2025 Big 12 Championship: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2025 Big 12 Championship

• February 25 – March 1, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center — Federal Way, Wash.
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Start Times: prelims – 10 am PT/finals – 6 pm PT
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Livestream: ESPN+
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1

ASU had an incredibly strong morning, putting 12 swimmers through to the ‘A’ finals on the women’s side and 15 through on the men’s side. After tonight’s session both the men’s and the women’s teams should be in the lead by quite a bit.

Not only did ASU put by far the most swimmers into the ‘A’ final, they also had five of the six top qualifiers in the swimming events. Deniz Ertan is the top seed in the women’s 500 and Jack Wadsworth took the men’s 500.

ASU also grabbed the top seeds in the men’s 200 IM, with Cole Martter’s 1:43.89, and both 50 freestyle events, Caroline Bentz for the women at 22.01 and Jonny Kulow for the men at 18.82.

The only non-ASU top seed was Arizona’s Paige Armstrong in the women’s 200 with her prelims time of 1:59.11.

Women’s 3-Meter — Finals

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Shiyun Lai (KANS)- 325.10
2. Anna Kwong (TCU)- 320.95
3. Brooke Earley (ARIZ)- 313.05
4. Zara Ayazi (ARIZ)- 297.40
5. Callie Eagleston (UTAH)- 293.65
6. Kathryn Grant (UTAH)- 293.20
7. Holly Waxman (UTAH)- 287.35
8. Hedda Grelz (UH)- 280.00

Shiyun Lai picked up some huge points for Kansas, winning the women’s 1 meter diving event by just five points over TCU’s Anna Kwong. Arizona, Utah, and Houston made up the rest of the event’s ‘A’ final.

Women’s 500 Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• Big 12 Record: 4:35.02 — Evie Pfeifer, Texas (2021)
• Big 12 Championship Record: 4:36.35 — Evie Pfeifer, Texas (2021)
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’/’B’ Cut: 4:36.89/4:47.20
• 2024 NCAA Invite Time: 4:41.1

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Alexa Reyna (ASU)- 4:39.24
2. Deniz Ertan (ASU)- 4:39.74
3. Malia Rausch (ARIZ)- 4:44.48
4. Grace Lindberg (ASU)- 4:46.22
5. Jordan Edwards (TCU)- 4:48.71
6. Victoria Schreiber (BYU)- 4:50.52
7. Elli Straume (ASU)- 4:50.62
8. Katherine Randall (ASU)- 4:51.87

The women’s 500 free final was a race to the finish, with Deniz Ertan coming only tenths away from chasing down Alexa Reyna for the victory. The two women flipped in an exact tie at the 100 mark. After that point, Ertan slowed down and Reyna stayed incredibly consistent. At the 450 mark, there was more than a second between them, but Ertan had an absolutely blistering 27.49 last 50 to bring her just barely over three tenths from Reyna, who split 28.17 at the end. Ertan’s speed was not enough, however, to combat the lead created through the rest of the race, leading Reyna to coming home with the gold.

Arizona junior Malia Rausch picked up 3rd, preventing an all ASU podium in the event. The Sun Devils did pick up 4th, 7th, and 8th in tehe event, on top of their top two swimmers, picking up some much needed points to move them into first overall.

Men’s 500 Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31 — Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2024)
• Big 12 Record: 4:06.93 — Luke Hobson, Texas (2024)
• Big 12 Championship Record: 4:11.11— Clark Smith, Texas (2017)
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’/’B’ Cut: 4:10.64/4:21.28
• 2024 NCAA Invite Time: 4:14.90

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Daniel Matheson (ASU)- 4:14.37
2. Jones Lambert (UTAH)- 4:15.47
3. Jacob Pins (ASU)- 4:17.22
4. Nick Chirafisi (UTAH)- 4:17.64
5. Tanner Nelson (BYU)- 4:18.66
6. Jack Wadsworth (ASU)- 4:18.77
7. Joel Nace (ARIZ)- 4:20.23
8. Jake Mason (ASU)- 4:23.64

The men’s 500 was close in it’s own way, with five of the eight athletes being within two seconds of each other at the 400 mark.

