2024 Minnesota Invite: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2024 Minnesota Invite

• December 4-7, 2024
• Prelims: 10 am CST/ Finals: 6 pm CST
• SCY (25 Yards)
• University of Minnesota
• Participating Teams: Minnesota (host), University of California- Berkley, University of Nevada- Las Vegas, Harvard, Rutgers, University of Denver
• 2025 NCAA Championship Standards
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Psych Sheets
• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 2
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1

It’s the second night of finals at the 2024 Minnesota Invite, where we’ll see finals of the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, and 200 freestyle relays. It was a busy prelims session and as the session went on, the Cal Golden Bears got stronger and stronger, culminating in sweeping the top eight spots in the men’s 50 freestyle.

We’re still waiting on the finals heat sheets to confirm, but barring any scratches, Minnesota has the top seed in the 500 freestyles thanks to Katie McCarthy (4:43.09) and Bar Soloveychik (4:18.65), while Cal has the top seed in the other four individual events.

Isabelle Stadden posted the fastest time in the women’s 200 IM (1:56.99) before touching second in the 50 freestyle prelims behind freshman Mary-Ambre Moluh (22.19). The men’s morning was highlighted by a massive best time in the 200 IM by Gabriel Jett, who was on the back half of a 500 free/200 IM double. He posted a 1:41.89, leading defending NCAA champion Destin Lasco (1:44.90) in his NCAA season debut (1:44.60). Bjorn Seeliger dropped a season-best 19.22 to qualify first in the 50 freestyle. He’ll be in lane four for the all-Golden Bear final, around him two notable swims came from freshman Nans Mazellier (2nd, 19.52) and sophomore Nikolas Antoniou (7th, 19.78) who both qualified for the ‘A’ final by breaking 20 seconds for the first time.

WOMEN’S 500 FREE – Final

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:37.89
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:41.19

Top 8:

1. Maya Geringer (CAL), 4:40.98
2. Katie McCarthy (MINN), 4:41.57
3. Alexandra Bastone (HARV)/Eliot Kennedy (MINN), 4:41.69
4. (tie)
5. Ava Chavez (CAL), 4:45.48
6. Anja Kaljevic (MINN), 4:46.75
7. Erika Carlson (UNLV), 4:47.90
8. Kathryn Hazle (CAL), 4:50.16

Graduate transfer Maya Geringer pulled away over the final 100 yards to take the win in the women’s 500 freestyle. She swam a season-best 4:40.98, getting under the 2024 NCAA cutline. She touched over a half-second ahead of Minnesota sophomore Katie McCarthy, who clipped her lifetime best with a 4:41.57. Previously, her best stood at 4:41.82, which she swam at the 2024 Big Ten Championships.

There was a tie for third, as Eliot Kennedy pulled out a 27.59 split on the final 50 yards to pull even with Harvard’s Alexandra Bastone and stop the clock with her at 4:41.69. The time is a lifetime best for both swimmers, as improves Bastone’s standing on the Harvard all-time top ten. Kennedy’s previous best was a 4:44.15.

Ava Chavez was a late entry into this event and made the ‘A’ final out of heat one, lane eight. She added six-tenths from her prelims lifetime best, but still took fifth, clocking 4:45.48.

MEN’S 500 FREE – Final

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:10.74
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:14.90

Top 8:

1. Gabriel Jett (CAL), 4:16.63
2. Keaton Jones (CAL), 4:16.76
3. Bar Soloveychik (MINN), 4:18.01
4. Joey Tepper (MINN), 4:19.16
5. Tyler Kopp (CAL), 4:19.45
6. Thackston McMullan (CAL), 4:19.98
7. Kieran Watson (DU), 4:21.46
8. Matthew Chai (CAL), 4:22.92

After prelims, it was Minnesota’s distance duo of Bar Soloveychik and Joey Tepper leading the way with a 1-2 finish. Tonight, Gabriel Jett and Keaton Jones from Cal took over as the top pair with a 1-2 finish of their own. Jones, a 200 backstroke Olympic finalist this summer, closed the gap to Jett on the final 50, out-splitting his teammate 24.58 to 24.83, but he ultimately ran out of room to track down the senior Jett.

Jett clocked a season-best 4:16.63 to win the event, with Jones finishing .13 seconds behind in a season-best of his own (4:16.76). Behind the top two Golden Bears, Minnesota’s Soloveychik and Tepper finished third and fourth, swimming 4:18.01 and 4:19.16, respectively.

