2019 Men’s Pac-12 Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2019 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 6 – Saturday, March 9 (Diving Feb. 27-March 2)
• Federal Way, WA (Pacific Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Cal (1x) (results)
• Live results
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Day 2 Finals recap
• Day 3 Prelims heat sheet

Day 3 of the men’s Pac-12 Champs will feature the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back. the 400 medley relay will also be swum in tonight’s finals session. The Biggest news coming into this morning is that Andrew Seliskar will not be swimming the 400 IM, and rather is opting for the 200 free today. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t mean all that much, but in this case, Seliskar hasn’t competed in the 400 IM this season, so that means he would need to swim it at a last chance met to be eligible to qualify. So, at this point, it seems most likely that Seliskar will instead be focusing on the 200 free for NCAAs.

Additionally, we’ll get to see Carsten Vissering, Reece Whitley, Carson Sand, Matt Anderson, etc. will be going at it in the 100 breast, which is sure to be a good race. With Seliskar out of the 400 IM, a crowded field is looking more open with Sean Grieshop, Alex Liang, Abrahm DeVine (defending NCAA champ), Mike Thomas, and Trenton Julian all gunning for the title.

400 IM – Prelims:

• Pac-12 Champ: Andrew Seliskar – 3:38.65
• Pac-12: Abrahm DeVine – 3:35.29
• NCAA: Chase Kalisz – 3:33.42

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. David Schlicht (UA) – 4:42.29
2. Mike Thomas (Cal) – 3:42.82
3. Sean Grieshop (Cal) – 3:43.05
4. Sam Iida (UA) – 3:43.07
5. Alex Liang (Stan) – 3:44.34
6. Etay Gurevich (UA) – 3:44.52
7. Chris Jhong (Cal) – 3:44.61
8. Ken Takahashi (Cal) – 3:45.21

David Schlicht, a recent addition to the Arizona roster (sometime this semester), shattered his season best of 3:55, taking the top seed tonight in a crowded field of 400 IM’ers. Schlicht hails from Australia, where he has competed for Team Australia on numerous international teams. Cal earned 4 swimmers to the A final, keeping up with yesterday’s pace of A finalists.

The defending NCAA champion in this event, Abrahm DeVine, missed the A final, finishing 9th with a 3:45.41. The time was just .02 seconds faster than his seed. We know DeVine is about 10 seconds faster than he swam this morning, so it’s entirely possible he could post the fastest time in the field tonight from the B final. He could also get bumped into the A final if someone scratches the event in finals, which Cal had a few of yesterday.

Arizona junior Etay Gurevich had a massive 11.65 second drop from his season best to land himself in the top 8, coming in this morning. Gurevich transferred from Louisville to Arizona in January. He was the runner-up at ACCs last year with a time of 3:41.30. Another big Arizona drop came from fellow junior Sam Iida, who dropped over 5 seconds from his season best to earn the 4th seed for tonight.

100 FLY – Prelims:

• Pac-12 Champ: Austin Staab – 44.66
• Pac-12: Austin Staab – 44.18
• NCAA: Caeleb Dressel – 42.80

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Zheng Quah (Cal) – 45.74
2. Pawel Sendyk (Cal) – 46.08
3. Alex Valente (USC) – 46.13
4. Khalil Fonder (ASU) – 46.15
5. Chatham Dobbs (ASU) – 46.20
6. Ryan Hoffer (Cal) – 46.23
7. Brad Zdroik (Stan) – 46.27
8. Noah Reid (UA) – 46.32

In a very, very tight field this morning, Cal advanced another 3 A finalists, while USC and ASU picked up their first A finalists of the day. Zheng Quah was the only swimmer under 46 seconds in the field, while 2nd through 8th were separated by just .24 seconds. 9th was USC’s Nikola Miljenic, who was just behind at 46.47.

Another interesting note, 5 of the 8 A finalists added time from their season bests. The 3 who dropped time were Pawel Sendyk (0.45 seconds), Khalil Fonder (0.75 seconds), and Brad Zdroik (0.04 seconds). Based on season bests, Cal could potentially go 1-2-3 tonight, but with this tight of a field, really anything could happen.

