Flickinger, MacLean, Conger, Schooling, Murphy On The NCAA A Cut Board

After another weekend of big college meets across the country, let’s take a look at the current swimmers with NCAA “A” cuts under their belts at this point in time.  Still relatively early in the season, but a good mark to see where we’re at within each conference and within the NCAA overall.

Women’s Updates

There was significant movement on the women’s side since our last report in November, with Georgia and Virginia making the most shake-ups in the form of Hali Flickinger, Olivia Smoliga and Brittany MacLean for the Bulldogs and Leah Smith and Courtney Bartholomew for the Cavaliers.

For her part, Flickinger brought her total number of A qualifying standards to 3 now that she claimed cuts in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly events. The Georgia senior is the only swimmer thus far to hold a spot on the A cut list for the women’s 200 freestyle with her time of 1:43.56. That mark came in the lead-off spot of her team’s 800y free relay which took first at the UGA Fall Invitational over the weekend.

Flickinger also hammered home a superb tie in the 500 freestyle (4:35.01) to place 3rd behind the two other swimmers who claimed A cuts in the event, Virginia’s Leah Smith who lowered her already-obtained A cut, and teammate Brittany MacLean, who registered an automatic-qualifying time of 4:33.75.  Then, Flickinger joined Stanford freshman Ella Eastin as the only other woman with an A cut in the women’s 200 butterfly, winning the event at the UGA Invite in a scorching, nation-leading time of 1:52.82.

In addition to her 500 freestyle cut, MacLean also got on the board with an automatic-qualifying time of 15:46.72 in the 1650y freestyle. Virginia backstroker Courtney Bartholomew racked up two cuts of her own in the form of the 100 and 200 backstroke races, scoring times of 50.69 and 1:49.63, respectively.

Men’s Updates

The University of Texas Longhorns were one of two schools who made the most moves on the men’s side of the house. Although the men’s 50y freestyle remained stable with Florida sophomore Caeleb Dressel still holding the only A cut thus far, Texas sophomore Brett Ringgold got on the board in the men’s 100y sprint. His time of 42.04 won the event at this weekend’s Texas Hall of Fame Invite and now ranks him as 3rd in the NCAA.

Longhorn Clark Smith also made his mark big-time in the men’s 500 freestyle this weekend, clearing the A standard by a mile.  Smith posted a 4:08.82 in the 500 freestyle breaking Cristian Quintero‘s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center pool record of 4:10.02 and Michael Klueh‘s Longhorn record of 4:09.32. His swim was the fourth-fastest in history, just missing the American record 4:08.54 set by Peter Vanderkaay back in 2008.

Townley Haas, just a freshman, also earned an A cut for the Longhorns, registering a swift 1650y freestyle time of 14:41.09. Of note, Smith was also in that race, but went for the 1000 American and NCAA record, which he indeed obtained (8:33.93).

In the non-freestyle events, 2-time NCAA champion Will Licon earned an A cut in the 200 breaststroke (1:52.82), while sophomore World Championships bronze medalist Joseph Schooling claimed an A cut in the 100 butterfly in 44.98, as well as the 200 butterfly in 1:40.46. Teammate and all-around stud Jack Conger also snagged an A cut in the 200 fly with his time of 1:41.40. Conger was also a 100 butterfly A cut killer, clocking a time of 45.19.

The 200y freestyle distance was one of the few events on last month’s A cut report that was blank, but the event now has two occupants. Matias Koski from Georgia and Long Gutierrez from California now both top the list with their automatic-qualifying times of 1:33.07 and 1:33.10, respectively.

California men was the other squad that claimed A cuts across several other events from the weekend as well, including multiple NCAA Champion Ryan Murphy in the 100 and 200 backstrokes with his A cuts and nation-leading times of 44.75 and 1:38.35, respectively. Senior teammate Jacob Pebley wrangled in the 200 backstroke mark as well, registering a 1:38.86 over the weekend, while another senior, Josh Prenot, claimed his A cut in the 200 breaststroke in 1:51.71.

The Cal Bears did damage on the 100 butterfly event as well, now Justin Lynch and Gutierrez now holding A cuts in the event with times of 45.66 and 45.80, respectively.

Shout out to the men who got on the board in the 400 IM as well. Jay Litherland, Gunnar Bentz (both from Georgia) and Prenot all now sit atop the list of A cuts, while the 200 IM is still a lonely place to be….no A cuts in that event for the men at this time.

*Within the listing portion, any name in red has claimed a new A cut since our report was last run on 11/21/15.