Cal freshman Thackston McMullan swam his second lifetime best of the day, breaking 4:20 for the first time in his career with a 4:19.98. McMullan came to Minneapolis with a lifetime best of 4:25.45, which he swam last month. He clocked a 4:22.38 in prelims before bettering that in the final to finish sixth. Overall, he dropped 5.47 seconds in the event today.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – Final

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37, Kate Douglass (Virginia) – 2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:53.66
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:57.03

Top 8:

1. Leah Polonsky (CAL), 1:53.65 NCAA ‘A’ 
2. Isabelle Stadden (CAL), 1:58.32
3. Margaux McDonald (CAL), 1:58.48
4. Arielle Brotman (CAL), 1:59.40
5. Molly Urkiel (RUT), 2:00.21
6. Lizzy Cook (CAL), 2:00.42
7. Shannon Meadway (RUT), 2:00.51
8. Stephanie Iannaccone (HARV), 2:00.68

As expected, graduate student Isabelle Stadden was in full control after the backstroke leg; she turned at the halfway point in 51.79 after splitting 27.44 on the backstroke leg. But her teammate, senior Leah Polonsky, put in a huge shift on the breaststroke while Stadden faltered. Polonsky split 31.92 to Stadden’s 35.95, giving the senior the lead heading into the final 50 yards.

Polonsky didn’t look back, anchoring her race in a field-best 27.37 to win in 1:53.65 and get under the ‘A’ cut by a hundredth. She’s now the fourth-fastest swimmer in the NCAA this season.

Stadden held on for second in 1:58.32, off her prelims swim of 1:56.99. She touched .16 seconds ahead of her teammate, graduate transfer Margaux McDonald (1:58.48). The Golden Bears swept the top four spots as Arielle Brotman joined her teammates sub-2:00. Rutgers’ Molly Urkiel continued to shed time, dropping another .28 seconds off her best with a 2:00.21 to bring her total time drop on the day to 3.65 seconds.

MEN’S 200 IM – Final

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.03
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:43.05

Top 8:

1. Destin Lasco (CAL), 1:42.72
2. Sean Swift (CAL), 1:44.56
3. Carter Lancaster (CAL), 1:45.01
4. Daniel Nicusan (UNLV), 1:45.12
5. Ryan Slonac (MINN), 1:45.77
6. Kaiser Neverman (MINN), 1:46.49
7. Cooper Kiel (UNLV), 1:47.01
8. Michael Breitbart (UNLV), 1:47.97

The would-be top seed Gabriel Jett, who just won the 500 freestyle, scratched out of this event after his big lifetime best in the prelims. That left the way clear for defending NCAA champion Destin Lasco, who won the event handily with a 1:42.72, which leaves Jett’s 1:41.89 from prelims as the fastest time swum at this invite. Lasco led from start to finish, splitting 22.01/25.42/30.85/24.44 en route to his win.

It was a closer race behind him, though Sean Swift broke away from the rest of the field (sans Lasco) during the breaststroke leg, splitting 29.80, and held on with a 25.75 freestyle split to take second in 1:44.56. Carter Lancaster clipped his lifetime best by a hundredth of a second (1:45.01), giving Cal a 1-2-3 finish as he touched just .11 seconds ahead of UNLV’s Daniel Nicusan.

Nicusan’s 1:45.12 is his second lifetime best in the event today; in prelims, he broke 1:46 for the first time, swimming 1:45.99 to qualify for the ‘A’ final. In the final, he bettered that time by .87 seconds, breaking the previous program record that had stood for the last ten years. Ryan Slonac also turned in his second best of the day, clocking 1:45.77 to finish fifth.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – Final

• NCAA Record: 20.37, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 21.63
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 22.11

Top 8:

1. Mary-Ambre Moluh (CAL), 21.68
2. Livi Wanner (MINN), 22.21
3. McKenna Stone (CAL), 22.24
4. Isabelle Stadden (CAL), 22.25
5. Morgan Brophy (CAL), 22.35
6. Ella Mazurek (CAL), 22.53
7. Hannah Cornish (MINN), 22.62
8. Femke Hoppenbrouwer (CAL), 22.95

In prelims, freshman Mary-Ambreh Moluh was five hundredths from her lifetime best. She crushed that lifetime best (22.14), during the final, powering away from the field for the win in 21.68. The swim is her first under the 22-second mark and the .46-second improvement launches her onto the Cal all-time top ten list. She’s now fifth in school history, knocking Natalie Coughlin out of the top 10.

Minnesota freshman Livi Wanner swam a lifetime best of her own, improving from the 22.40 she swam earlier this season to 22.21. She won a tight race for second, touching three-hundredths ahead of McKenna Stone and four-hundredths ahead of Isabelle Stadden, fresh off a runner-up finish in the 200 IM.

Hannah Cornish finished seventh (22.62) on her third 50 freestyle of the day, having won the swim-off for a spot in the ‘A’ final.

