2022 Men’s Pac-12 Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2022 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Team Scores After Day 2:

  1. Stanford, 363.5
  2. Arizona State, 261.5
  3. University of Arizona, 233.5
  4. California, 221.5
  5. University of Southern California, 209
  6. University of Utah, 183

The third day of racing at the 2022 Men’s Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Wash., will feature the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke.

Last night’s 200 IM final was one for the books. Leon Marchand of Arizona State, Grant House of Arizona State, and Ron Polonsky of Stanford posted the #1, #2, and #4 fastest times in the NCAA this season. Marchand currently holds the top seed in the 400 IM, and Polonsky ranks 15th on the psych sheets. Hugo Gonzalez of Cal, the reigning Pac-12 champion, currently sits #21 on the psych sheet.

In the 100 butterfly, Stanford has four swimmers seeded in the top-10, which is led by Andrei Minakov and Jonny Affeld holding the #1 and #2 spots. Sitting at #10 and #11 on the psych sheets are Aaron Sequeira and Ethan Hu

House will swim the 200 freestyle today where he is the top seed. In the 800 freestyle relay earlier in the meet, House led off Arizona State’s winning and record breaking team in 1:30.54 seconds. The 200 freestyle will feature seven A-finalists from last year’s championships. 2021 champion Alexei Sancov of USC is #3 on the psych sheets, runner-up Trenton Julian of Cal is ranked #4, and 2021 3rd place finisher Preston Forst of Stanford currently sits #6.

Cal’s Reece Whitley will swim the 100 breaststroke this morning. He is seeking to defend his Pac-12 crown, but the field will be tight. USC fifth-year Trent Pellini, who spent four-years competing for Perdue and currently holds the #2 spot. Watch out for Stanford breaststrokers Daniel Roy and Ethan Dang, who will likely climb the rankings this morning as they currently sit #5 and #9. 

This morning’s session will wrap-up with the 100 backstroke, which is usually a signature event for Cal. Last year at the Pac-12 Championships, the Golden Bears swept the podium with Destin Lasco, Daniel Carr and Bryce Mefford. On the psych sheet, Cal has seven swimmers ranked in the top-16, led by Lasco and Carr who sit #1 and #2, respectively. The Golden Bears will need all the potential points they can get to move up from their 4th place in the team scores. 

Men’s 400 IM:

A standard: 3:39.16

B standard: 3:51.46

Pac-12 record: 3:35.29, Abrahm DeVine, Stanford, 2018

Pac-12 championship record: 3:36.60 Hugo Gonzalez, Cal, 2020

2021 NCAA invite time: 3:45.67

Top 8:

  1. Leon Marchand, Arizona State (3:38.87)
  2. Jason Louser, Cal (3:38.95)
  3. Sean Grieshop, Cal (3:42.51)
  4. Hugo Gonzalez, Cal (3:42.55)
  5. Ron Polonsky, Stanford (3:43.08)
  6. Brooks Fail, Arizona (3:43.31)
  7. David Schlicht, Arizona State (3:43.63)
  8. Will Roberts, Cal (3:44.06)

Coming off of his electric performance on Thursday in the 200 IM, Marchand won the final prelims heat by nearly four-seconds to claim the top spot in tonight’s final. He was off of his seed time by 3.25 seconds, but based on his swims at the meet so far, he likely has more in the tank for finals.

Following Marchand is a trio of Golden Bears, led by Louser who was seeded #14, but dropped 11.40 seconds from his seed time to take the 2nd this morning, winning heat three by nearly five-seconds. Claiming 3rd was Grieshop who finished 2nd in his heat behind Marchand. Grieshop was 3rd in this event last year (3:41.30). Last year’s champion, Gonzalez qualified 4th for tonight’s final after winning heat two this morning. In 2021, Gonzalez’s won this event in 3:37.31.

In 5th place headed into tonight is Polonsky of Stanford, who had a fantastic swim in the 200 IM during Thursday’s final to take 3rd, en route to posting the 4th fastest time in the NCAA this season.

Arizona State’s Schlicht grabbed the 7th spot tonight. In 2021, he placed 2nd in this event behind Gonzalez (3:39.59).

Qualifying 8th is Roberts of Cal, meaning that half of the A-final tonight will be Golden Bears.

