5 Big Things from the final day of the 2015 Men’s Pac-12 Championships: Who won the Murphy-Nolan battle?

The final night of men’s Pac-12s has wrapped up in Federal Way. Here are 5 big things we noticed:

1. Steven Stumph comes around: Coming out of high school, Steven Stumph was the fastest 100 breaststroker in high school history. But a rocky freshman campaign in Southern California left him well out of the spotlight heading into this season. But Stumph had a breakthrough meet this week, and capped it off with a clear signature swim: winning the 200 breaststroke title over Cal’s versatile star Josh Prenot and Arizona’s American record-holder Kevin Cordes. Stumph’s 1:52.50 will rank him #3 in the NCAA this year and should give him a legitimate shot at a championship final appearance at NCAAs later this month.

2. Cal DQ’s 400 free relay for second-straight season: Although the Golden Bears had fallen out of the points hunt well before the 400 free relay, it’s always worth noting the severe damage a relay disqualification can do to a team’s title hopes. For the second consecutive season, Cal had a swimmer false start on its 400 free relay, knocking the team out of scoring range. This season, the culprit was senior Seth Stubblefield, who otherwise had an outstanding week. The DQ tonight didn’t affect Cal’s place at all, but fans will hope it serves as a warning to the Bears, who could still be hoping to make a run at a repeat NCAA title later on in March. A DQ at the national championships would just about kill any chances the team had at a the big trophy in one single swoop.

3. USC wins first title since 1979: The USC Trojans came up huge on the last day, erasing a 33-point deficit to beat Stanford by just 9 for the title. That marks Southern Cal’s first Pac-12 men’s title in over 30 years. USC last won the conference in 1979 – that team was led by 1972 Olympic gold medalist Steve Furniss and coached by USC and USA legend Peter Daland, who passed away last fall. It’s fitting that the Trojans get to honor Daland’s memory by climbing back atop the conference for the first time since Daland’s crew did it three decades ago.

4. Stanford loses the title – on a swim-off: The flip side of USC’s win is Stanford’s stinging 9-point loss of the team title, which would have put the Cardinal back on top for the first time since their 31-year win streak was snapped in 2013. In a meet of 9 points, the difference could have been made up anywhere, but one notable point swing today was a swim-off for 8th place in the 100 free. Stanford’s Tom Stephens and Cal’s Tyler Messerschmidt showed down for the final championship heat slot after tying for 8th in prelims. It was Messerschmidt who won the swim-off by just .15, relegating Stephens to the B final, where he eventually faded in the final to 15th overall. That point swing (the 2 points he earned compared to the 11 he was guaranteed with a spot in the A final) was 9 points – the exact deficit Stanford lost the meet by. That’s not to say that single swim was the deciding factor – Stanford could have made up those 9 points anywhere during the 21 events of the meet. But it does show just how razor-thin a margin a swim meet title can often come down to.

5. Final call: Who won the Murphy vs Nolan shootout? Two of the best high school prospects of all-time met this week on different sides of the Pac-12. Cal’s sophomore Ryan Murphy and Stanford senior Dave Nolan had each won one head-to-head Pac-12 matchup heading into tonight, and Murphy won the rubber match in the 200 back. But looking at the weekend as a whole, here’s how the two stacked up:

Head-to-head individuals:

  • Murphy: 2 wins in 3 events, 1 Pac-12 meet record (200 back) = 56 points
  • Nolan: 1 win in 3 events, American/US Open/NCAA records in the 200 IM = 53 points

Relay finishes:

  • Murphy: 2 wins (200 medley, 200 free), 1 second-place (400 medley) = 114 points
  • Nolan: 1 second place (200 free relay), 3 third places (200 medley, 800 free, 400 medley) = 130 points

Relay splits:

  • 200 medley, backstroke: Murphy 21.21, Nolan 21.13
  • 200 free: Murphy 18.94, Nolan 18.63
  • Murphy 400 free relay 41.76 (#1 overall) vs Nolan 800 free relay 1:32.49 (#2 overall)
  • Murphy 400 medley 45.18 back (#1 overall) vs Nolan 400 medley 51.78 breast (#1 overall)

This is just one person’s take, but I’ve bolded what I felt were the more impressive performances in each category. Though Murphy ultimately won two of the three head-to-head matchups, it still feels like Nolan was the more impressive swimmer overall this week. That’s thanks in large part to the insane national records in the 200 IM (and the fact that Nolan beat the greatest of all-time Michael Phelps, who also swam the 200 IM this weekend), but also aided by some of his outstanding relay splits, including that 100 breaststroke that outsplit Kevin Cordes.

Full finals recap is here

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9 years ago

no doubt, all great swimmers……..but murphy dominated ncaa’s last year. will do the same this year and has by far the best chance of a metal at the the Olympics! and he’s only 19!

Formerlonghorn
9 years ago

I’m not sure if I see the same “clear edge” and how much more dominant Nolan is than Quintero. Nolan had a great meet no doubt but Nolan’s swims seed him 1st, 3rd, and 6th going into NCAA while Quintero is 1st, 2nd, and 4th. Yes, his 50 was insane fast as well and it makes him versatile, but I have seen solid 200 swimmers throw down in the 50s and 100s of any stroke. I have seen fewer guys that can do the mile through the 50 free fast though. I would be curious to see a list of guys who have been sub 14:50 and sub 20 even in a 50

THEO
9 years ago

Not to discredit how special a swimmer Quintero and Murphy are, but Nolan has a clear edge. He is much more valuable/dominant right now.

Obviously the 2IM was more impressive than any singular swim of the other two swimmers, and I don’t think I need to defend that. All-time records have a way of speaking for themselves.

But Nolan is more versatile than the other too as well. How far down the all-time top performing 2IM list do you have to go to find another person who can split 18.6 (with a .3 reaction)? Answer: very far.

The 2IM – 50free versaitlity is just as impressive to me as the 50free – 200 free. Probably more so, honestly.. especially… Read more »

samuel huntington
9 years ago

definitely worth noting the outstanding swimming from USC’s sophmore class this weekend – Domagala, Carter, Malone, Stumph, and Condorelli.

9 years ago

I believe murphy will go a lot faster at ncaa’s

liquid4TheBears
9 years ago

I agree with all of this. Quintero also went 18.8 relay split, this from a guy who has gone 14:45 in the 1650 before. Nolan gets the nod due to the AR/NCAA record and a wider margin over Murphy in the IM than Murphy had over him in the 2Back.

Hank
9 years ago

The question will be clarified at NCAAs

Formerlonghorn
9 years ago

The answer to who won the showdown between Murphy and Nolan is… Quintero. Who goes 4:11 and 41.6 on a relay? That is versatile, also 1:32.4 is dirty. I would say Nolan takes it over Murphy just because of the 2 im. They stack up pretty even except for the im and the 2 back and 1:38 is scorching but 1:40.0 im is on a different level.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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