Daniel Matheson took ASU’s 2nd event of the evening, winning the men’s 500 by a little more than a second. Matheson was out in 6th in the heat after the first 50, where he split 23.39. By the 200 mark, he was in the lead, flipping at 1:40.22, which is where he stayed for the last 300. He held 25 mid-highs throughout the race, ultimately finishing at 25.03 to pick up the gold.

Jones Lambert descended his race, flipping in 8th at the 50, and steadily getting faster as the race went on. He didn’t actually move into 2nd overall until the 450 mark. At the 400, he flipped in an exact tie at 3:25.18 with 6th place finisher Jack Wadsworth from ASU, but his final 100 was one of the fastest in the field at 50.29, which was enough ot move him into 2nd overall by a little under two seconds.

Women’s 200 IM — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• Big 12 Record: 1:52.58 — Madisyn Cox, Texas (2017)
• Big 12 Championship Record: 1:52.82— Madisyn Cox, Texas (2017)
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’/’B’ Cut: 1:53.66/1:59.35
• 2024 NCAA Invite Time: 1:57.05

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Charli Brown (ASU)- 1:57.84
2. Zoe Summar (ASU)- 1:57.88
3. Sonia Vaishnani (ASU)- 1:58.15
4. Mackenzie Miller (BYU)- 1:58.27
5. Libby Michel (CINC)- 1:59.65
6. Paige Armstrong (ARIZ)- 2:00.06
7. Ella Guilfoil (ASU)- 2:00.54
8. Evelyn Entrekin (UH)- 2:01.90

Charli Brown, won another very close race in the women’s 200 IM, coming in just four-hundredths ahead of teammate Zoe Summar stopping the clock at 1:57.84. Brown was out in 25.83, which had her in 4th at the 50. Her backstroke leg was the fastest in the field, which put her in first overall, but after the breaststroke, she fell back into third. She had the fastest split again on the freestyle leg, swimming 27.97 to just barely out touch Summar.

• Brown’s splits: 25.83/29.32/24.72/27.97

Summar was out in 3rd after the fly, and dropped just a bit to fourth after the 100 mark. She did have the fastest breaststroke time in the field by almost a second, swimming 32.98 to Sonia Vaishnani, another ASU swimmer. Her 28.73 freestyle leg was not enough to hold off Brown’s exceptionally fast final leg, which left her to finish 2nd overall in 1:57.88, three tenths ahead of Vaishnani.

ASU ended up sweeping the podium in the event, Vaishnani finishing 3rd ahead of Mackenzie Miller’s 1:58.27 in 4th. Miller had one of the strongest performances of the day, dropping more than four seconds in the event. She came in at 2:02.86 from this meet last year, and finished the day at 1:58.27.

Kelsey Wasikowsi, a sophomore from Arizona, won the ‘B’ final in 1:59.04, which would have been 5th overall in the event.

Men’s 200 IM — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34 — Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• Big 12 Record: 1:39.63 – John Shebat, Texas (2019)
• Big 12 Championship Record: 1:40.42 – Carson Foster, Texas (2023)
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’/’B’ Cut: 1:40.75/1:45.68
• 2024 NCAA Invite Time: 1:43.05

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Cale Martter (ASU)- 1:42.93
2. Michael Hochwalt (ASU)- 1::43.29
3. Durgan McKean (UTAH)- 1:43.33
4. Oscar Bilbao (ASU)- 1:43.47
5. Lucien Vergnes (ASU)- 1:44.38
6. Hunter Gubeno (CINC)- 1:44.66
7. Evan VanBrocklin (UTAH)- 1:44.70
8. Own Chiles (CINC)- 1:46.10

Cale Martter was the only swimmer in the ‘A’ final to go under last year’s NCAA Invite time, coming in at 1:42.93. He started the event in the lead, and he had the fastest first 100 in the field by more than half a second. His breaststroke split was third overall, and his ‘worst’ split compared to the rest of the field was his freestyle, where he almost got chased down by freshman teammate Michael Hochwalt.

• Martter’s Splits: 22.04/25.75/29.60/25.54

Hochwalt was slower than Martter on every single 50 until the last one, where he split 25.02to move into 2nd overall, touching at 1:43.29, just four-hundredths ahead of Durgan McKean from Utah’s 1:43.33.

Women’s 50 Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• Big 12 Record: 21.66 — Grace Cooper, Texas (2023)
• Big 12 Championship Record: 21.76 — Grace Cooper, Texas (2024)
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’/’B’ Cut: 21.58/22.58
• 2024 NCAA Invite Time: 22.11

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Caroline Bentz (ASU)- 21.77
2. Lexi Duchsherer (ARIZ)- 22.01
3. Julia Ullmann (ASU)- 22.19
4. Julia Wozniak (ARIZ)/Erin Palmer (UTAH)- 22.25
5. —
6. Riley Botton (ARIZ)- 22.28
7. Jessica Davis (CINC)- 22.32
8. Erin Milligan (ASU) 22.58

Caroline Bentz won her first Big 12 title in the women’s 50 free, winning the event by one of the largest margins of victory we saw this evening. Bentz swam 21.77, just one-hundredth off the meet record time of 21.76 set by Grace Cooper in 2023. This was a new best time for Bentz, improving slightly from the 21.80 she went in November at the Wolfpack Elite.

Lexi Duschsherer came in 2nd, almost two tenths faster than her lifetime best at 22.01, which was an improvement from the 22.19 she went earlier this month.

Julia Ullmann rounded out the podium, finishing 3rd in 22.19. This was a half-second drop for the freshman, who came in with a personal best of 22.63 also from the Wolfpack Elite Invite in November.

Men’s 50 Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• Big 12 Record: 18.60 — Drew Kibler, Texas (2022)
• Big 12 Championship Record: 18.76 – Joseph Schooling, Texas (2017)
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’/’B’ Cut: 18.72/19.69
• 2024 NCAA Invite Time: 19.13

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Jonny Kulow (ASU)- 18.64 **Meet Record**
2. Ilya Kharun (ASU)- 18.82
3. Tommy Palmer (ASU)- 18.96
4. Patrick Sammon (ASU)- 19.21
5. Tolu Young (ASU)- 19.35
6. Tomas Lukminas (ARIZ)- 19.36
7. Quin Seider (ASU)- 19.49
8. Tiago Behar (ASU)- 19.55

ASU’s Jonny Kulow won the men’s 50 free in a new Big 12 Championship Record in 18.64. This was an exact tie of his best time in the event, which he originally went in March of last year at the NCAA Championships where he finished 8th overall, though he swam his best time in prelims.

Ilya Kharun finished 2nd, less than two tenths back in 18.82. This was about three tenths off his best of 18.51 from November.

The final podium finisher was Tommy Palmer, who came in at 18.96, which was a little under a tenth over his best time of 18.88 from earlier this month.

Men’s 1-Meter — Finals

Top 8 Finishers:

1. David Ekdahl (TCU)- 392.10
2. Gage Dubois (ARIZ)- 388.55
3. Elias Petersen (UTAH)- 383.30
4. Chase Hindmarsh (BYU)- 366.15
5. Colin Agor (ARIZ)- 347.00
6. Jesco helling (UTAH)- 341.85
7. Lane Stallworth (ASU)- 305.85
8. Mari Llop (BYU)- 280.60

TCU’s David Ekdahl own the men’s diving event by less than four points, representing the closeness we saw across the board this evening. Gage Dubois from Arizona finished 2nd, and Elias Petersen took 3rd for Utah. All three men were within 10 points of one another.

Team Scores After Day 2

Women

1. ASU- 529
2. Arizona- 350.5
3. Houston- 284
4. TCU- 249
5. BYU- 234
6. Cincinnati- 233
7. Utah- 206.5
8. West Virginia- 168
9. Iowa State- 146
10. Kansas- 142

Men

1. ASU- 663.5
2. Utah- 426
3. Arizona- 317
4. TCU- 316.5
5. BYU- 314
6. Cincinnati- 250
7. West Virginia- 205