NCAA Men’s Championships Pre-Cut Psych Sheet: Florida Gators Own Seven No. 1 Times
The pre-cut psych sheets for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Championships were released Tuesday. These are not the final entry lists for the meet, which will take place March 26-29 in Federal Way, Wash., as only a select number of athletes will be invited to compete in each event. The top seeds for each event will remain unchanged.
Click here to view the full psych sheet.
While the NCAA Women’s Championships will begin with the University of Virginia holding down the top time in 11 events, the men’s field is more spread out. Florida leads the way with the top time in seven events while Tennessee is tops in five races and Texas four.
The Gators are poised for a huge performance on the meet’s middle night, when Josh Liendo has the top seed in the 100 butterfly, Julian Smith enters as the fastest 100 breaststroker in history and Jonny Marshall is first in the 100 backstroke. Smith and Indiana’s Finn Brooks have both broken 50 in the 100 breast this season, marking the first time that has ever happened prior to the NCAA Championships. Smith is also the top 200 medley swimmer in the country.
Marshall ranks second in an electric 200 back field that also includes 200-meter Olympic champion Hubert Kos, Owen McDonald and the Cal contingent of Gabriel Jett, Keaton Jones, Mewen Tomac and three-time defending champion Destin Lasco. Florida also has the top times in the country in the 800 free and 400 medley relays. The Gators’ 800 free relay team posted the No. 2 time in history at the SEC Championships while the medley relay team annihilated the previous NCAA record.
Liendo has the second-quickest times in both the 50 and 100 free, events in which he won in addition to the 100 fly at last season’s national meet. In two events, however, Liendo will come up against Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks, who has blasted his way to the top of the sprint rankings this season while also leading the Volunteers to the quickest times ever in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay. He will swim the 50, 100 and 200 free.
The Longhorns’ Luke Hobson is the defending national champion in the 200 free, and he enters strongly favored in that event, and he is joined as favorites by teammates Rex Maurer and David Johnston. Maurer set the American record in the 500 free in November, and he also has the top time in the 400 IM while Johnston leads the way in the 1650 free. In addition, Kos will be a serious title threat in both backstroke events plus the 200 IM.
Georgia’s Luca Urlando seeded first in the 200 butterfly, having posted the fastest time ever in the event in January, and he will face off with defending NCAA champion (and 200-meter fly Olympic bronze medalist) Ilya Kharun in Federal Way. The Southeastern Conference holds the top entry time in every event aside from the men’s 200 breaststroke, where Penn’s Matt Fallon leads the way.
While Leon Marchand has departed college swimming after winning eight individual national titles during his three years at Arizona State, the defending champion returns in 8 of the 10 events Marchand did not win last year. The list includes Liendo in all three of his events, Lasco in the 200 back plus 200 IM, Kharun in the 200 fly and Zalan Sarkany in the 1650 free. Sarkany swam for Arizona State last year, but he has since transferred to Indiana. Cal’s Liam Bell (100 breast) and Indiana’s Brendan Burns (100 back) exhausted their eligibility.
Schedule of Events and Top-Seeded Swimmers
Wednesday, March 26
- 200 Medley Relay: Tennessee, 1:20.22
- 800 Freestyle Relay: Florida, 6:02.50
Thursday, March 27
- 500 Freestyle: Rex Maurer (Texas), 4:04.45
- 200 IM: Julian Smith (Florida), 1:39.38
- 50 Freestyle: Jordan Crooks (Tennessee), 17.85
- 200 Freestyle Relay: Tennessee, 1:12.80
Friday, March 28
- 400 IM: Rex Maurer (Texas), 3:34.19
- 100 Butterfly: Josh Liendo (Florida), 43.23
- 200 Freestyle: Luke Hobson (Texas), 1:30.23
- 100 Breaststroke: Julian Smith (Florida), 49.51
- 100 Backstroke: Jonny Marshall (Florida), 43.73
- 400 Medley Relay: Florida, 2:55.66
Saturday, March 29
- 1650 Freestyle: David Johnston (Texas), 14:26.00
- 200 Backstroke: Hubert Kos (Texas), 1:35.72
- 100 Freestyle: Jordan Crooks (Tennessee), 40.26
- 200 Breaststroke: Matt Fallon (Penn), 1:48.85
- 200 Butterfly: Luca Urlando (Georgia), 1:37.17
- 400 Freestyle Relay: Tennessee, 2:42.41
