2020 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 4 – Saturday, March 7 (Diving Feb. 26-29)
- Federal Way, WA (Pacific Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Cal (2x) (results)
- Championship Central
- Estimated NCAA Invite Times
- Diving Recap
- NCAA ‘A’ Cuts
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
The Cal men had another dominant showing at the Pac-12 Championships as they won the 2020 team title. That marks their 3rd-straight conference victory. This is their 8th title in program history and their 5th under Head Coach Dave Durden. The Bears took down several Meet Records, including records in the 400 free relay, 200 medley relay, and an 11-year-old Meet Record in the 200 free relay.
Reigning NCAA Champion Ryan Hoffer was among the top performers for Cal. He won titles in the 50 free, 100 fly, and 100 free. Hoffer had a breakthrough swim in the 100 free, posting his fastest time since 2015. He narrowly missed the Meet Records in all 3 events.
Reece Whitley had historic swims in the breaststroke races. Whitley, a sophomore, narrowly missed the Pac-12 Meet Record in the 100 breast as he became the 10th fastest man in history. He then nearly took down Andrew Seliskar’s 200 breast Meet Record to become the 7th fastest man in history.
Daniel Carr took gold in the 200 IM and silver in the 100 back. His most impressive performance came on the final night, as he won the 200 back title. Carr broke Ryan Murphy’s Meet Record in that race. He’s now tied as the 9th fastest man in history.
Hugo Gonzalez, a transfer sophomore, bounced back from a day 2 DQ in the 200 IM. Gonzalez won the 400 IM title in a new Pac-12 Meet Record. He put up his fastest swim since 2018. Gonzalez then took bronze in the 200 back with his fastest swim since 2017. On day 1, he swam a lifetime best in a time trial in the 200 breast, moving to 4th in the NCAA rankings.
Trenton Julian earned his first Pac-12 title in the 200 free. He also took silver in the 500 free and silver in the 200 fly behind teammate Zheng Quah. In the 200 fly, Quah broke his own Meet Record to defend as champion. Quah took silver in the 200 IM and bronze in the 100 fly.
The Bears had several swimmers make big drops. On of those swimmers was Jason Louser, who made huge drops in both IMs and the 200 breast. Louser qualified for NCAAs and earned a silver medal in the 400 IM. He placed 8th in the 200 breast and won the 200 IM B final.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
- Cal 856
- Arizona 578
- Stanford 573.5
- Arizona State 567
- Utah 384
- USC 318.5
ASU a potential top 8 team at NCAAs if they can replicate those relays again and Poti, Swift and Bybee swim like they did at Pac 12s. Maybe even top 5 if they really step up.
Maybe, just maybe but those “fightin” Texas Aggies have better relay times in the 800 free, 200 free, & 200 medley than the Sun Devils at present!! We are only beaten in the 400 free & really don’t know about the 400 medley since ASU DQ’d that one (but “Top Times” has us with a better 400 medley as well to date). Our “thoroughbreds” in the barn are just “chompin at the bit” to get turned loose (& I’m referring to our “divers” as well with regard to this post (Mathews & Povzner are really “hittin it” off those boards)). “All in” on A&M!! We’ll see how it shakes out!!
Check again
I hadn’t gotten to my A and M prediction. I’d be shocked if they weren’t top 2.
There is only room for two teams in the top two so the best they can do is third
A&M swim fan, can you just not say words anymore? I’m begging you
Any concerns about Grieshop, Jensen and B Mefford? Thought Laeuffer would translate into yards better than he did.
Not everyone gets to have great meets. Perhaps they were not mentally ready?
Yes to all three. Jensen less so because he’s never quite put it together for NCAAs. But they’re obviously banking on big points from the other two and their times have definitely been off. The Laeuffer thing is just weird, 1:57 is pretty pedestrian at thus level. Cal has had quite a few of these guys that just never really pan out over four years, but the last two classes were doing a lot better. Xie essentially never topped his junior year of high school right after he arrived from China.
There are many top swim programs that have a few swimmers who did not reach the heights many might have expected..Grieshop,, Bryce Medford, and Jensen are going again to the NCAA Championships which is no small fete. Freshmen Jason Louser and Colby Medford have really brought down their prep school times and swam really well in the PAC12 Championships. I hope when they are Seniors at Cal we don’t have to read comments about “not panning out”!
Laeuffer went a 1:54 in time trials, although his individual performance wasn’t what I had quite expected. B. Mefford and Grieshop should be fine in a couple of weeks.
Wait to judge till NCAAs
Why are we concerned about Grieshop, exactly?
Grieshop did the same thing last year at pac12, also feel like Jensen was too.