Louisville Men Come Out Hot in Final Prelims Session at 2013 Big East Championships

The final day of the 2013 Big East Championships in Indianapolis are through prelims; while there weren’t quite as many headlines as there were on previous days of the meet, but the session had a lot of “setup”. Based on the results from this morning, it seems unlikely that the championships will be going anywhere but Notre Dame (men) and Louisville (women).

Women’s Recap

That’s despite the Notre Dame women starting off strong with the top two seeds in the 200 backstroke from Kimberly Holden (1:55.00) and Kelly Ryan (1:56.10). That result leaves Holden just a few tenths from the Meet Record of former Rutgers great Kelly Harrigan, set back in 2006.

Louisville, though, held serve by getting the next three spots in that same A-Final.

Kelsi Worrell, already with a league record in the 100 fly, swam another lifetime best in the 100 free with a 49.12. Of course, Worrell’s butterfly was much less developed coming to Louisville than was her sprinting (she dropped three full seconds as a freshman in the former event), but we’d have to imagine she has a 48 in her for finals. Her teammate Breann McDowell, winner of the 200 already, is 2nd in 49.42, with Kristina Brandenburg 3rd in 50.08. 5 total A-Finalists sets up for a good 400 free relay tonight from the Cardinals.

Emma Reaney cruised through the 200 breaststroke prelim in 2:09.49. That’s still roughly two-seconds slower than what she was mid-season, though as she learned in the 100, there’s no real reason to push herself too hard in prelims. Even with an impressive three-second drop, Pitt’s Veronica Lee, the 2nd seed, was only at a 2:12.94.

Tanja Kyllianen toppped the final women’s event of the morning, swimming a 1:56.42. Hayley Edwards of Villanova, winner of the 500 already at this meet, is 2nd in 1:59.1 followed by Louisville freshman Devon Bibault in 1:59.2.

After what we saw in her 400 IM, expect that Kyllianen is biding her time through a challenging event schedule, and will be faster in prelims. There, she’ll be chasing the 1:54 Big East Record (which has the right swimmer, but the wrong time, on the official results – West Virginia’s Mandie Nugent).

Up/Downs

Note that these up/downs don’t include diving, which are making their debut as a scoring event at this year’s Big East Championships.

Women’s Team Standings through 3 Days
1. Louisville, University of 592
2. Notre Dame, University of 538
3. Pittsburgh, University of 298
4. Rutgers University 281.5
5. Villanova University 263
6. Cincinnati, University of 197.5
7. Connecticut, University of 185
8. Georgetown University 92
9. Seton Hall University 90
10. Providence College 60

Men’s Recap

The margin for Louisville may be too much to overcome on this final day, but they’re still going to leave an impact on the final session it would seem. They started prelims with taking three of the top four seeds in the 200 back, led by a 1:45.21 from freshman Nolan Tesone. With that swim, the rookie will be a big favorite to take a second event title after winning the 400 IM on Friday.

Louisville again dominated a Frank Dyer-less 100 freestyle, taking all of the top four seeds this time. Carlyle Blondell is number one with a 43.17 and Joao de Lucca is second in 43.68. Neither of those men were season-bests in this race, but based on the relay splits we know that de Lucca can get to at least a 42-low on a flat-start here.

Pitt’s David Sweeney is the 5th seed in 44.54, leading three in the top eight for them, and Notre Dame’s John McGinley will round out the A-final with a 44.66 for 6th.

After a disappointing placement yesterday in the shorter breaststroke, the Louisville men look destined to not let that happen again in the 200. Addison Bray is the top seed by far in 1:55.90, with Michael Haefner 2nd in 1:58.38. The 100 runner-up, Zach Stephens is hiding back in 4th though, a second slower than his season best, so he may make an early run, at least, at Bray, who pushes the pace on the first 100 of his swim.

And finally, in the last event, Notre Dame broke the Cardinals’ run of top seeds with a 1:45.35 in the 200 fly, followed by Pitt’s Jonathan Lierley in 1:47.68. Louisville’s  Juan Lopez, the top seed coming into the meet, will be in the final with a 5th-place finish in the heats.

Up/Downs

Keep in mind that these up/downs are without platform diving, which will make its debut as a scoring event at this year’s meet. That should be an event that is in Notre Dame’s favor.

Team Standings after 3 Days

1. Notre Dame, University of 703
2. Louisville, University of 522
3. Pittsburgh, University of 379.5
4. Connecticut, University of 301.5
5. Cincinnati, University of 177
6. Georgetown University 146
7. Seton Hall University 118
8. Villanova University 110
9. Providence College 79