College Invite Roundup: Quick hits around the NCAA for the weekend of Nov. 20-23

This past weekend saw the first flood of NCAA mid-season rest invites. With exciting action going on in every corner of the country, even the most dedicated of swimming fans certainly missed a meet or two along the way. Well, SwimSwam’s got you covered, college swimming fans, with this list of rapid-fire breakdowns from each of the major college invites to happen last week.

We’ve included links to live results and meet recaps when possible, plus pulled out any swimmers who hit NCAA Division I “A” cuts – the times that automatically qualify an athlete to swim at the national championships.  13 swimmers have already hit at least 1 “A” cut, 8 women and 5 men.

In addition, 4 women’s teams and 2 men’s team have hit at least 1 NCAA automatic relay qualifying standard. If a team hits the “automatic qualifying standard” (essentially an “A” cut) in just one relay, they are eligible to bring all of its other “provisional standard” (essentially a “B” cut) relays along to the meet. We’ve included all “automatic qualifying standard” relays in with the other “A” cuts.

Art Adamson Invite

Hosted by Texas A&M
Featuring Texas A&M, Stanford, LSU, Boise State, Arizona State, SMU, Grand Canyon and TCU
Full results
Meet recap

Simone Manuel broke the laws of physics with a 45.8 freestyle split on the 400 medley and Stanford’s relays – all 5 of them – look like NCAA contenders, if not favorites. Still, the Cardinal lost the team title to Texas A&M, which got a beastly 4:04.92 400 IM from Sarah Henry. On the men’s side, Dave Nolan was fast for the winning Stanford men, including a 1:43.24 in the 200 IM.

NCAA A cuts: Simone Manuel, Stanford (50, 100, 200 free), Lia Neal, Stanford (100 free), Sarah Henry, Texas A&M (400 IM), Stanford women (200, 400, 800 free relays, 200, 400 medley relays), Texas A&M women (400 free relay, 400 medley relay), Stanford men (400 free relay)

Nike Cup

Hosted by the University of North Carolina
Featuring Tennessee, UNC, NC State, Duke, East Carolina, Old Dominion, Michigan, James Madison, Air Force, Navy
Full results: Meet Mobile
Meet recap

Tennessee’s women took home the title, led by a big 200 breast win from Molly Hannis and some solid sprinting from Faith Johnson. On the men’s side, NC State rode its stable of powerhouse sprinters to the title, though the host Tar Heels put up a great fight. Evan Pinion had the swim of the meet, going 14:42.04 to win the mile in the fastest time in the nation so far.

NCAA A cuts: Molly Hannis, Tennessee (200 breast), Evan Pinion, Tennessee (1650 free), Peter Kropp, Duke (100 breast)

Missouri Invite

Hosted by Missouri
Featuring Missouri, Drury, West Virginia, UNLV, Missouri S&T, Florida International, Nebraska, Illinois, New Mexico, Northern Colorado
Full results
Meet recap

Dani Barbiea hit the nation’s first NCAA “A” cut (just hours before Manuel did it in College Station) with her prelim 100 fly time of 51.59 to lead Mizzou to the women’s title. Sam Tierney was dominant for the men, putting up two huge breaststroke swims (51.68 and 1:52.67). UNLV sprinter Dillon Virva (19.56 in the 50) and Mizzou IMer Mack Darragh (1:45.50 and 3:45.58) also had strong showings.

NCAA A cuts: Dani Barbiea, Missouri (100 fly), Sam Tierney, Missouri (100, 200 breast), Missouri men (200 free relay), Missouri women (400 medley relay, 200 free relay)

Georgia Tech Invite

Hosted by Georgia Tech
Featuring Florida, Arkansas, Florida State, Florida Gulf Coast, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Florida Atlantic, Miami, Bowling Green, Colorado State, Indian River, South Carolina, Campbell, Auburn, Clemson, Utah, Tulane, College of Charleston
Full results
Meet recap

Roughly the entire state of Florida headed north to participate in the Georgia Tech invite, with the Florida Gators easily topping all comers. Jess Thielmann won the 500, 1650 and 400 IM for Florida, hitting an NCAA “A” cut in the mile. The men’s meet featured a trio of great races between Georgia Tech’s Andrew Kosic and Florida’s Caeleb Dressel, with Dressel winning the 50 free (19.31) and 100 fly (46.60) but Kosic taking the 100 free (42.74).

