2025 Minnesota Invite: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2025 MINNESOTA INVITE

• December 4-6, 2025
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1

The first night of finals from the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center gets going tonight with finals of the 200 free relays, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 400 medley relay for both men and women. As for this morning’s prelims, it was a golden first session for the Golden Bears of Cal.

Cal’s Claire Weinstein and Ryan Erisman maintained their top-seeded status in prelims of the 500 free, each holding the top qualifying spot for tonight’s women’s and men’s finals, respectively.

Mia West of Cal lowered her lifetime best this morning in the 200 IM to 1:55.25, earning top-seeded honors for tonight’s final. West sits nearly two and a half seconds ahead of Kiley Wilhelm of Harvard, who finished 2nd in the prelims at 1:57.70.

Kenneth Barnicle (Cal) led a freshman trio to the top of the prelims for the Golden Bears in the men’s 200 IM. Barnicle finished 1st in 1:45.42, Casper Puggaard was 2nd in 1:46.15, and Caiden Bowers was 3rd in 1:46.18. 4-8 were separated by just two-tenths of a second in prelims.

Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh led the way in the women’s 50 free this morning, throwing down the lone sub-22 time in 21.94, her fastest this season thus far.

Sophomore Golden Bear Lucca Battaglini swam a huge lifetime best this morning for top seed tonight in the men’s 50 free, clocking 18.78, making him the 6th fastest performer in school history.

Women’s 200 Free Relay

• NCAA ‘A’ Standard — 1:28.26
• NCAA ‘B’ Standard — 1:28.78

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Cal ‘B’, 1:29.26
2. Harvard ‘A’, 1:29.58
3. Minnesota ‘A’, 1:29.68
4. Harvard ‘B’, 1:31.46
5. Rutgers ‘A’, 1:31.52
6. Minnesota ‘B’, 1:31.71
7. Denver ‘A’, 1:32.20
8. UNLV ‘A’, 1:32.39

Night 1 kicked off with early drama, as Cal’s ‘A’ relay, which would have finished 1st in 1:26.27, was disqualified. Leaving their ‘B’ relay as victors.

The ‘B’ relay won the event out of the first heat. Gracyn Aquino led off in a quick 22.51. Each of the other three legs swam under 22.36. Lilou Ressencourt carried the momentum over in 22.23. 3rd leg Charlotte Burnham was the fastest leg of the relay, clocking 22.16, and it was Annie Jia with the closing speed in 22.36 to nab the tight win in the event.

Harvard’s ‘A’ relay never really got close to the ‘A’ relay for Cal, but that did not mean a thing, Blythe Wieclawek made a valiant effort coming home for the Crimson women, closing in 22.10.

It was really two races, one for the top three, with the top three teams within just under a second of each other, and the race for 4th, with  five teams touching within in a second.

Men’s 200 Free Relay

• NCAA ‘A’ Standard — 1:16.23
• NCAA ‘B’ Standard — 1:16.91

Top 8 Finishers: 

1. Cal ‘A’, 1:15.74
2. Cal ‘B’, 1:17.44
3. Harvard ‘A’, 1:17.85
4. UNLV ‘A’, 1:17.90
5. Minnesota ‘A’, 1:19.48
6. Harvard ‘B’, 1:19.90
7. Minnesota ‘B’, 1:20.09
8. Denver ‘A’, 1:20.42

The Cal ‘A’ relay’s performance tied them for the 5th fastest time in the country this year in 1:15.74.

50 Free top seed Lucca Battaglini kept his foot on the gas from the morning, plasting a 2nd leg 18.45 for Cal. Nans Mazellier also added a sub 19 leg for the Golden Bears, anchoring in a blistering 18.98.

The ‘B’ relay for Cal put in work from the first heat. Samuel Quarles closed hard in 18.99 to help outdo all opponents aside from their own teammates. Cal freshman Casper Puggaard, who will swim in the 200 Im later as the 2nd seed also put forth a hefty 3rd leg in 19.11.

Harvard and UNLV’s relays battled hard in the 2nd heat, but just didn’t have the closing speed to keep up with Cal’s anchor legs.

WOMEN’S 500 FREE

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 4:43.70
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:39.47

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Claire Weinstein (CAL), 4:34.81
2. Ella Cosgrove (CAL), 4:39.26
3. Camille Henveaux (CAL), 4:41.61
4. Carolina Daher (HARV), 4:42.98
5. Alexandra Bastone (HARV), 4:43.44
6. Alexa McDevitt (CAL), 4:45.01
7. Katie McCarthy (MINN), 4:45.12
8. Kathryn Hazle (CAL), 4:46.35

It was a 6 to 2 advantage for Cal over Harvard in the ‘A’ final of the women’s 500 free.

