on relay order/personnel changes for the ladies? I've heard rumors about the 200 and 800 free relays being switched up a tad...can you confirm/deny?

Wilkinson and Marshall have the capability to swim all five relays but they obviously won't because they are so dangerous in three individual events...which relays they don't swim will be very interesting and will open up spots for others

I don't know what will happen but if I were to guess, it wouldn't surprise me to see Wilkinson off the 200 free relay and on the 800 free relay (which might drop their time from 7:05 to 7:02 neighborhood, good enough for second maybe???)

The Ags have SO many good 50 girls that Bultman must be like a kid in a candy store when picking that relay...you HAVE to have Aljand on there but after that, it's pick your poison...After switching Wilkinson to the 800, I'd just take my four fastest 50 girls (Aljand, Jasek, Sommer, and Woods) and see what happens...that leaves you with Wilkinson and Marshall on all four of the other relays and they don't get too spent on day one, swimming just two events

Another note: Jasek and Woods HAVE to swim that relay because that is why they are at the meet (if they don't, they can't swim any races the rest of the meet) so really the only question is who would be the fourth leg (assuming there is a Wilkinson switch of course)...You'd have a tough time arguing that Sommer is being taken as a relay alternate to swim anything other than the 200 free relay so why not use her?

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 3/17/2008 7:02p).]

no chance of being No. 1?

slim to none this year...

i would agree with LOB on pretty much everything. 5th is pretty accurate, though i dont think the chance at a top 3 finish, while slim, is entirely out of the question, depending on how some other teams swim

diving (or rather, lack thereof) is going to hurt

I think there are a couple of big factors that will decide the women's NCAAs.

1. How rested the PAC teams were for their conference championships. Arizona, Stanford and Cal fight like hell for bragging rights in the PAC.
2. Same thing for the SEC teams - Auburn, Georgia, and Florida. SECs were 1 week before the PAC and Big12 championships so Auburn and Florida had an additional week to train and rest again.
3. Relays score double - so these points are worth a lot. A single DQ could move a team down several places in overall standings.

I am really looking forward to seeing how the A&M relays do.

Did A&M qualify any divers for this weekend?

no way. only one of the lady ag divers BARELY made top 8 on one (maybe 2?) of the boards at Big XIIs

Interesting factoid....

Not counting divers, A&M has more entries (races) than any other team in the women's NCAAs.

58 individual entries + 5 relays = 63

Auburn has 60
Georgia has 56
Florida has 56
Stanford has 52
Cal has 55
Airizona has 56

No one else over 50 entries

college swimming puts us at 7th place. I know that the girls really are pushing for a top 5 finish.

[This message has been edited by catlee81 (edited 3/18/2008 8:18p).]

Collegeswimming.com based that ranking on the dual meet rankings.

The meet is underway.

Our 200 free relay is 6th in prelims. We were seeded 8th so we moved up. Time was slightly better than the seed time. Aljan, Woods, Sommer, and Jasek. Aljan's competitors for the 50 are in this event. Several girls have relay splits well under 22. Aljan was the leadoff so she had a flat start. 3 leadoff splits faster than Aljan.

Kristin Heiss kicked a** in the 500 free. Seeded 4th after her 4:40.42 prelim swim!

Jenni Stratton and Codie are 22nd and 29th. Hain 46th.

Wilkinson 4th after 200 IM prelims. Solid time of 1:56.41. Fastest time is a 1:54.97.

Christine Marshall did not have a good swim. She was +2 from her Big12s time. Her 2:00.98 put her in 39th place.

Looking pretty good so far...on to finals (I think):

200 Free Relay
Kristen Heiss 500 FR
Julia Wilkinson 200 IM
Triin Aljand 50 FR

and the 400 medley relay was 11th so they are in the consolation heat.

Sorry to say but the 400 medley relay was not a good swim. We were +1.6 from the season best time. If we had swum our seed time we'd be in 5th place. 2 of 4 splits on that relay were not good.

It looks like Wilkinson, Heiss, and Aljan are fast and ready to go.

that was a big time relay swim at the start...to have woods sommer and jasek popping 22-mid to low is absolutely huge...switching wilkinson has already paid off with the relay making the A final...nice call Stevo

Heiss got faster as the 500 went on...I expect another drop...same with wilkinson in the IM...aljand had to deal with a callback off the blocks before her 50...I bet she's faster tonight too..could be a good night for the ags

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 3/20/2008 3:36p).]

today's prelims were great. the swims were good, but the real advantage is that the girls "know" they are swimming fast. everyone was either right at or beat their season best time.
with this established in the swimmers heads, watch for faster swims tonight and excellent swims the rest of the meet.
miscue on the first day = swimmers doubt their preparation.
good job steve and the rest of the staff (as well as the swimmers) on hitting the first session hard and taking the bull by the horns.
5th place finish is possible. up to 3rd if other teams DQ a relay or big swim (and we don't), but that would be a surprise.
good luck for the rest of the meet ladies.

good call mike. The first session alway sets the tone for the rest of the meet, especially with attitudes.

