Georgia’s Boggs Scratches; First-Alternate Rhi Sheets Called Up to NCAA Championships

Thursday saw the first post-psych sheet scratch of the 2014 NCAA women’s championships, as Georgia’s Olivia Boggs has pulled out of the meet. Boggs was seeded 39th, and as the last invitee, into the 200 breaststroke, and was also entered in the 200 free (53rd) and 100 breast (44th).

In her place, per NCAA rules, the next 200 breaststroker doesn’t get taken. That would have been UNC’s Abby Fisher, if Boggs had scratched before the final cuts were made.

Instead, the swimmers closest to the NCAA Championship Record in their respective event among those ranked 40th in the country goes. In this case, it’s Purdue’s Rhi Sheets, who gets in thanks to her 1:46.03 in the 200 free. Her other entries will be the 100 fly and the 200 fly (she was also ranked 40th in the 200 fly). This means she’s entered for back-to-back races on the meet’s second day.

Sheets has now qualified for NCAA’s in all three of her seasons at Purdue. The Boilermakers now have three swimmers qualified for the meet individually (Francesca Marr and Carly Mercer are the other two), while Georgia is down to 16. Both teams are expected to supplement that with divers at Zone Championships that begin next week.

We’ve updated psych sheets, invite lists, etc. at this link.

Now it’s Fisher who is the 1st alternate for the meet. Below are the 7 in order they’ll be taken if there are more scratches pre-meet:

1. Abby Fisher, UNC
2. Anna Senko, UCLA
3. Natasha Lloyd, Auburn
4. Anna Neumeister, Georgia
5. Hannah Freyman, NC State
6. Jessica Powers, Buffalo
7. Jennifer Roberts, New Hampshire