Weinstein seemed like the safe pre-finals pick to take the win here, and that turned out to be true, touching in a final time of 4:34.81, the fourth fastest time in the country this year.

She opened her first 100 in 52.47, nearly half a second ahead of the field. By the 200 mark, Weinstein had created a two and a half second buffer for herself. Weinstein continued to close and eventually put the stamp on the race, finishing about four and a half seconds ahead of her teammate Ella Cosgrove.

Cosgrove, a first year Cal swimmer put together a very nice swim, finishing 2nd in 4:39.26, dropping from her morning swim of 4:41.98, and setting a new season best.

Camille Henveaux jumped up from 7th in prelims to place 3rd in the finals for the Cal sweep of the top three spots as well.

MEN’S 500 FREE

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 4:18.07
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:14.13

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Ryan Erisman (CAL), 4:12.78
2. Nathan Wiffen (CAL), 4:16.41
3. Freddy Klein (CAL), 4:18.93
4. Ian Platts-Mills (CAL), 4:20.18
5. Pablo Martínez Palop (HARV), 4:20.18
6. Luke Brennan (MINN), 4:21.92
7. Norvin Clontz (CAL), 4:22.77
8. Thackston McMullan (CAL), 4:27.49

Cal freshman Ryan Erisman came into the finals of the men’s 500 free with a near four-second cushion between himself and teammate Nathan Wiffen after setting a new lifetime best this morning.

His finals swim of 4:12.78 was just a few ticks better than his best that he set in the prelims in 4:12.81.

Erisman began to establish himself as the man of the race by the 200 mark, turning at 1:39.52, nearly a full second ahead of Wiffen in 1:40.44. From that point on, Erisman would not be touched. He extended his lead to a full two seconds by the 300 mark.

Wiffen and teammate Freddy Klein were neck and neck the entire race, with Wiffen not entirely pulling away until the 400 mark, out-pacing Klein 4:16.41 to 4:18.93.

Cal’s Keaton Jones and Humberto Najera swam 4:18.58 and 4:19.11, respectively, in the ‘B’ final as well, which would have finished 3rd and 5th.

WOMEN’S 200 IM

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37, Kate Douglass (UVA) – 2023
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:57.88
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 1:56.69

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Teagan O’Dell (CAL),1:54.49
2. Mia West (CAL), 1:54.77
3. Elle Scott (CAL), 1:57.10
4. Kiley Wilhelm (HARV), 1:57.13
5. Ava Chavez (CAL), 1:58.88
6. Grace Drabot (MINN), 1:59.83
7. Aliana Marakovic (HARV), 1:59.89
8. Ana Hazlehurst (RU), 2:00.68

Mia West dominated the prelims with her best time of 1:55.25.

West fired out of the gates in 24.39 to open up. Teammate Teagan O’Dell came back hard on the following two legs of the IM, overtaking West on backstroke, and maintaining that lead through for the win in season best 1:54.49, out-touching West in 1:54.77. That puts her in the top 6 fastest in the NCAA this year.

O’Dell was 27.89 on the backstroke, 34.32 on the breaststroke, and brought it home in a gritty 27.19. She outsplit her final 50 from her morning swim by nearly two seconds (29.12 this morning).

While not the win, West still put up her fastest performance of her career, bettering her prelims time a near half second.

MEN’S 200 IM

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2023
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:44.13
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time:  1:42.65

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Kenneth Barnicle (CAL),1:44.81
2. Caiden Bowers (CAL), 1:45.65
3. Casper Puggaard (CAL), 1:46.15
4. Joe Polyak (MINN), 1:46.65
5. Adriano Arioti (HARV), 1:46.72
6. John Watson (MINN), 1:47.19
7. Ryan Slonac (MINN), 1:47.60
8. Ian Belflower (UNLV), DQ

Just as it was in prelims, the Cal freshman trio finished top three here in the men’s 200 IM final.

Barnicle flew to a lifetime best in 1:44.81, bettering his previous best from April in 1:45.07.

Bowers also knocked down his best time that he set in the prelims in 1:46.51, with his final time of 1:45.65.