NCAA A cuts: Jess Thielmann, Florida (1650 free), Dan Wallace, Florida (500 free), Florida women (200, 400 free relays)

Minneapolis Grand Prix

Hosted by Minnesota
Featuring (college programs) Minnesota, Purdue
Full results
Meet recap

Focusing only on the college action at this pro-dominated meet, the Big Ten conference saw some great times out of the host Minnesota Gophers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Kierra Smith came up big for the Gopher women, cracking a minute in the 100 breast and hitting an A cut in the 200 breast in 2:05.12, only about a second off the U.S. Open record. Purdue’s male breaststrokers were also great, with Marat Amaltdinov going 1:54.46 to beat a handful of Olympians in the 200 breast.

NCAA A cuts: Kierra Smith, Minnesota (200 breast)

Ohio State Invite

Hosted by Ohio State
Featuring Ohio State, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Kenyon, Purdue, Virginia (divers), Miami (divers)
Full results
Meet recap

Kentucky senior Tina Bechtel stole the show in Ohio State, hitting A cuts in both butterfly events during blowout wins; she now sits first in the nation in both races (51.11 and 1:52.36). It was the Purdue women who took the meet, though, with freshman Abby Jagdfeld coming up with a pair of big freestyle wins. On the men’s side, Ohio State ran away with things, led by a pair of wins from Tamas Gercsak, though the swim of the meet might have been Wisconsin backstroker Drew teDuits, who went 1:41.96 in the 200 back.

NCAA A cuts: Tina Bechtel, Kentucky (100, 200 fly), Kentucky women (800 free relay)

H2Okie Invite

Hosted by Virginia Tech
Featuring Virginia Tech, Alabama, South Carolina, Villanova, William & Mary, Ohio, Liberty
Full results
Meet recap

Alabama had the flashiest swims – including a screaming 19.11 from Kristian Gkolomeev in the 50 – but Virginia Tech had the depth to win both team titles. The H2Okies broke multiple pool records courtesy of Collin Higgins (200 back, 1:42.69), Morgan Latimer (200 fly, 1:44.30) and Klaudia Nazieblo (200 fly, 1:55.90, pool and school record) en route to their titles. Alabama’s Kaylin Burchell had one of the meet’s breakout swims, going 59.67 to break the pool record in the 100 breast and rise towards the top of the NCAA.

NCAA A cuts: Kristian Gkolomeev, Alabama (50 free)

A3 Performance Invitational

Hosted by UC-San Diego
Featuring San Diego State, UCLA, UC-Santa Barbara, Hawaii, San Jose State, UC-San Diego, Cal-Poly, Fresno State, Cal Baptist, University of San Diego, Cal State-Bakersfield, Loyola Marymount, USC, La Verne
Full results
Meet recap

San Diego State ran away with this one, led by star sophomore Anika Apostalon‘s three wins. Her 100 back time of 52.10 now sits #1 in the nation, and she also won the 50 and 100 frees. UCLA had some nice swims, including a 1:56.68 200 fly from Noelle Tarazona and a 1:55.91 200 back from Madison White on the final day. Pac-12 foe USC showed up, but only to swim some relays, though those were impressive; most notable was the 1:34.19 leadoff leg from sophomore Dylan Carter on the 800 free relay.

Louisville Invite

Hosted by Louisville
Featuring Louisville, Western Kentucky, UConn, Missouri State, Southern Illinois
Full results
Meet recap

Louisville took care of business at their home invite, breaking multiple pool records en route to wins in both genders. Kelsi Worrell was smashing in the sprints while Tanja Kylliainen rolled to a stealthy (like a ninja!) 400 IM win in one of the nation’s top times. Freshman Carlos Claverie was impressive in the 200 breast for the Cardinal men, and Pedro Coutinho‘s 100 fly was another high point. Missouri State also got a couple of nice swims from senior Paul Le.

Patriot Invite

Hosted by George Mason
Featuring George Mason, UNC-Wilmington, George Washington, Richmond, Seton Hall, American, UMBC, Shippensburg, Howard
Full results
Meet recap

George Mason ran away with the points at their home invite, getting three huge wins from Emily Escobedo on the women’s side. For the men, Travis Lauri came up with a big triple. UNC-Wilmington’s Valtteri Halonen was also a standout, though, sweeping the backstrokes by wide margins.

