Olivia Smoliga Posts Lifetime Bests at Arizona State Intrasquad

Arizona State Intrasquad

  • January 15th, 2021
  • Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, Tempe, Arizona
  • Short Course Yard (SCY)
  • Results on MeetMobile: “ASU Intrasquad”

After Arizona State’s scheduled meet against Arizona and Utah was canceled due to Covid-19 concerns within the Utah program, the Sun Devils elected to hold an intrasquad meet at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Arizona. Swimmers competed in every event of the NCAA lineup except for the 1650, which was replaced with the 1000. The meet also featured members of the school’s pro group and doubled as the team’s senior night.

Claiming in the top spot in all three of his individual races was Leon Marchand, the Sun Devil freshman and Olympic Games finalist. After picking up his first win in the 200 free (1:33.26) over a field that included 2019 NCAA B-finalist Grant House and Olympic champion Ryan Held, he went on to add victories in both the 200 back and 200 IM. His time in the 200 free was also a new lifetime best and ranks 15th in the NCAA this season. In the 200 back, he cruised to a win over sprinter Jack Dolan, touching in a time of 1:44.03. He rounded out the meet with a winning time of 1:42.67 in the 200 IM.

Joining Marchand in finishing with a pair of top times at the meet was Jack Little and Alexander Colson. Little doubled up on the distance events, taking the 1000 free in 8:59.56 and the 500 free in 4:24.74, while Colson swept the fly, winning the 100 in 46.73 and the 200 in 1:43.75.

Picking up multiple wins on the women’s side was another Sun Devil freshman, Erin Milligan. After redshirting last season along with the rest of the ASU roster, Milligan swam to a pair of sprint freestyle wins in their intrasquad. She claimed the 50 free victory by over a second, beating out Lilia Smith in a time of 23.27. She followed that swim with a 49.98 in the 100 free to beat SMith and Erica Laning. Her time in the 100 was just half a second off of her best time from the GAC Invitation earlier this year.

In the women’s 200 fly, redshirt sophomore Lindsay Looney swam to a best time of 1:54.17 to easily win over the rest of the field. A finalist in the event at the Olympic Trials last summer, that time was a new personal best and the 11th fastest time this season in the NCAA.

The women’s meet featured big swims from ASU’s pro group, with both Hali Flickinger and Olivia Smoliga posting impressive swims.

In the 500 free, Flickinger cruised to a 15-second victory over the field to touch in 4:33.91. That time is just half of a second slower than her lifetime best, a 4:33.35 that earned her third at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

While Flickinger narrowly missed her lifetime best, Smoliga improved upon her best yards times in both races she swam. Competing in events she rarely swam during her collegiate career, Smoliga touched in 1:44.62 in the 200 free and 1:55.34 in the 200 back.

Other Men’s Event First Place Finishers

Other Women’s Event First Place Finishers

 

 

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mds
2 years ago

Other Hali Flickinger swims are also interesting:

SWIMS database lists Flickinger best 100 Breast SCY at 1:05.50 from 2015 Georgia v Georgia Tech dual meet.

She swam 1:03.41(:30.21) Friday.

Also, split on 3rd leg of 4×100 FR lists Hali at :47.98(:22.87); SWIMS gives her best flat start 100 free as :49.90 from 11/2015 Georgia v Emory.

mds
2 years ago

Solid top end swims and remarkable depth in several events.

Other fine, mostly non-winning, swims from one team in a January exhibition after the intended conference opponent backed out the day before:

Women 200 Free — Erica Laning 1:45.78; Lindsay Looney 1:47.96
Men’s 200 Free — Grant House 1:33.59; Held 1:34.34 (just back from FINA SC Worlds where he anchored USA Gold
Medal 4×200 relay); Patrick Sammon 1:35.25; Carter Swift 1:35.62; Julian Hill 1:36.10; Liam Bressette 1:37.83
Women’s 100 Breast — Deleske 1:01.19
Jade Foelske – Flys – :53.27, 1:56.56
1000 — Gordon Mason – 9:04.43; Dylan Gravely – 9:12.91
200 Fly — Andrew Gray 1:44.18; Jarod Arroyo 1:45.27
50 Free —… Read more »

Wow
2 years ago

I’m assuming it was suited?

Alex Wilson
Reply to  Wow
2 years ago

Yes, it was. I watched the meet.

Hswimmer
2 years ago

Held doing 200 IM interesting. Glad to see Smoliga getting a Pb in 200 free good sign for the next few months

Fleur
2 years ago

Love her. Curious to know if this means She’s finally adding the 200 free