2019 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 20th-23rd, 2019
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center – Austin, TX
- Defending Champion: Stanford (2x) (2018 Results)
- Psych Sheet
- Championship Central
The Stanford women have cut two swimmers from their NCAA roster to make room for four qualifying divers. Sophomore Katie Glavinovich has been cut from the NCAA roster for the second-straight year.
The NCAA caps rosters at 18 athletes, with divers each counting as half a roster spot. Stanford qualified 18 swimmers, but had 4 divers qualify through the Zone E Championships shortly after NCAA invites were given out. One was a returner: Haley Farnsworth, who competed at NCAAs in 2016 and 2017. Sophomore Mia Paulsen also made the cut along with two star freshmen: Carolina Sculti and Daria Lenz.
Stanford chose to take all four divers, cutting two swimmers from their roster. They selected Glavinovich (seeded 38th in the 500 free and in the 40s in her other two events) and sophomore Hannah Kukurugya (seeded 30th in the 400 IM and beyond 44th in her other two races). Kukurugya competed at NCAAs her freshman year, placing 21st in the 200 fly, 38th in the 500 free and 24th in the 400 IM. Glavinovich qualified last year with a 33rd-place ranking in the 400 IM, but was cut from the roster.
The cuts do bump up two alternates into the meet, both from South Carolina. Kate Sanderson is into the meet through her 1650 free, while Melinda Novoszath will qualify through the 200 fly. The top alternate, New Mexico’s Adriana Palomino, had already scratched off the alternate list.
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Sorry. You all can talk about how great the stanford education is, or being “part” of a national championship team, but is that value really worth that gap between another top University (and there are many of them!), truly being part of the team at every level, and getting your shot at being an All-American? Personally, I don’t think it is. This is brutal for these girls. And they committed to Stanford as top 20 recruits out of high school. Recruits BEWARE.
I chatted with someone who’s been involved in one of these “over capacity teams” before, and the gist of it was that while they thought that cutting swimmers repeatedly could eventually hurt a team, that it really wasn’t a hard sell to recruits. “Would you rather go to a university with a world class education where the coaching is good enough to send 20 swimmers to NCAAs? Or one where the coaching is only good enough to send 7 swimmers to NCAAs?”
In other words: high school kids are still going to be lured by a Stanford education + the possibility that they, too, could be an Olympian, versus the alternative.
Sharkbait, although they were top 20 recruits out of high school,both girls best seed is 38th and 30th, respectively. Not sure the point you are trying to make? They aren’t necessarily close at all to being All Americans. And if they were they’d be on the roster. They will get another opportunity next year.
You can’t blame the program or Meehan over having to leave people off the roster. I’m sure he doesnt enjoy choosing who to cut people from the ncaa roster.
If I were a coach I would be wanting every year to have this problem because it means that I am doing a great job and am helping as many girls as possible reach their dream.
Sharkbait, I agree with you that these girls could have had it ALL at another school…top notch education AND the NCAA experience. If it were my choice, I would have gone elsewhere, but I’m sure that’s a calculation they made when deciding to go to Stanford. Swimmers make that choice all the time and there’s not a one size fits all choice. Many decide to be lower on the totem pole at a top school/top swim program rather than be top swimmer at a top school with a less prestigious swim program. There’s no right or wrong choice really, but they just have to accept the disappointments when they come. I wonder if it’s worth it to them in hindsight.
I personally know several former Stanford swimmers and 7 out of 8 of them landed careers that could have been achieved with an education from probably 30% of other schools… in other words, it wasn’t critical to get a Stanford education to get them to the end game of where they are today. This is not opinion, it’s 100% fact. So, using the education as rationale for it being ok to be cut from their NCAA team really doesn’t work. I fully respect Stanford’s education, but it’s not critical for the majority of people going to college. Meanwhile, it’s taking away from their overall swimming experience.
Yes Stanford is a top notch education…. but 19/26 of their swimmers major is “undeclared”….mostly freshman and sophomores… Quality education can be found in many places…. it seems that if you are in the top 4% of Division 1 women swimmers (232/5500) that you want to be recognized and given opportunities every other top swimmer receives. Congratulations to both Katie and Hannah for achieving such an accomplishment.
I believe that at Stanford University you can wait until even your junior year to declare your major. Almost half the team are human biology majors (a common pre-med track) as well as another half as engineering majors, with a few computer science majors sprinkled in- something you almost never see on any other D1 swim roster. These girls are getting a world-class education, on top of being on the best team in the country. Seems like a no-brainer to me
Stanford pushes its students hard to declare a major by spring of sophomore year, unless you’re a transfer.
At Stanford, if you are undecided between majors you can shop majors and declare end of sophomore year. The great advantage here is you do not have to apply to a specific school at the university. If you were planning to be a biology major and wake up one morning and decide you want to do CS, you can click a few button on your computer and begin taking CS courses without having to apply to the school. If you get in, you have full options to pursue any major.
If they qualify, why cap a teams size? I understand Standford’s dominance is awesome, but if I was either of these two swimmers I would be requesting a transfer. Especially the woman who was cut two year in a row. She put her hard work in. This isn’t right.
But they are student-athletes. She will still get a Stanford education and be able to say she was part of an NCAA champion team, even if she didn’t attend. Pretty good consolation prize IMO
If she has the academic record and athletic prowess to attend Stanford she can transfer to a just as academically elite school and compete at an ncaa’s that she DESERVES to compete at. I’d imagine with a D1 athlete there’s no such thing as a consolation prize.
Why transfer and give up the Stanford location, education, and national championship potential for a school just to swim prelims at NCAAs…?
Besides. Maybe she wouldn’t have qualified if she went to a different school?
A small refinement to your point – seems like it’s a question of getting a lane to swim in, not attending the meet.
Count how many members of the team were physically at the meet last year (including Glavinovich if I’m not mistaken)
Had friends and teammates who swam with Richard in the 80s and 90’s. You know the deal when you decide to swim there. There’s always several talented athletes that get left off the ncaa roster every year that would make the meet at almost any other school. If take the education any day if I was getting a degree from Stanford at the end of it all. No brainer- most kids go on to a “normal” life after finishing eligibility. Got to pay the bills!
If there is no limit to a team’s roster size, then it ceases to be a team competition. Everyone on the same team!
Sophie Krivokapic Zhou was the first alternate left home last year too. Brutal.
Have to put in those extra yards and practices sometimes to make it happen
She’s at the meet with the rest of Cal!
Kind of crazy that Alabama got two alternates in on the Men’s side and South Carolina got two alternates in on the Womne’s side. Those teams have to feel like they won the lottery.
With the state of Stanford’s women and Texas’s men being as strong as it is, being a top-5 alternate doesn’t seem too bad. If Stanford and Texas keep qualifying 18 swimmers apiece (or more) those top alternates know they’re pretty much guaranteed a spot.
Brutal for Glavinovich. Hope she gets a shot next year. Stanford and Texas should look at sending their stellar non-NCAA swimmers to the NIC Championships, seemed to have went well this past season and will give those unlucky athletes who don’t get a spot on the NCAA roster a chance to shine.
It is very sad. Glavinovich of Stanford has trained so hard through the year but at the meet some Athletes has mental block and did not perform as well, Michael Jordan had bad performance happened to him too. We just have to keep trying “NEVER GIVE UP” NEGU 👍❤️