Current Women’s NCAA “A” Cuts Per Individual Event:

• 50 freestyle (21.86) – Olivia Smoliga (Georgia) 21.82, Liz Li (OSU) 21.83, Beryl Gastaldello (Texas A&M) 21.86
• 100 freestyle (47.79) – Olivia Smoliga (Georgia) 47.69, Lia Neal (Stanford) 47.74, Natalie Hinds (Florida) 47.75), Lia Neal (Stanford) 47.76
• 200 freestyle (1:43.82) – Hali Flickinger (Georgia) 1:43.56, Jackie Keire (Cincinnati) 1:43.58
• 500 freestyle (4:36.30) – Leah Smith (Virginia) 4:30.85, Brittany MacLean (Georgia) 4:33.75, Hali Flickinger (Georgia) 4:35.01
• 1650 freestyle (15:53.50) – Leah Smith (Virginia) 15:39.66, Brittany MacLean (Georgia) 15:46.72
• 100 backstroke (51.51) – Courtney Bartholomew (Virginia) 50.69, Janet Hu (Stanford) 51:45, Olivia Smoliga (Georgia) 51.50
• 200 backstroke (1:51.95) – Courtney Bartholomew  (Virginia) 1:49.63, Tasija Karosas (Texas) 1:50.49, Danielle Galyer (Kentucky) 1:51.52
• 100 breaststroke (59.04) – Sarah Haase (Stanford) 58.27, Lilly King (IU) 58.45, Katharine Ross (Mizzou) 58.66, Andee Cottrell (Louisville) 58.67, Abby Duncan (Mizzou) 58.83, Emily Fogle (Purdue) 58.88
• 200 breaststroke (2:07.42) – Abby Duncan (Mizzou) 2:07.02, Emily Fogle (Purdue) 2:07.30
• 100 butterfly (51.56) – Madeline Banic (Tennessee) 51.19, Annie Ochitwa (Arizona) 51.35, Kelsi Worrell (51.36)
• 200 butterfly (1:54.22) – Hali Flickinger (Georgia) 1:52.82, Ella Eastin (Stanford) 1:53.34
• 200 IM (1:55.35) – Madisyn Cox (Texas) 1:54.29, Ella Eastin (Stanford) 1:54.53, Kaitlyn Jones (Virginia) 1:55.11, Bethany Galat (Texas A&M) 1:55.22
• 400 IM (4:05.37) – Ella Eastin (Stanford) 4:01.04, Bethany Galat (Texas A&M) 4:04.06

Current Men’s NCAA “A” Cuts Per Individual Event:

• 50 freestyle (19.18) – Caeleb Dressel (Florida) 18.77, Michael Chadwick (Mizzou) 19.17
• 100 freestyle (42.37) – Michael Chadwick (Mizzou) 41.89), Caeleb Dressel (Florida) 42.02, Brett Ringgold (Texas) 42.04
• 200 freestyle (1:33.34) – Matias Koski (Georgia) 1:33.07, Long Gutierrez (Cal) 1:33.10
• 500 freestyle (4:13.60) – Clark Smith (Texas) 4:08.82
• 1650 freestyle (14:46.04) – Matthew Hutchins (Wisconsin) 14:38.14, Townley Haas (Texas) 14:41.09, Chris Swanson (Penn) 14:41.54, Evan Pinion (Tennessee) 14:44.23
• 100 backstroke (45.44) – Ryan Murphy (Cal) 44.75, Luke Kaliszak (Alabama) 45.42, Taylor Dale (Georgia) 45.42, Jack Blyzinskyj (45.43)
• 200 backstroke (1:40.33) – Ryan Murphy (Cal) 1:38.35, Jacob Pebley (Cal) 1:38.86, Hennessey Stuart (NC State) 1:40.22, Sean Lehane (Tennessee) 1:40.33
• 100 breaststroke (52.08) – Fabian Schwingenschlogl (Mizzou) 51.36, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) 51.88
• 200 breaststroke (1:53.07) – Josh Prenot (Cal) 1:51.75, Will Licon (Texas, 1:52.82), Anton McKee (Alabama) 1:53.00
• 100 butterfly (45.85) – Joseph Schooling (Texas) 44.98, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) 45.01, Jack Conger (Texas) 45.19, Justin Lynch (Cal) 45.66, Long Gutierrez (Cal) 45.80
• 200 butterfly (1:42.43) – Joseph Schooling (Texas) 1:40.46, Pace Clark (Georgia) 1:40.66, Jack Conger (Texas) 1:41.40, Jan Switkowski (Florida) 1:42.08)
• 200 IM (1:42.51) – None at this time.
• 400 IM (3:41.15) – Jay Litherland (Georgia) 3:38.68, Gunnar Bentz (Georgia) 3:39.61, Josh Prenot (Cal) 3:39:94