MEN’S 50 FREE – Final

• NCAA Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.82
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 19.13

Top 8:

1. Evan Petty (CAL), 19.39
2. Nans Mazellier (CAL), 19.40
3. Roman Jones (CAL), 19.46
4. Bjorn Seeliger (CAL), 19.52
5. Nikolas Antoniou (CAL), 19.68
6. August Vetsch (CAL), 19.84
7. Colby Hatton (CAL), 19.97
8. Kai Crews (CAL), 20.30

Evan Petty and Nans Mazellier bettered the personal bests they swam in prelims, clocking 19.39 and 19.40 to finish first and second in the men’s 50 freestyle. Petty’s 19.39 improves on the 19.53 that he swam in prelims; coming into the meet his lifetime best was 19.73 from March 2023, so he’s cut .34 seconds off his best today.

Petty was sixth at the turn but charged on the second 25 yards, closing in 9.84 to get his hand on the wall first, a hundredth ahead of Mazellier. Before this morning, Mazellier–an international freshman–had never broken 20 seconds. Now, he owns a lifetime best of 19.40 after breaking through the barrier with a 19.52 in prelims.

The top three swimmers all posted lifetime bests as Roman Jones shaved four-hundredths from his best to touch third in 19.46. After posting the top time of the morning, Bjorn Seeliger added time from his season-best of 19.22, finishing fourth behind in 19.52. Behind Seeliger, Nikolas Antoniou improved on the best he set in prelims with a 19.68. Like Mazellier, this morning was also his first time sub-20.

Women’s 200 Free Relay — Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 1:23.63, Virginia — 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:28.42
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:29.00

Top 8:

1. Cal ‘A’ (West, Stadden, Moluh, Stone), 1:27.54 NCAA ‘A’ Cut
2. Minnesota ‘A’ (Wanner, Thomas, Cornish, Kaljevic), 1:30.09
3. Harvard ‘A’ (Lu, Mostek, Wieclawek, McDonald), 1:30.98
4. UNLV ‘A’, 1:32.15
5. Denver ‘A’, 1:32.85
6. Rutgers ‘A’, 1:34.53

Cal’s ‘A’ relay of Mia West (22.58), Stadden (21.86), Moluh (21.35), and McKenna Stone (21.75) swam a 1:27.54, leading from wire-to-wire to win the women’s 200 freestyle relay. The ‘A’ squad’s time earned Cal and NCAA ‘A’ cut and moved them into the top 10 in the NCAA this season.

Cal was the only squad to hit either an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ cut as Minnesota’s ‘A’ relay of Wanner (22.64), Morgan Thomas (22.31), Cornish (22.60), and Mina Kaljevic (22.54) swam a 1:30.09 to finish second. They touched nearly a second ahead of Harvard’s ‘A’ team of Sydney Lu (22.86), Ana Mostek (22.45), Blythe Wieclawek (22.81), and Kaylee McDonald (22.86) took third in 1:30.98.

Men’s 200 Free Relay — Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 1:13.35, Florida — 2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:16.51
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:17.13

Top 8:

1. Cal ‘A’ (Petty, Mazellier, Battaglini, Jett), 1:16.75
2. Harvard ‘A’ (Wang, Greeley, Pilkinton, Gattnar), 1:18.12
3. Minnesota ‘A’ (Harabagiu, Neverman, Johnson, Abdelwahab), 1:18.77
4. UNLV ‘A’, 1:19.51
5. Denver ‘A’, 1:20.24

Cal only used two of their eight 50 freestyle ‘A’ finalists on their top 200 freestyle relay, but the quartet of Petty (19.55), Mazellier (19.15), Lucca Battaglini (18.85), and Jett (19.20) easily took the win with a 1:16.75. Battaglini won the ‘B’ final in the individual 50 freestyle in 19.42, which would’ve finished third in the ‘A’ final; here in the relay, he had the fastest split (18.85).

Harvard’s ‘A’ quartet finished second in 1:18.12. Defending Ivy League champion Sonny Wang led the quartet off in 19.67, just .06 seconds from his lifetime best 19.61, which he swam to win his title last season. David Greeley (19.52), Oliver Pilkinton (19.53), and Marre Gattnar (19.40) followed up Wang’s lead-off swim.

Minnesota’s ‘A’ relay of Davide Harabagiu (20.11), Kaiser Neverman (19.23), Jacob Johnson (19.51), and Omar Abdelwahab (19.92) touched third in 1:18.77. In prelims of the 50 freestyle, Johnson, afreshman and 200 fly school record holder, broke 20 seconds for the first time in the 50 freestyle.

Team Scores Thru Day 2

Women

1. Cal — 668.5
2. Minnesota — 400
3. Harvard — 297.5
4. Rutgers — 235
5. Denver — 224
6. UNLV — 185

Men

1. Cal — 683
2. Minnesota — 366
3. Harvard — 329
4. UNLV — 283
5. Denver — 253