200 FREE – Prelims:

• Pac-12 Champ: Cameron Craig – 1:31.71
• Pac-12: Andrew Seliskar – 1:30.86
• NCAA: Townley Haas – 1:29.50

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Andrew Seliskar (Cal) – 1:32.83
2. Jorge Iga (UA) – 1:33.26
3. Jack LeVant (Stan) – 1:33.78
4. Grant House (ASU) – 1:34.01
5. Austin Phillips (Utah) – 1:34.07
6. Liam O’Haimhirgin (Utah) – 1:34.11
7. Trenton Julian (Cal) – 1:34.18
8. Mason Gonzalez (Stan) – 1:34.55

Utah earned its 2nd and 3rd A finalists of the meet here. Senior Austin Phillips, who came in 5th in the 50 last night, was 5th this morning. He went 1:33.91 leading off the 800 free relay on Wednesday, which currently stands as his best time. Liam O’Haimhirgin, a Utah junior, had a massive 4.9 second drop from his season best to earn his way into the A final this morning.  O’Haimhirgin’s time of 1:34.11 was a sizeable drop from his lifetime best of 1:34.72 as well. A 4 or 5 tenth of a second drop tonight should be enough to earn him an invite to the NCAAs as well.

Andrew Seliskar, who was the top seed by roughly two seconds, not that surprisingly, took the top seed for tonight’s final. Seliskar swam pretty reserved yesterday in the 200 IM prelims as well, so my guess is he’ll be considerably faster tonight. Jorge Iga of Arizona earned himself the 2nd seed for tonight, shedding  over half a second from his season best. Additionally, that time will be safe to earn him an NCAA invitation.

100 BREAST – Prelims:

• Pac-12 Champ: Kevin Cordes – 51.23
• Pac-12: Kevin Cordes – 50.04
• NCAA: Ian Finnerty – 49.69

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Reece Whitley (Cal) -51.84
2. Carsten Vissering (USC) – 52.17
3. Mark Anderson (Stan) – 52.49
4. Mario Koenigsperger (USC) – 52.68
5. Hank Poppe (Stan) – 52.70
6. Carson Sand (Cal) – 52.80
7. Danny Comforti (ASU) – 52.81
8. Karl Arvidsson (Cal) – 52.83

Another 3 Cal swimmers advanced to the A final here, led by freshman standout Reece Whitley. Whitley was slightly off his season best of 51.5, but managed to beat our USC star Carsten Vissering in the first round of their battle today. Many of the top 8 were a little off their season bests this morning, but tonight’s final should be a little more interesting.

Karl Arvidsson made headlines after qualifying for NCAAs after qualifying for NCAAs in the 200 breast on Wednesday during the time trials. He had another excellent swim this morning, clocking a new best time of 52.83, and earning his way into the A final. USC earned its 2nd and 3rd A finalists of the day with Vissering and Koenigsperger.

100 BACK – Prelims:

• Pac-12 Champ: Ryan Murphy – 44.76
• Pac-12: Ryan Murphy – 43.49
• NCAA: Ryan Murphy – 43.49

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Zachary Poti (ASU) – 45.44
2. Daniel Carr (Cal) – 45.59
3. Chatham Dobbs (UA) – 45.79
4. Thomas Anderson (UA) – 45.90
5. Bryce Mefford (Cal) – 46.08
6. Ethan Young (Cal) – 46.12
7. Zheng Quah (Cal) – 46.41
8. Ryan Dudzinski (Stan) – 46.43

Zachary poti continued to have stellar season in the 100 back, taking top seed for tonight’s A final. His time was just .01 seconds off his liftime best, which is from 2017. Daniel Carr was 2nd this morning with a season best by 3 quarters of a second. His personal best sits at 45.23 from last year’s NCAAs.

Arizona took the 3rd and 4th seeds respectively, with both Chatham Dobbs and Thomas Anderson going 45s. Bryce Mefford is the other swimmer in the field who has been under 46 this season. Cal picked up 4 more A finalists for tonight, totaling 16 A finalist for today. Ethan young had a huge season best of 1.22 seconds with his time of 46.12. That marked a personal best for Young, whose previous best sat at 46.43.

Tonight’s final is another event where really anything could happen, as 5 of the swimmers have been 45 seconds this season.