Heiss negative split her 500. Very impressive.

I assume Wilkinson swam an "easy fast" 200 IM in prelims and will go faster tonight. Hopefully the same with Aljand.



[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 3/20/2008 5:11p).]

Heiss (4:40.0) drops and moves up a place (3rd) and Wilkinson drops (1:55.45) and moves down one (5th), Triin drops from prelims, but a tad slower than conference, moves down a place (5th).

200FrR holds 6th, only a tenth slower than prelims, not bad at all.

Hopefully the 400Medley can win the B final and I'll call it a very successful first day overall for the ladies

after the 50 free the women are in 3rd place with 70 points.

Zona is 1st (111pts), Auburn 2nd (98pts), Cal 4th (61pts)

And we wont lose much tonight in diving. Tennessee (5th 50pts), Stanford (6th 44pts), Michigan (8th 39pts) are the only schools close to us that have divers tonight, and they got 9th, 13th, & 14th respectively.

Cal, Florida, & Stanford will all gain ground on us after the relay, since they are all in the Top 8...

Stanford was DQ'd in the 200 free relay. That helped a lot....

How many points would we get for winning the B final of the 400 Medley Relay?

9th place is the best you can get. It is REALLY bad not to make finals.

Guess what - we DID get 9th, and our time was good enough for 4th! But we score 9th place points only. We were 3 secs faster than prelims. A great swim but it would have been even better if swum in finals. The difference between 4th and 9th is 12 points. We would be in 3rd overall instead of 4th.

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 3/20/2008 8:02p).]

we just did. 18pts. holy smokes 3.33!?! That time would have gotten 4th...they dropped almost 2 seconds from Conference

Scores after Day 1:

Zona 151
Auburn 132
Cal 89
A&M 88
Stanford 80
Florida 71

Looking ahead, Florida only has one diver tomorrow, and Stanford has 3...

[This message has been edited by texagg09 (edited 3/20/2008 8:03p).]

very very impressive day for the ladies. 48.0 split on the end of that relay for Marshall, looks like shes recovered from her disappointing IM this morning.

They have definitely put themselves in a very good position to battle for 3rd, and Stanfords relay dq helps alot.

Hopefully Hain & Stratton can rebound tomorrow and make some noise in the 4im. Our 200 Frees should be fun to watch. Heiss/Wilkinson/Marshall should hopefully be A/highB (knock on wood), and Hansen or Mahoney could sneak up there with great swims. Plus with 2 of our best relays being swum tomorrow, we could pick up some monster points there as well. Then of course Alia & Triin will hopefully be top 8 in the 100Br/Fly

Heiss and Wilkinson look VERY solid. Marshall's free leg was a huge improvement from the morning.

I'm a bit worried about breast and fly. It may take 1:00 to final in breast. And our fly relay split is not as fast as the season best flat start.

We have no backstroker tomorrow so we will probably slide a bit back. Saturday should be a day to regain some points.

I'm with you Big Papa...I say we more than double our points tomorrow...no way we aren't top eight in both relays and Heiss/Marshall/Wilkinson/Aljand/Atkinson and atleast one 400 IMer will be scoring individual points as well at a minimum...things are going GREAT for the Ags!

That stinks that they didn't final in that relay! Awesome swim by them though. Also very encouraging to see Atkinson and Marshall swim MUCH better.

That morning 400 med. relay swim...sounds like someone's goggles came off or something.
if you are that far off, you don't come back from an afternoon of rest.
must have been a technical issue.

Sprintermike - I don't think that's all it was. CM's 2IM was off in the morning as was her relay leg. AA's breast leg was a 1:01.3. The reaction times were reasonable so it wasn't just safe starts. In finals the girls just gutted it up and swam really fast.

The girls are up first today with the 200 MR. They have to swim lights out from the get go to make finals. We're seeded 8th so we have no room to spare.

Hain finals in the 400 IM. Great swim Melissa! Jenny Stratton gets into the B final.

Very nice swims by both girls.

They tore it up in the 200 MR prelims.