2024 Men’s Pac-12 Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2024 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, March 6 – Saturday, March 9
• Location: Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, WA
• Defending champions: Arizona State (1x)
• Live Results
• Live Video (Pac-12 Network)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide Preview
• Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap| Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap

TEAM SCORES (AFTER DAY THREE)

1. Arizona State – 725
2. Stanford – 505.5
3. Cal – 406
4. Arizona – 372
5. USC – 288.5
6. Utah – 167

The final morning of the 2024 Pac-12 Championships will feature the usual 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly lineup. There will also be the early heats of the timed final 1650 this afternoon, with the fastest seeded heat swimming with finals.

ASU’s Hubert Kos comes in as the top seed in the 200 backstroke with a season best time of 1:36.54. Kos has already won two events so far, taking the 200 IM on day one (1:38.77) and 100 back last night (43.75). He’s in a strong position to make it three, as his entry time is nearly three seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Jonny Kulow, a sophomore from Arizona State, owns the top seed in the 100 at 41.44. The only other entrant under the 42-second barrier is his teammate, Jack Dolan, who comes in at 41.53.

Leon Marchand will take on one of his signature events today, the 200 breast. He’s the NCAA record-holder in the event, but is actually the 2nd seed this morning behind his teammate David Schlicht. Schlicht’s season best stands at 1:51.55, while Marchand is entered with a 1:51.71.

Rounding out this morning’s events will be the 200 fly, where Sun Devil Ilya Kharun is the top seed. Kharun swam a best time of 1:37.93 at the Stanford-ASU dual meet, putting him just over half a second shy of Jack Conger‘s NCAA record from 2017.

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• Pac-12 Record: 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal (2016)
• Pac-12 Championship Record: 1:36.94 – Destin Lasco, Cal (2023)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:39.13

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Owen McDonald (ASU) – 1:38.49
2. Hubert Kos (ASU) – 1:39.05
3. Aaron Sequeira (STAN) – 1:39.62
4. Sebastian Somerset (CAL) – 1:40.32
5. Josh Zuchowski (STAN) – 1:40.62
6. Rex Maurer (STAN) – 1:40.68
7. Ziyad Saleem (CAL) – 1:40.73
8. Kai Crews (CAL) – 1:41.09

Arizona State’s duo of sophomore Owen McDonald and Hubert Kos clinched the top two seeds for tonight’s final with times of 1:38.49 and 1:39.05, respectively. McDonald’s time takes him under his previous best from this meet a year ago by about half a second, and moves him to 5th in the country so far this season. Kos added two and a half seconds to his seed time, and will likely be much faster tonight.

Stanford and Cal each got three athletes into the championship final. Stanford is led by junior Aaron Sequeira, who shaved off a few tenths from his personal best to hit a 1:39.62. Joining him the A-final will be Josh Zuchowski and Rex Maurer, who both added this morning.

Cal’s top finisher out of prelims was graduate student Sebastian Somerset (1:40.32), followed by juniors Ziyad Saleem (1:40.73) and Kai Crews (1:41.09). All three improved on their season bests, with Saleem and Crews also notching personal bests.

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• Pac-12 Record: 40.75 – Bjorn Seeliger, Cal (2022)
• Pac-12 Championship Record: 40.90 – Bjorn Seeliger, Cal (2023)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 41.50

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Jack Dolan (ASU) – 41.38
2. Jonny Kulow (ASU) – 41.53
3. Matthew Jensen (CAL) – 41.57
4. Patrick Sammon (ASU) – 41.85
5. Ralph Daleiden (ARIZ) – 42.07
6. Liam Bell (CAL) – 42.17
7. Rafael Gu (STAN) – 42.18
8. Luke Maurer (STAN) – 42.20

It was the Sun Devils taking the top two spots out of prelims again, with senior Jack Dolan leading in 41.38. Dolan’s time is good for a new personal best by just over a tenth of a second. Joining him in the A-final will be sophomore Jonny Kulow (41.53) and junior Patrick Sammon, who finished 4th in a best time of 41.85.

Cal’s Matthew Jensen and Liam Bell saw some of the largest improvements from their entry times this morning. Jensen, a senior set a season best by over a second and a personal best by about half second with a time of 41.57. Bell moved up from 41st to 6th with a 42.17, which is also good for a new personal best time.

Arizona’s Ralph Daleiden secured the 5th spot in tonight’s final with a 42.07, while Stanford’s Rafael Gu and Luke Maurer round out the top-eight with times of 42.18 and 42.20.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:46.91 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• Pac-12 Record: 1:46.91 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• Pac-12 Championship Record: 1:47.67 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:51.09

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. David Schlicht (ASU) – 1:51.41
2. Cale Martter (ASU) – 1:52.19
3. Leon Marchand (ASU) – 1:52.22
4. Andy Dobrzanski (ASU) – 1:52.98
5. Zhier Fan (STAN) – 1:53.03
6. Hank Rivers (CAL) – 1:53.13
7. Ron Polonsky (STAN) – 1:53.84
8. Sean Swift (CAL) – 1:54.30

The Sun Devils were dominant this morning, taking the top four slots heading into tonight’s championship final. Senior David Schlicht held on to his top seed with a best time of 1:51.41, while sophomore Cale Martter knocked off over a second to post a 1:52.19 and take 2nd. Also setting a personal best from ASU was Andy Dobrzanski, who logged a 1:42.98 for 4th.

The defending champion and NCAA record holder Leon Marchand qualified in 3rd with a 1:52.22, which is half a second off his season best. Marchand had the fastest back half out of anyone in the top-8 this morning, as he went out in 54.33 and returned with a 57.89.

Stanford qualified two swimmers, with sophomore Zhier Fan in 5th (1:53.03) and junior Ron Polonsky in 7th (1:53.84). Cal also got two in, with Hank Rivers (1:53.13) and Sean Swift (1:54.30). taking 6th and 8th. Rivers set a massive best time and moved up over 10 spots with his swim.

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:37.35 – Jack Conger, Texas (2017)
• Pac-12 Record: 1:37.93 – Ilya Kharun, ASU (2024)
• Pac-12 Championship Record: 1:38.53 – Trenton Julian, Cal (2021)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:40.16

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Ilya Kharun (ASU) – 1:39.52
2. Krzysztof Chmielewski (USC) – 1:41.45
3. Alexander Colson (ASU) – 1:41.64
4. Haakon Naughton (ARIZ) – 1:41.90
5. Michal Chmielewski (USC) – 1:42.51
6. Gibson Holmes (STAN) – 1:42.95
7. Henry McFadden (STAN) – 1:43.11
8. Harry Homans (USC) – 1:43.19

Arizona State freshman Ilya Kharun turned in the fastest time of the morning at 1:39.52, putting him nearly two seconds ahead of the next fastest finisher. Kharun opened with a 47.78 on the front half, then split 25.95 and 25.79 on the following 50s to record a time of 1:39.52. His teammate Alexander Colson also qualified for the A-final, going a 1:41.64 to just miss his season best.

With three A-finalists, this was the strongest event of the morning for the USC Trojans. Freshman Krzysztof Chmielewski led the way in 1:41.45 to take 2nd, while Michal Chmielewski and Harry Homans followed in 5th (1:42.51) and 8th (1:43.19). Homans was the only one of the group to hit a season best this morning.

Rounding out tonight’s championship final is Arizona sophomore Haakon Naughton, along with Stanford’s Gibson Holmes and Henry McFadden. Andrei Minakov, who was seeded 2nd, did not swim.