House of Champions Invitational

Hosted by IUPUI
Featuring IUPUI, UW-Green Bay, Evansville, Lewis, Indianapolis, Butler, Bellarmine, Western Illinois, Centre College, Eastern Illinois
Full results
Meet recap

Hosts Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis broke 8 school records, taking the women’s meet and falling just short on the men’s side to the University of Indianapolis. Jenny Oleksiak and Lexi Laird each won twice for the IUPUI Jaguar women; Oleksiak won the 200 IM and 100 breast while Laird swept the backstrokes. On the men’s side, Justin Rosillo led Indianapolis to the win by sweeping the 50 and 100 frees.

Pittsburgh Invite

Hosted by Pittsburgh
Featuring Pitt, California (Pa.), St. Bonaventure, West Virginia Wesleyan, Drexel, Fairmont State, IUP, Lock Haven, West Chester, Clemson
Full results
Meet recap

The Pitt Panthers swept their home invite by large margins on both sides. Freshman Amanda Richey was everywhere for the Lady Panthers, winning five individual events (500 free, 400 IM, 200 free, 1650 free and 200 back), most of them by large amounts. Sophomore Zack Lierley won both IMs for the Pitt men, but the biggest individual winner was West Chester’s Victor Polyakov, who took the 200, 500 and 1650 frees.

TYR Invitational

Hosted by Northwestern
Featuring Northwestern, Michigan State, Air Force, University of Illinois – Chicago, Saint Louis, Truman State, Northern Iowa
Full results: Men…………..Women
Meet recap

Michigan State won the men’s meet, getting four wins from Alec Kandt, who swept the 50, 100 and 200 breaststrokes and also won the 200 IM. The home Northwestern squad was led by Jordan Wilimovsky, who probably had the best night of all, though, winning the 500 free, 400 IM and 1650 free, plus jumping into the top 5 in the nation in the mile. Lacey Locke won three times to lead the Northwestern women to the win – Locke swept the 50, 100 and 200 backs.

Kansas Classic

Hosted by Kansas
Featuring Kansas, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Nebraska-Omaha, Tabor
Full results

Chelsie Miller won three times to help the Kansas Jayhawks win their home invitational. Miller took the 500 free, 400 IM and 200 fly for Kansas, which won 12 of the 18 events. Iowa State took second with Amanda Paulson taking the 50 free and 100 fly.

Frank Elm Invite

Hosted by Rutgers
Featuring Rutgers, Northeastern, Navy, Idaho, Wagner, Long Island University Post, James Madison, Columbia, Central Connecticut State, New Hampshire, Sacred Heart, College of New Jersey
Full results
Full team scores

Northeastern University won the women’s-only invite at Rutgers over the weekend, led by some big-swimming freshmen. Sara Touchette-McGowan (50 free) and Samira Hoesl (100 breast) were rookie winners while senior Megan Foran (200 free) provided veteran leadership with a win of her own. New Hampshire’s Katie Mann was unstoppable, stealing titles in the 200 breast, 200 IM and 400 IM.

Wingate Fall Frenzy

Hosted by Wingate
Featuring Queens, West Florida, Gardner-Webb, College of Charleston, Wingate, Georgia Southern, Limestone, Carson-Newman, UNC-Asheville, Pfeiffer, Catawba, Mars Hill, Sau, Lenoir-Rhyne
Full results

Caroline and Nicholas Arakelian helped lead Queens to double victories at the Wingate Fall Frenzy. Carolina Arakelian won three times on the women’s side, taking the 500 free, the 400 IM and the 200 back, all in blowout wins. Also winning big on the women’s side was Hannah Peiffer, who took the 200 IM, 100 fly and 100 back. Nicholas Arakelian won the 500 free and 400 IM, joining with Matt Josa (200 IM, 200 back winner) to help the Queens men triumph.

Pearland Invitational

Hosted by Houston
Featuring Rice, Tulane, North Texas, Houston
Full results

Casey Clark was everywhere for Rice, leading the Owls to the win at Houston’s women’s-only Pearland Invitational. Clark won the 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, 100 free and 200 free, plus would have won the 100 back, had she made the A final (Clark’s winning time in the consols was the fastest of the meet). Also swimming well was Tulane’s Mia Schachter, who won the 50 free and 100 breast to help her team take second overall.