Stanford Women, Texas Men Get Big Starts in First CSCAA College Swimming Poll; Grand Valley State and Ashland Top D-II

The College Swim Coaches Association of America has released the first TYR/CSCAA poll of the 2010-2011 season.

On the men’s side, the defending champion Texas Longhorns sit in first place, with Cal and Stanford tied for the second most votes. The Florida Gators, who lost a ton off of their squad from last season, have looked very good early. They do have three big swimmers who are recently returned from the Commonwealth Games, however, so their early-season times may be a little inflated.

The big movers, based on last year’s end-of-season polls, are no. 9 North Carolina, no. 16 Alabama, and no. 18 UNLV. North Carolina is 4-0 on the season including a dominating win over top-15 team Georgia. Alabama and UNLV both have early-season wins against top-10 competition, with the Crimson Tide knocking of in-state rivals no. 7 Auburn, and UNLV taking down no. 5 Arizona.

As these are dual-meet rankings, they do not necessarily reflect how well a team will finish at NCAA’s. A team like Purdue, for example, will finish in the top 15 on the strength of their divers alone, but in a dual meet format do not fare as well. Other teams that put huge emphasis at NCAA’s, like Texas A&M, will also show up lower in this poll than their expected NCAA finish.

On the women’s side, Stanford, who recently knocked off Florida on one leg of a tri-meet, sits in first place. Georgia, who has also beaten Florida this season, is second. The defending-National-Champion Gators, who are currently competing without Teresa Crippen, one of their biggest scorers and leaders, still held on to fourth on the strength of outstanding early-season swimming from freshman Elizabeth Beisel.

The Texas women, who have early dual-meet wins against top-10 teams Cal (no. 5) and Texas A&M no.8) come in at third place in the first poll. The Texas women have been one of the strongest dual meet teams in the country in recent years, but their challenge this year will be to turn that dual meet success into Championship success.

The top four Big Ten women’s teams are ranked 13th-16th in the latest poll, led by Michigan, which should set up for a great Big Ten Championship in the spring.

The CSCAA also released their Division II polls today.

The Drury Panthers, the defending D-II National Champions for both men and women, begin the season 4th in both polls.

On the women’s side, Grand Valley State have a sizable lead in the first poll. This is on the strength of their 159-84 thumping of no. 2 Ashland. Number 3 UC-San Diego looked strong in winning 5 individual events against Division I UC-Santa Barbara, who received votes in the D-I poll.

The Incarnate Word women, who were 11th at NCAA’s last year, are a darkhorse candidate at the D-II National Championship after being bolstered by a huge transfer. Casey Hurrell-Zitelman, a former three-time school record holder for the powerful Texas A&M women’s program, is finishing out her NCAA eligibility at Incarnate Word and is a virtual lock to win at least two individual National Championships, as well as a leading Swimmer of the Year candidate.

The Ashland Men sit atop the Division II poll after a hot 3-1 start to the dual meet season. The one loss came at the hands of no. 3 Grand Valley State, who probably are the rightful heirs to the number one position. The Missouri Institute of Science and Technology sits second thanks to a high strength of schedule, including two big road wins over no. 9 Ouachita Baptist and, and one over no. 4 Drury. The Incarnate Word men match the women’s number 5 ranking.