Pac-12 Relay Splits: Hoffer, Seeliger Pop 18-Mids On 200 Free Relay

2021 MEN’S  PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Cal has stormed out of the gates at the 2021 Men’s Pac-12 Championships, having won all six swimming events through two nights of competition.

Monday night was capped off by the Bears’ performance in the 200 free relay, where the team secured a fifth-straight victory in a time of 1:15.80. This was also the fourth Pac-12 title in the event for senior Ryan Hoffer, who followed up an individual win in the 50 free with the field’s fastest relay split.

Hoffer blasted an 18.55 swimming third, putting the race out of reach for USC and Arizona heading into the anchor leg.

His freshman teammate Bjorn Seeliger, who hit a best of 18.84 in the individual race to finish just .03 back for second, also had a scintillating split of 18.66 on the relay, swimming second. Daniel Carr closed the show in 18.98, and Nate Biondi had his fastest swim in two years on the lead-off leg (19.61).

The team’s final time was .26 off of the meet record of 1:15.54, first set by Stanford in 2009 and then matched by the winning Cal team last season that featured Hoffer and three seniors: Pawel Sendyk, Michael Jensen and Zheng Quah. In that race, Hoffer split 18.43.

Marin Ercegovic had the fastest lead-off in the field for Arizona at 19.40, coming off of going a best of 19.22 to take third individually, and USC’s Billy Cruz Zuniga had the fastest non-Cal rolling split at 19.14. The junior was 11th in the individual race in 19.87.

Lead-off Legs

Swimmer School Split
Marin Ercegovic Arizona 19.40
Cooper DeRyk Utah 19.48
Nate Biondi Cal 19.61
Nikola Miljenic USC 19.64
Luke Maurer Stanford 19.87
Ethan Dang Stanford ‘B’ 20.53

Flying Splits

*Cal’s ‘B’ team was disqualified for a false start from the lead-off swimmer, but we’ve included the team’s subsequent relay splits for the purpose of this exercise.

Swimmer School Split
Ryan Hoffer Cal 18.55
Bjorn Seeliger Cal 18.66
Daniel Carr Cal 18.98
Billy Cruz Zuniga USC 19.14
Jonny Affeld Stanford 19.21
Alexei Sancov USC 19.29
Max Saunders USC 19.3
Mason Gonzalez Stanford 19.39
Tai Combs Arizona 19.39
Finn O’Haimhirgin Utah 19.43
Rick Mihm Stanford 19.45
Ogi Maric Arizona 19.48
Destin Lasco Cal ‘B’ 19.58
Noah Reid Arizona 19.59
Bryce Mefford Cal ‘B’ 19.73
Neel Roy Stanford ‘B’ 19.9
William Tarvestad Stanford ‘B’ 19.91
Santiago Contreras Utah 19.95
Felix Chiun Utah 19.97
Jarod Hatch Cal ‘B’ 20.03
Leon MacAlister Stanford ‘B’ 20.12

TEAM SCORES (THRU DAY 2 + DIVING)

  1. Stanford, 339
  2. Cal, 334
  3. Arizona, 271
  4. Utah, 235
  5. USC, 190

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BearlyBreathing
3 years ago

If a team qualifies a relay, do the same 4 swimmers have to swim this event at NCAAs?
My apologies if this has been answered here before.

Editor
Reply to  BearlyBreathing
3 years ago

Nope. They can swim anyone who has qualified for the meet, or they bring as a relay-only swimmer.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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