2018 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships – Day 3 Ups/Downs
Northern Michigan sophomore Lajos Budai made the championship final in the men's 100 back on Day 3 of 2018 NCAA Division II Championships. Archive photo via Paula Probstfeld/NMU Athletics
For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims at the NCAA National Championships, swimmers and divers qualify for one of two finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, and places 9 through 16, the B final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time, or score the most diving points, of any heat in the final.
With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups,” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, “Down” to swimmers in the B final.
For the first time in the meet, Queens was shut out of an event. No Royals qualified for the 500 free championship or consolation final. But don’t cry for Queens; they could almost go home tonight and still win the meet. While only placing 2 swimmers in A finals, the Royals led the field with 9 overall finalists, and are still expected to win the team contest by well over 250 points. The race for second place among Indy, Drury, Oklahoma Baptist is heating up. Indy continues to outperform the psych sheet, then outperform their prelims places in finals, which is keeping them in second place for the moment. Missouri S&T (+38) and Simon Fraser (+37) were the big point-winners versus the psych sheet on Friday. McKendree and Southern Connecticut also did better than projected.
Men’s Ups/Downs – Day 3
Note: while the 800 free relay is included here in ups/downs, it is misleading in that it is a timed final, not a prelims/finals race.
Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …