Not surprised that
Ali has sneaked under most people's radar, just as with
Madds last year (zero mention in the article below). Which is sort of to our advantage as will take some pressure off Harrison in terms of expectations & pressure.
As I've opined on multiple occasions,
Ali has considerable upside in her
breast (not too shabby in her
50 free either), and with a bit further development in her sprint breast, could realistically slot into the breast leg of our
200 medley relay, thus freeing
Abbey to take over the anchor free spot with
Farida's graduation.
As for the
longer medley relay,
Ali could vie for the breast position along with
Sarah &
Dannie - not to discount
Maija who's another viable option, esp if she can, in her last season of eligibility, impressively drop the sort of time that she did @ 2017 Pac-12s, though Roses has historically been more distance-oriented.
UrsusArctosCalifornicus said:
Armed with the data-centric info in the above quoted posts from Oct 2016 (a special thanks goes out to beaverbear & BearDevil), let's look at SwimSwam's preview of the Top 12 women's programmes from the 2017 NCAA Championships.
Note that the ranking here doesn't actually denote predicted order of finish @ 2018 NCAAs - that will come later, starting this autumn with their ongoing "power ranking" series of articles.
This is merely where the respective teams stood at the conclusion of last season's 2017 NCAA Champs.
2017-2018 WOMEN'S NCAA POWER RANKINGS: FIRST EDITION...our initial rankings for the 2017-2018 season:
(Also receiving votes: Arizona, Arizona State, Northwestern, Purdue, UNC)#20:
FLORIDA GATORS (2017 NCAA FINISH: N/A)
#19:
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (2017 NCAA FINISH: 27TH)
#18:
AUBURN TIGERS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 18TH)
#17:
VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 12TH)
#16:
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 22ND)
#15:
OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (2017 NCAA FINISH: 19TH)
#14:
WISCONSIN BADGERS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 15TH)
#13:
KENTUCKY WILDCATS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 14TH)
#12:
MISSOURI TIGERS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 13TH)
#11:
MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 10TH)
#10:
INDIANA HOOSIERS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 8TH)
#9:
NC STATE WOLFPACK (2017 NCAA FINISH: 7TH)
#8:
USC TROJANS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 9TH)
#7:
MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (2017 NCAA FINISH: 11TH)
#6:
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 6TH)
#5:
TEXAS LONGHORNS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 5TH)
#4:
GEORGIA BULLDOGS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 4TH)
#3:
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (2017 NCAA FINISH: 3RD)
#2:
CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (2017 NCAA FINISH: 2ND)
If it weren't for Stanford, maybe it would be the talent on Cal's roster causing swim fans to worry that the entire NCAA will pack it up and sit out the season in a protest for parity. (No joke, that worry has actually been stated in our comment section).
Abbey Weitzeil scored 25 individual NCAA points without even scratching the surface of her potential.
Kathleen Baker is approaching international icon status after silver medals in Rio and Budapest.
Maddie Murphy turned out to be a diamond in the rough as a rookie. Getting
Katie McLaughlin and
Amy Bilquist back to full strength would put this team into scary territory. It's an international-heavy recruiting class, but
Robin Neumann (Netherlands) and
Sarah Darcel (Canada) look like big gets.
#1:
STANFORD CARDINAL (2017 NCAA FINISH: 1ST)
Was there ever any doubt?
Ella Eastin and
Simone Manuel are proving a cut above anyone else in their events.
Katie Ledecky is Katie Ledecky.
Ally Howe and
Janet Hu were some of the NCAA's highest scorers without even having their best times at nationals. Add in a recruiting class that includes 5 of our top 20 recruits and you've got an easy consensus #1.
Brooke Forde is probably the best incoming freshman in the nation with three NCAA scoring times. Could
Grace Zhao fill the team's only true hole, breaststroke? That's basically the most burning question about this roster, and it amounts to whether Stanford is the best team in the NCAA by a lot or by a whole lot.
FULL RANKING BALLOTSJARED | BRADEN | KARL | TORREY#1 | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford
#2 | Cal | Cal | Cal | Cal
#3 | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | Texas A&M
#4 | Texas | Louisville | Georgia | Texas
#5 | Georgia | Georgia | Michigan | Louisville
#6 | Michigan | Michigan | Louisville | Georgia
#7 | Louisville | Texas | Texas | Michigan
#8 | USC | USC | NC State | USC
#9 | NC State | Indiana | USC | NC State
#10 | Minnesota | NC State | Indiana | Indiana
#11 | Indiana | Minnesota | Kentucky | Minnesota
#12 | Missouri | Missouri | Missouri | Missouri
#13 | Kentucky | Auburn | Minnesota | Kentucky
#14 | Tennessee | Kentucky | Wisconsin | Tennessee
#15 | Wisconsin | Ohio State | Florida | Ohio State
#16 | Ohio State | Wisconsin | Virginia | Wisconsin
#17 | Virginia | Florida State | Tennessee | Virginia
#18 | Florida State | Virginia | Ohio State | Arizona
#19 | Arizona State | UNC | Auburn | Florida State
#20 | Northwestern | Purdue | UNC | UNC
https://swimswam.com/2017-2018-womens-ncaa-power-rankings-first-edition/