Men’s 100 Butterfly:

A standard: 44.96

B standard: 47.43

Pac-12 record: 44.18 Austin Staab, Stanford, 2009

Pac-12 championship record: 44.66 Austin Staab, Stanford, 2009

2021 NCAA invite time: 46.29

Top 8:

  1. Andrei Minakov, Stanford (44.21)
  2. Alexander Colson, Arizona State (45.62)
  3. Jonny Affeld, Stanford (45.63)
  4. Cody Bybee, Arizona State (45.93)
  5. Dare Rose, Cal (45.96)
  6. Brooks Taner, Arizona (46.21)
  7. Ethan Hu, Stanford (46.28)
  8. Aaron Sequeira, Stanford (46.29)

Stanford put four swimmers into tonight’s A-final, which will bring in big points for Cardinal, who currently sit in 1st overall. Stanford was led by Minakov, who held on to his top spot through prelims and breaks Austin Staab‘s Pac-12 championship record from 2009. He will be joined by teammates Affeld (3rd), Hu (7th) and Sequeira (8th). Sequeira and Hu were seeded 9th and 10th, respectively and their prelims swims bumped them into A-final scoring.

Colson of Arizona State was just off his seed time to claim the 2nd finals spot. He will be joined by teammate Bybee, who qualified 4th for the Sun Devils.

Cal’s lone A-finalist is Rose, who grabbed the 5th finals spot. Notably, his teammate Matthew Jensen missed the A-final by .01 qualifying 9th.

Men’s 200 Freestyle:

A standard: 1:32.05

B standard: 1:36.32

Pac-12 record: 1:30.14, Andrew Seliskar, Cal, 2019

Pac-12 championship record: 1:31.07, Andrew Seliskar, Cal, 2019

2021 NCAA invite time: 1:34.04

Top 8:

  1. Grant House, Arizona State (1:31.85)
  2. Patrick Sammon, Arizona State (1:33.08)
  3. Trenton Julian, Cal (1:33.29)
  4. Daniel Namir, Arizona (1:33.30)
  5. Preston Forst, Stanford (1:33.39)
  6. Gabriel Jett, Cal (1:33.41)
  7. Luke Maurer, Stanford/Julian Hill, Arizona State (1:33.42)

House of Arizona State was locked and loaded this morning, posting the top time from prelims by 1.23 seconds. House led off Arizona State’s 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday night with a 1:30.54, which currently stands as the 2nd fastest time in the NCAA this season.

House led three Sun Devils into tonight’s A-final. In 2nd is House’s teammate Sammon, who dropped 1.67 seconds from his seed time this morning. On the psych sheet, Sammon was ranked 13th.

Qualifying 5th is Forst of Stanford, who was 3rd last year (1:33.23). In a tie for 7th, Hill gets into the A-final as well.

Julian of Cal, who was 2nd in this event last year (1:32.29), qualifies for tonight’s final in 3rd. He will be joined by his teammate Jett, who qualified 6th.

Arizona’s Namir secured the 4th spot in tonight’s final after finishing 5th last year (1:33.47).

Luke Maurer of Stanford tied for 7th with his morning swim. Last year, he took 4th in this event (1:33.38).

Cal swimmers finished 9th and 10th this morning with Robin Hanson missing the A-final by .01 (1:33.43), and Dylan Hawk touching at 1:33.46 seconds.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke:

A standard: 51.59

B standard: 54.27

Pac-12 record: 50.04, Kevin Cordes, Arizona, 2014

Pac-12 championship record: 50.78, Carsten Vissering, USC, 2019

2021 NCAA invite time: 52.40

Top 8:

  1. Reece Whitley, Cal (51.38)
  2. Chris O’Grady, USC (51.88)
  3. Trent Pellini, USC (52.22)
  4. John Heaphy, Arizona State (52.39)
  5. Ben Dillard, USC (52.44)
  6. Liam Bell, Cal (52.51)
  7. Daniel Roy, Stanford (52.52)
  8. Marcos Rico Peng, Cal (52.79)

The 100 breaststroke was a big event for USC this morning, placing three swimmers into tonight’s final, which will be the Trojan’s first A-final appearances of the evening.

Defending champion Whitley of Cal was just .16 off of his seed time this morning to grab the middle lane tonight. Last year, Whitley won this event in 51.38 seconds, which is his exact time from prelims.

O’Grady led the Trojans grabbing the 2nd finals spot, which was a nearly one-second drop from his seed time. He will be joined by teammates Pellini (3rd) and Dillard (5th). Headed into the meet, Dillard was seeded 11th in the event.

Heaphy of Arizona State tied his seed time to claim the 4th finals spot.

