2020 ARIZONA INVITE
- December 3-December 4, 2020
- Hillebrand Aquatic Center, Tucson, AZ
- SCY
- Results on MeetMobile
The Arizona Invite concluded tonight, featuring the 200 medley relay, 1650, 100 fly, 200 back, 200 breast, 200 free, 50 free, 400 IM, and 400 free relay.
Brooks Fail continued to lead the Arizona men, posting a victory in the mile. Fail lapped the field, finishing in 15:02.28. The time comes in well behind the 14:37.60 Fail swam at the Minnesota Invite last December. However, given the unique nature of this season, it should also be noted that this was Fail’s first mile of the season, and he was significantly faster than his first mile last season, which was a 15:33.87 on October 25th, 2019. Arizona pro Leah Smith clocked a 16:03.49 in the 1650.
David Schlicht nearly posted a personal best in the 400 IM. The ‘Zona IM star cleared the field easily, roaring to a 3:40.93. The time comes in just off Schlicht’s best of 3:40.14, which he swam at the 2019 NCAAs. He swam well across the board, splitting 50.04 on fly, 56.62 on back, 1:02.10 on breast, and came home in 52.17.
Sam Iida led a 1-2 charge for Arizona in the men’s 200 breast. Iida swam a 1:56.74, with teammate Jake Hand finishing 2nd with a 1:59.91. Iida got out to the early lead with a 56.38 on the first 100, then held it down with splits of 29.79 and 30.57 on the last 2 50s. Iida’s personal best came at the 2019 NCAAs, where he swam a 1:52.69.
Ogi Maric clipped his personal best en route to winning the men’s 200 back. Maric clocked a 1:41.82, getting his hand on the wall just ahead of his best time of 1:41.87. This is Maric’s first season with Arizona, as he spent last season with UNLV.
Noah Reid grabbed a victory for Arizona in the men’s 100 fly, touching over a second ahead of the field with a 46.67. Reid was a tick faster in prelims this morning, finishing in 46.40. His prelim time was less than half a second off his lifetime best, which sits at 45.95 from last fall’s Minnesota Invite. Hunter Ingram swam his 5th fastest 200 free to date tonight, racing to a 1:36.52. He swam a very consistent race, going out in 22.58, then posting splits of 24.54, 24.90, 24.50. Ingram swam his lifetime best at the 2020 Pac-12 Champs earlier this year – 1:34.67.
Pro Matt Grevers stole the show in the men’s 50 free, swimming a 19.66 to be the only swimmer in the field to break 20 seconds. Grevers has been as fast as 18.88 in his career, which came back in 2012.
Arizona put together a 1:25.83 to win the men’s 200 medley relay by 3 seconds. Ogi Maric led the relay off in 21.70, and was follwoed by Ryan Foote with a 23.76 breast split, Noah Reid in 20.67 on fly, and Marin Ercegovic anchoring in 19.70. Maric, Ercegovic, and Reid teamed up again to take the 400 free at the end of the meet, with Brooks Fail providing the 4th leg. Maric again led off, splitting 43.70, which is just .01 seconds off his personal best. Ercegovic split 44.43 on the 2nd leg, while Noah Reid swam a field-leading 42.92 on the 3rd leg, and Fail anchored in 43.51 for a final time of 2:54.56.
Kayla Filipek handled business in the women’s 50 free, swimming a 22.78 to touch as the only swimmer in the field under 23 seconds. Filipek was also a member of the winning 200 medley and 400 free relays. In the medley relay, Filipek anchored in 22.04, with Aria Bernal leading off in 25.37, Jade Neser splitting 27.61 on breast, and Julia Heimstead providing a 23.87 fly split. The Wildcats finished in 1:38.89. Filipek also provided the fastest split on the women’s 400 free relay. Amalie Mortensen led the squad off in 50.41, with Filipek diving in 2nd for a 48.80, then Alayna Connor splitting 51.02 on the 3rd leg, and Julia Heimstead anchoring in 50.21.
Amalie Mortensen found individual victory of her own in the women’s 200 free, posting a 1:47.37. The time stands as Mortensen’s best. Mortensen used her speed to get out to a quick start, flipping at 51.77 at the 100 mark. She came home in 55.60. It was fellow freshman Julia Heimstead that finished 2nd, touching in 1:50.70. The time for Heimstead comes in just off her personal best of 1:50.37.
Heimstead had already picked up a 2nd place in the women’s 100 fly. It was Emily Muteti who picked up GCU’s sole win on the day, swimming a 54.44. Heimstead was right behind, clocking a 54.85.
Axana Merckx picked up 2 wins for Arizona tonight. She first took the 200 back with a 1:58.67, finishing just over a second faster than teammate Skylar Dikeman (1:59.97). Merckx used front end speed to establish a lead, hitting the 100 mark in 57.48. She faded a bit on the 3rd 50, going from 29.72 on the 2nd 50 to 31.15 on the 3rd. Merckx went on to win the 400 IM with a 4:26.54.
Arizona’s Faith Knelson led the way in the women’s 200 breast, finishing in 2:16.55. Knelson hadn’t officially swum the race yards before today, marking this 2:16.55 as her personal best.
