When you're looking at making up points, the easiest way to do that is to see what the favorite does best and try to cut into that margin.
As mentioned in a previous article, San Diego State is the pre-meet favorite heading into this week's Mountain West Conference Championships, which get underway Wednesday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. San Diego State excels in the freestyle distances, namely the 500-yard, the 1,000 and the 1,650. The Aztec women are projected to score a whopping 77 in the 500, 67 in the 1,000 and 59 in the 1,650. That's 203 points out of their projected 852. If the Broncos can cut into some of that strength and increase their own point totals in those three events, the team scoring will be much closer than the projected 125-point difference for San Diego State.
Seniors Amber Boucher and Stephanie North must come through in their respective events and lead their relay teams to titles. Boise State is favored in three of the five relays and they are seeded second in the other two. Anything less than that will make it tough for the Broncos to capture the hardware.
Jenn Cahill is the only Bronco in the top 16 in the 1,000-yard freestyle event, seeded 14th. Cahill must get some friends with her to score points. Instead of three points, the Broncos probably need a minimum of 10 here, and preferable ahead of some SDSU swimmers. In the 1,650, freshmen Megan Myers and Emily Blasko are slated to get nine points between them. Since San Diego State is projected to get 59, the two frosh must do better. To win the team title, Myers and Blasko probably need a minimum of 15 points between them.
Freshman Jessica Bottelberghe is another key. In the 500 freestyle, she is seeded 11th, with three San Diego State swimmers within range. In the 200-yard individual medley, Jessica is seeded fifth, and needs to beat at least one of the SDSU swimmers (who are seeded first and third). Bottelberghe is the fourth seed in the 200-yard backstroke and can pick up valuable points there with a breakthrough performance. She is within a second of the top seed and would gain more for her team if she can top Leona Jennings of the Aztecs, the #2 seed. Bottelberghe is seeded ninth in the 100 butterfly, with two San Diego State swimmers directly in front of her. She can pick up more points for Boise State here.
Christine Raininger is another key swimmer for the Broncos, seeded 10th in the 200 butterfly. She is 1.5 seconds out of seventh place. That's three more points for Boise State. Raininger is seeded a close second in the 400 individual medley behind San Diego State's Melanie Garibaldi. Head-to-head performance is the easiest way to make up the team point difference and in this event alone, Raininger can pick up six points for Boise State if she can win the IM. Raininger is also within a second of scoring six points in the 100-yard breaststroke.
It's going to take more than this to wrest the title away from the Aztecs, as the events outlined above only account for an additional 52 points. The Broncos would still be 73 points behind in second place. Sidney Johansen in the 50-yard freestyle is 2/10th's of a second away from scoring four points. Freshmen have amazing capacity for improvement, especially later in the year. Blasko is within a second of scoring three points in the 200-yard free. Myers, Blasko and sophomore Brooke Balogh are all within four seconds of scoring four points in the 500-free. If two of the trio can knock two seeded San Diego State swimmers out of the point total, it would be a huge benefit to Boise State.
Nikki Cannon is with 3/10th's of a second in scoring four points in the 100 backstroke. Freshman Emily Campbell is within two seconds of scoring points in the 200 breaststroke. Sophomore Chelsea Miller is within a second of scoring five points in the 200-yard individual medley.
With Boucher and North both swimming for Boise State in the 200 freestyle relay, Boise State has to win that event. They are 23/100th's of a point away from top seed UNLV, which would give Boise State six more points over projection. They are just 31/100th's of a point away from the Rebels in the 400 medley relay, a chance to pick up six additional points.
Then we have the diving events. Burnett has shown she has the form to win, as evidenced by her top seed in the platform event. Burnett & Ciera Cortney are projected to score 16 in the one-meter event and are certainly within range to score another five over projection.
That's a lot of ifs, but championship athletes come through in championship events. Boise State experienced the joy the last two years in winning the WAC title. In the tougher Mountain West, it's going to take that same great effort.