Cal will have three swimmers in tonight’s A-final, led by Bell in 6th and Rico Peng in 8th. Rico Peng was seeded 25th on the psych sheet, and dropped 3.42 seconds from his seed time to get a lane in the A-final.

Stanford will be represented by Roy, who was 3rd in this event last year (52.06).

Men’s 100 Backstroke:

A standard: 44.94

B standard: 47.77

Pac-12 record: 43.49, Ryan Murphy, Cal, 2016 

Pac-12 championship record: 44.76, Ryan Murphy, Cal, 2017

2021 NCAA invite time: 46.37

Top 8:

  1. Bjorn Seeliger, Cal (44.88)
  2. Leon MacAlister, Stanford (45.12)
  3. Destin Lasco, Cal (45.53)
  4. Daniel Carr, Cal (45.62)
  5. Jack Dolan, Arizona State (45.71)
  6. Aaron Sequeira, Stanford (46.06)
  7. Andrei Ungur, Utah (46.26)
  8. Evangelos Makrygiannis (46.38)

Seeliger, who won the 50 freestyle on Thursday opted to swim the 100 backstroke where he posted the top time from prelims. Seeliger swam in the first heat this morning and was seeded with “no time.” He leads a trio of Golden Bears who will compete in tonight’s A-final. Lasco won the event in 45.30 seconds last year, and qualified 3rd this morning. Carr was 2nd last year (45.35) and grabbed the 4th finals spot.

MacAlister of Stanford won the B-final last year (47.93) and qualified 2nd for the A-final this morning. He shaved off almost one-second from his seed time. He will be joined by teammate Sequeira, who will also compete in the A-final of the 100 butterfly earlier in tonight’s finals session.

Dolan of Arizona State improved from his seed time to post the 5th fastest time this morning. In 7th is Ungur of Utah who was 5th in this event last year (46.64).

Makrygiannis will represent USC tonight in the A-final, grabbing the 8th spot.

Cal once again had swimmers finish in 9th and 10th. Sebastian Somerset was 9th (46.39) this morning after finishing 7th last year (47.20). Jack Alexy was 10th (46.52).

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swim coach
2 years ago

Here come the bears!

Also, how is USC barely beating Utah?

Stirred stupid
2 years ago

Looks like Utah woke up.

Willswim
2 years ago

Why did Bryce Mefford get a re-swim? What happened? He went 46.05 and got himself into the A final.

swimswim309
Reply to  Willswim
2 years ago

apparently there was a problem with his wedge

Reb Joy
Reply to  swimswim309
2 years ago

There was NO problem.

SEC Boyz
Reply to  Willswim
2 years ago

Good question. Prior to the start of Heat 2, the starter for the heat stated “Lane 5, toes down,” which was Mefford’s lane. Looked and sounded like a slip start as the wedge came up out of the water. Coach Durden walks down to the starting bulkhead and directs Coach Marsh to investigate. Coach Marsh looks over the starting wedge apparatus when the heat ends, calls a judge over to inspect the strap but there is no discernible failure as the apparatus was not replaced. There was a very long discussion between the judges and the Cal coaches at the conclusion of prelims, and Coach Durden appeared to win his case. The Cal fans anticipated a re-swim as they stayed… Read more »

Swammer
2 years ago

Cal is in a rough spot right now. They need to swim lights out in the 400IM to minimize the damage Stanford will do in the 100 fly. 200 free is basically a wash, and they can make up some ground in the 100 back and 100 breast. Winning the 400 medley relay is crucial to set up for a big day tomorrow. I know they’ll score big in the stroke 200s but they need to keep it close today or they’re at risk of losing the meet.

Taa
Reply to  Swammer
2 years ago

its 13/9 vs 10/7 so Cal is cutting into their lead by at least 50pts today. Tomorrow should be even better.

Bingbong
2 years ago

With Ethan Luc’s 100 backstroke the future looks bright for ASU.

OldCard
2 years ago

Refreshing to see Stanford swimming well and so many time drops for their guys. After years of decline from perennial NCAA title contenders 10/20 years ago to out of the top 10 the last few years, it seems that Coach Schemmel is turning this ship around in his third year.

baby dev
2 years ago

that cal butterfly group has been cursed since tom shields graduated always have a solid guy there but get hawked by various 19’s and 43’s from other rosters

mds
Reply to  baby dev
2 years ago

43s?

baby dev
2 years ago

cal medley relays just got v interesting

Samuel Huntington
Reply to  baby dev
2 years ago

How so? 400 medley relay is still looking like Lasco, Whitley, Rose/Julian, Seeliger.