Barnicle established himself fully in the race at the 100 mark, holding a solid lead at 49.16, which was actually slower than her was out this morning, The difference was his back half, out splitting his morning breast by just under three tenths of a second, and his free leg by over seven tenths,

WOMEN’S 50 FREE

• NCAA Record: 20.37, Gretchen Walsh (UVA) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 22.28
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time:  22.01

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Mary-Ambre Moluh (CAL), 21.79
2. Sydney Griscavage (CAL), 22.13
3. Morgan Thomas (MINN), 22.23
4. Anya Mostek (HARV), 22.44
5. Livi Wanner (MINN), 22.53
6. Gracyn Aquino (CAL)/Emilianna Gonzalez (RU), 22.62
7. –
8. Charlotte Burnham (CAL), 22.78

In an effort even greater than this morning, Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh clocked an even better sub-22 time of 21.79 in the final.

Moluh still didn’t quite reach her best time, standing at 21.57.

Cal senior Sydney Griscavage continued to lower her lifetime best from the morning, finishing second in 22.13, now having dropped .38 seconds off of her best time today.

Morgan Thomas jumped up a pair of spots to finish 3rd in 22.44, besting her morning performance of 22.49.

MEN’S 50 FREE

• NCAA Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 19.43
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 19.02

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Lucca Battaglini (CAL), 18.79
2. Bryson Huey (UNLV), 19.02
3. Evan Petty (CAL), 19.16
4. Samuel Quarles (CAL), 19.46
5. Martin Wrede (CAL), 19.49
6. Sonny Wang (HARV), 19.56
7. Nans Mazellier (CAL), 19.60
8. Colby Hatton (CAL), 19.84

Battaglini became the 6th fastest performer in Cal history this morning with his prelims 18.78, tonight he was just a hair off of that pace, touching one hundredth of a second slower in 18.79.

UNLV’s Bryson Huey lowered his best time of his career from prelims in 19.12 to take 2nd in 19.02.

Evan Petty also notched a new lifetime best for Cal in 19.16, good enough for a 3rd place finish.

Cal’s 200 free relay anchor Samuel Quarles climbed from his prelims spot of 7th to finish in the top four, swimming just off of his personal best of 19.59, touching in 19.46.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: 3:20.20, Virginia (2025 NCAA Championships)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:30.89
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:32.51

Top 8 Finishers: 

1. Cal ‘A’, 3:28.54
2.  Cal ‘B’, 3:31.96
3. Minnesota ‘A’, 3:36.43
4. Harvard ‘A’, 3:38.59
5. UNLV ‘A’, 3:39.59
6. Minnesota ‘B’, 3:39.28
7. Harvard ‘B’, 3:40.08
8. Rutgers ‘A’, 3:40.70

The final two heats were all Cal.

Mary-Ambre Moluh opened up with a very quick 50.92 backstroke leg, from that point on, Cal never trailed, and never lost their lead. Silje Slyngstadli took over, opening in a fast 27.38, later closing in 31.41, totaling 58.79 for her breaststroke leg. Annie Jia continued to dominate for the Golden Bears, adding in her 51.68 fly leg, and Mia West, in her second swim of the evening, provided her 47.15 anchor leg to cement the win in 3;28.54.

Cal’s ‘B’ relay clocked the 2nd fastest time from the first heat. O’Dell lead off in 51,31, coming off of her 200 IM win earlier in the session. Lilou Ressencourt provided a big 51.84 in the fly, and Claire Weinstein closed in 48.21 for the runner-up event finish.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: 2:55.66, Florida (2025 SEC Championships)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:04.96
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:06.20

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Harvard ‘A’, 3:09.23
2. Minnesota ‘A’, 3:10.21
3.  UNLV ‘A’, 3:10.57
4. Harvard ‘B’, 3:11.39
5. Denver ‘A’, 3:11.51
6. Minnesota ‘C’, 3:12.90
7. Minnesota ‘B’, 3:15.25
8. Denver ‘B’, 3:15.25

The absence of a al relay provided the first non-Golden Bear event winner of the day.

Harvard’s ‘A’ relay managed to capture the 400 medley relay crown, just under a second ahead of Minnesota in 3:09.23. The winning deficit is largely in part to the anchor swim from Sonny Wang, charging to the wall in 42.36, over a second and a half faster than Ian Steffen of Minnesota in 43.88.

The only other Crimson leg to out pace Minnesota was Joshua Chen in the 100 breast, clocking 53.42, splitting just a quarter of a second faster than Max Scheurer in 53.68,