As mentioned in a previous article, San Diego State is the pre-meet favorite heading into this week's Mountain West Conference Championships, which get underway Wednesday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. San Diego State excels in the freestyle distances, namely the 500-yard, the 1,000 and the 1,650. The Aztec women are projected to score a whopping 77 in the 500, 67 in the 1,000 and 59 in the 1,650. That's 203 points out of their projected 852. If the Broncos can cut into some of that strength and increase their own point totals in those three events, the team scoring will be much closer than the projected 125-point difference for San Diego State.
Seniors Amber Boucher and Stephanie North must come through in their respective events and lead their relay teams to titles. Boise State is favored in three of the five relays and they are seeded second in the other two. Anything less than that will make it tough for the Broncos to capture the hardware.
Jenn Cahill is the only Bronco in the top 16 in the 1,000-yard freestyle event, seeded 14th. Cahill must get some friends with her to score points. Instead of three points, the Broncos probably need a minimum of 10 here, and preferable ahead of some SDSU swimmers. In the 1,650, freshmen Megan Myers and Emily Blasko are slated to get nine points between them. Since San Diego State is projected to get 59, the two frosh must do better. To win the team title, Myers and Blasko probably need a minimum of 15 points between them.
Freshman Jessica Bottelberghe is another key. In the 500 freestyle, she is seeded 11th, with three San Diego State swimmers within range. In the 200-yard individual medley, Jessica is seeded fifth, and needs to beat at least one of the SDSU swimmers (who are seeded first and third). Bottelberghe is the fourth seed in the 200-yard backstroke and can pick up valuable points there with a breakthrough performance. She is within a second of the top seed and would gain more for her team if she can top Leona Jennings of the Aztecs, the #2 seed. Bottelberghe is seeded ninth in the 100 butterfly, with two San Diego State swimmers directly in front of her. She can pick up more points for Boise State here.
Christine Raininger is another key swimmer for the Broncos, seeded 10th in the 200 butterfly. She is 1.5 seconds out of seventh place. That's three more points for Boise State. Raininger is seeded a close second in the 400 individual medley behind San Diego State's Melanie Garibaldi. Head-to-head performance is the easiest way to make up the team point difference and in this event alone, Raininger can pick up six points for Boise State if she can win the IM. Raininger is also within a second of scoring six points in the 100-yard breaststroke.
It's going to take more than this to wrest the title away from the Aztecs, as the events outlined above only account for an additional 52 points. The Broncos would still be 73 points behind in second place. Sidney Johansen in the 50-yard freestyle is 2/10th's of a second away from scoring four points. Freshmen have amazing capacity for improvement, especially later in the year. Blasko is within a second of scoring three points in the 200-yard free. Myers, Blasko and sophomore Brooke Balogh are all within four seconds of scoring four points in the 500-free. If two of the trio can knock two seeded San Diego State swimmers out of the point total, it would be a huge benefit to Boise State.
Nikki Cannon is with 3/10th's of a second in scoring four points in the 100 backstroke. Freshman Emily Campbell is within two seconds of scoring points in the 200 breaststroke. Sophomore Chelsea Miller is within a second of scoring five points in the 200-yard individual medley.
With Boucher and North both swimming for Boise State in the 200 freestyle relay, Boise State has to win that event. They are 23/100th's of a point away from top seed UNLV, which would give Boise State six more points over projection. They are just 31/100th's of a point away from the Rebels in the 400 medley relay, a chance to pick up six additional points.
Then we have the diving events. Burnett has shown she has the form to win, as evidenced by her top seed in the platform event. Burnett & Ciera Cortney are projected to score 16 in the one-meter event and are certainly within range to score another five over projection.
That's a lot of ifs, but championship athletes come through in championship events. Boise State experienced the joy the last two years in winning the WAC title. In the tougher Mountain West, it's going to take that same great effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment