2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand, Andrei Minakov, Grant House Post Stunning Performances

Andrei Minakov -- Photo Courtesy: FINA / Budapest 2019

2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand, Andrei Minakov, Grant House Post Stunning Performances

So far, the standout team at the Pac-12 men’s championships in Federal Way, Wash., has been the Stanford, and the Cardinal actually led by more than 100 points over Arizona State heading into the third day of the meet. Stanford already had earned wins in the 200 free relay and in the 500 free, when Preston Forst and Grant Shoults finished 1-2. However, the Sun Devils have shown up in full force as well. Prior to Friday, Arizona State already had a win in the 800 free relay and a 1-2 finish from Leon Marchand and Grant House in the 200 IM. Meanwhile, Cal was looming with an impressive squad of sprinters and backstrokers, and Cal has finished either first or second at the NCAA Championships every year since 2010.

The third evening of finals saw a handful of marvelous performances that made a huge impact on the all-time lists and ranked as the top swims so far in the nation this college season. Marchand recorded the second-quickest time ever in the 400 IM, while Stanford’s Andrei Minakov jumped to fourth all-time in the 100 butterfly and Grant House moved up to No. 6 ever in the 200 free.

2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Links

2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Team Scores

  1. Stanford University             579.5   2. California University,Berkeley  516.5
  3. Arizona State University        459.5   4. University of Arizona           331.5
  5. Southern California, Universit    313   6. Utah, University of               237

400 IM

Following an impressive Olympic debut for France at the Tokyo Games, Arizona State freshman Leon Marchand has performed phenomenally in his first collegiate season. Marchand, sixth in the 400-meter IM in Tokyo, became the fourth-fastest performer ever in the 400 IM at midseason, and he cut more than a second off that time at the conference meet.

Marchand swam a time of 3:34.45, just one second off Chase Kalisz’s NCAA and U.S. Open records of 3:33.42 set at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Marchand jumped Texas sophomore Carson Foster (3:35.27) to become the second-fastest performer in history, and Marchand also surpassed the second-best effort of Kalisz’s career. His time was also almost 2.5 seconds faster than the 3:36.90 that Bobby Finke swam on his way to an NCAA title in the event in 2021.

Finishing second in the race was Cal’s Hugo Gonzalez, who swam a 3:36.54, also ahead of the winning time from last year (a meet where Gonzalez finished ninth in a time quicker than the winning time in the A-final). Gonzalez remained the fifth-fastest performer in history with his swim. Third place went to another Cal swimmer, junior Jason Louser, in 3:38.77.

Marchand will head to the NCAA Championships later this month in Atlanta as the favorite in the 400 IM, but the race shapes up as one of the meet’s most anticipated as he will have to contend with Foster, Finke and Gonzalez. Foster swam the world’s only sub-4:09 performance in the 400-meter IM last season, but his season-best mark of 3:37.35 in the yards version of the race leaves him almost three seconds behind Marchand.

Event 10  Men 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 3:33.42  3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
       PAC-12: M 3:35.29  2018      Abrahm DeVine, STAN
 PAC-12 Champ: P 3:36.60  2020      Hugo Gonzalez, CAL
                 3:39.16  A Standard
                 3:51.46  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Marchand, Leon   FR ASU               3:38.87    3:34.45MA       20  
     r:+0.53  23.02    26.51    27.89    26.42
       30.44    30.30    25.81    24.06
  2 Gonzalez, Hugo   SR CAL               3:42.55    3:36.54PA       17  
     r:+0.64  23.24    27.16    28.46    27.56
       30.22    30.01    25.31    24.58
  3 Louser, Jason    JR CAL               3:38.95    3:38.77 A       16  
     r:+0.69  23.09    26.62    27.65    27.14
       30.09    31.40    26.70    26.08
  4 Polonsky, Ron    FR STAN              3:43.08    3:39.49 B       15  
     r:+0.66  24.10    27.52    27.68    27.11
       30.09    31.10    26.34    25.55
  5 Fail, Brooks     5Y Arizona           3:43.31    3:40.75 B       14  
     r:+0.68  23.46    26.98    28.65    27.04
       32.21    32.69    25.21    24.51
  6 Grieshop, Sean   SR CAL               3:42.51    3:43.50 B       13  
     r:+0.54  23.76    27.41    28.61    28.08
       31.79    31.98    26.41    25.46
  7 Schlicht, David  JR ASU               3:43.63    3:43.53 B       12  
     r:+0.63  23.96    26.91    29.17    28.40
       31.25    31.91    26.55    25.38
  8 Roberts, Will    SR CAL               3:44.06    3:43.58 B       11  
     r:+0.68  23.64    26.89    29.17    28.52
       32.11    32.28    26.07    24.90

100 Butterfly

Andrei Minakov was another swimmer to post an impressive Olympic debut last year as the native of St. Petersburg, Russia, took fourth in the 100-meter fly final, finishing just 0.14 off the podium. But Minakov will head to his first NCAA Championships as a title favorite in the 100-yard fly. At the Pac-12 meet, he won the event in 43.90. That beat the field by more than a second, and he lowered Austin Staab’s Pac-12 and Stanford team records (44.18) that had stood since 2009.

With the swim, Minakov surpassed Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan (44.08) for the No. 1 spot in the national rankings, and he surpassed Ramadan for fourth all-time in the event. Only the legendary trio of Caeleb Dressel, Joseph Schooling and Tom Shields have ever been quicker.

The Arizona State duo of Alexander Colson (45.02) and Cody Bybee (45.32) finished second and third, respectively, while Minakov’s Stanford teammate Aaron Sequeira (45.34) ended up fourth.

Event 11  Men 100 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 42.80  3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
       PAC-12: M 44.18  2009      Austin Staab, STAN
 PAC-12 Champ: P 44.66  2011      Austin Staab, STAN
                 44.96  A Standard
                 47.43  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Minakov, Andrei  FR STAN                44.21      43.90MA       20  
      r:+0.47  9.26    11.12    11.47    12.05
  2 Colson, Alexand  JR ASU                 45.62      45.02 B       17  
      r:+0.61  9.61    11.34    11.72    12.35
  3 Bybee, Cody      SR ASU                 45.93      45.32 B       16  
      r:+0.62  9.64    11.44    11.91    12.33
  4 Sequeira, Aaron  FR STAN                46.29      45.34 B       15  
      r:+0.57  9.75    11.53    11.64    12.42
  5 Rose, Dare       SO CAL                 45.96      45.42 B       14  
      r:+0.60  9.44    11.68    11.86    12.44
  6 Hu, Ethan        SO STAN                46.28      46.04 B       13  
      r:+0.59  9.86    11.68    12.02    12.48
  7 Affeld, Jonny    SO STAN                45.63      46.83 B       12  
      r:+0.56  9.66    11.81    12.95    12.41
  8 Taner, Brooks    JR Arizona             46.21      46.91 B       11  
      r:+0.62  9.89    11.78    12.28    12.96

200 Freestyle

On the opening night of the Pac-12 Championships, Arizona State’s Grant House led off the Sun Devils’ 800 free relay in 1:30.54, cutting more than a second off his lifetime best and jumping up to eighth all-time. Apparently, House was not satisfied with that effort, and in the individual 200 free, he swam even faster. House touched first in 1:30.23, two second ahead of the field, and he improved to sixth all-time.

The list of swimmers ahead of him on the all-time list include Dean Farris, Kieran Smith, Townley Haas, Blake Pieroni and Andrew Seliskar. Farris and Smith remain in college swimming, but House will be seeded first in the 200 free at the NCAA Championships as he surpassed Smith’s season-best time of 1:30.42 from the SEC Championships two weeks ago.

Finishing second behind House was Stanford’s Preston Forst in 1:32.48. Forst had previously won the 500 free for the Cardinal Thursday night. Cal’s Trenton Julian, a fifth-year swimmer who took third in the 200 free at NCAAs last year, was third here in 1:32.54.

Event 12  Men 200 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:29.15  3/27/2019 Dean Farris, Harvard
       PAC-12: M 1:30.14  2019      Andrew Seliskar, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:31.07  2019      Andrew Seliskar, CAL
                 1:32.05  A Standard
                 1:36.32  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 House, Grant     SR ASU               1:31.85    1:30.23PA       20  
     r:+0.51  20.89    22.75    23.08    23.51
  2 Forst, Preston   SO STAN              1:33.39    1:32.48 B       17  
     r:+0.64  21.99    23.23    23.62    23.64
  3 Julian, Trenton  SR CAL               1:33.29    1:32.54 B       16  
     r:+0.50  21.50    23.04    23.81    24.19
  4 Hill, Julian     JR ASU               1:33.42    1:33.03 B       15  
     r:+0.61  21.82    23.57    23.82    23.82
  5 Maurer, Luke     SO STAN              1:33.42    1:33.20 B       14  
     r:+0.62  21.73    23.66    24.16    23.65
  6 Jett, Gabriel    FR CAL               1:33.41    1:33.46 B       13  
     r:+0.69  22.18    23.70    23.76    23.82
  7 Sammon, Patrick  FR ASU               1:33.08    1:33.95 B       12  
     r:+0.65  21.74    23.58    24.40    24.23
  8 Namir, Daniel    SR Arizona           1:33.30    1:34.03 B       11  
     r:+0.57  21.68    23.64    24.28    24.43

100 Breaststroke

Cal’s Reece Whitley earned his third consecutive conference title in the 100 breast as he led wire-to-wire for a 51.30 triumph. Whitley was just off his midseason top time for 2021-22, a 51.22 from the Minnesota Invitational, and he will head to the NCAA Championships seeded fifth in the 100 breast after claiming third in the event last season.

Meanwhile, the USC Trojans had a huge event here as freshman Chris O’Grady (51.69) finished just one hundredth ahead of fifth-year swimmer Trent Pellini (51.70), while ASU’s John Heaphy took fourth (51.82).

Event 13  Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 49.69  3/23/2018 Ian Finnerty, Indiana
       PAC-12: M 50.04  2014      Kevin Cordes, ARIZ
 PAC-12 Champ: P 50.78  2019      Carsten Vissering, USC
                 51.59  A Standard
                 54.27  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Whitley, Reece   SR CAL                 51.38      51.30 A       20  
     r:+0.58  10.72    13.25    13.43    13.90
  2 O'Grady, Chris   FR USC                 51.88      51.69 B       17  
     r:+0.70  10.93    13.16    13.56    14.04
  3 Pellini, Trent   5Y USC                 52.22      51.70 B       16  
     r:+0.55  10.97    13.17    13.45    14.11
  4 Heaphy, John     JR ASU                 52.39      51.82 B       15  
     r:+0.71  11.07    13.25    13.40    14.10
  5 Bell, Liam       JR CAL                 52.51      52.01 B       14  
     r:+0.62  10.79    13.31    13.52    14.39
  6 Dillard, Ben     SO USC                 52.44      52.51 B       13  
     r:+0.68  11.05    13.50    13.79    14.17
  7 Roy, Daniel      SR STAN                52.52      52.60 B       12  
     r:+0.51  11.41    13.42    13.62    14.15
  8 Rico Peng, Marc  JR CAL                 52.79      52.98 B       11  
     r:+0.68  10.92    13.62    13.83    14.61

100 Backstroke

Stanford entered the night leading by more than 100 points in the team competition, and even heading into the 100 back, the Cardinal was up by 96 over Arizona State and by 107 over Cal. Now, the lead has been cut to just 55 points after an enormous effort from Cal in the 100 back. Three Golden Bears who have previously been NCAA A-finalists, Daniel Carr, Bryce Mefford and 2021 national runnerup Destin Lasco, were all in the field, but it was actually Bjorn Seeliger, better known for his efforts in sprint freestyle, who stole the show.

Seeliger won the race in 44.72, jumping him up into sixth place in the national rankings, while Lasco took second in 45.11 to move into a tie for ninth. Stanford’s Leon MacAlister did grab third (45.21), but Carr (45.27) was just behind in fourth and Mefford touched seventh to wrap up a dominant A-final. Previously, the Cal duo of Sebastian Somerset and Jack Alexy had finished 1-2 in the B-final.

Event 14  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, CAL
       PAC-12: M 43.49  2016      Ryan Murphy, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 44.14  2020      Zachary Poti, ASU
                 44.94  A Standard
                 47.77  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Seeliger, Bjorn  SO CAL                 44.88      44.72 A       20  
     r:+0.65  10.07    10.91    11.77    11.97
  2 Lasco, Destin    SO CAL                 45.53      45.11 B       17  
     r:+0.66  10.65    11.27    11.66    11.53
  3 MacAlister, Leo  JR STAN                45.12      45.21 B       16  
     r:+0.60  10.64    11.45    11.45    11.67
  4 Carr, Daniel     SR CAL                 45.62      45.27 B       15  
     r:+0.59  10.71    11.33    11.63    11.60
  5 Dolan, Jack      JR ASU                 45.71      45.35 B       14  
     r:+0.63  10.56    11.23    11.81    11.75
  6 Sequeira, Aaron  FR STAN                46.06      45.72 B       13  
     r:+0.63  10.90    11.41    11.64    11.77
  7 Mefford, Bryce   SR CAL                 46.05      45.85 B       12  
     r:+0.64  10.94    11.40    11.83    11.68
  8 Ungur, Andrei    SR Utah                46.26      46.13 B       11  
     r:+0.65  10.75    11.40    11.91    12.07

400 Medley Relay

Stanford picked up its second medley relay win of the competition in the 400 medley, and the victory was by more than a second over Arizona State. Leon MacAlister led off in 44.75, a half-second quicker than his time in the individual 100 back final, and he was followed by Ron Polonsky (50.60), Andrei Minakov (44.16) and Luke Maurer (41.94). The group combined for a time of 3:01.45, making the Cardinal the No. 3-ranked team in the nation heading into the NCAA Championships. Indiana and Ohio State rank just ahead of Stanford, with NC State and Louisville just behind and Texas and Florida looming.

Arizona State’s Jack Dolan, John Heaphy, Cody Bybee and Leon Marchand finished second in 3:02.66. Marchand anchored instead of Grant House because House had competed on all of ASU’s relays up until this point in the meet, and swimmers are capped at four relays if they swim the maximum three individual events.

Meanwhile, the Golden Bears’ team of Destin Lasco, Reece Whitley, Dare Rose and Bjorn Seeliger ended up third here in 3:02.84, leaving the group 10th in the nation entering NCAAs. That means Cal’s group will likely swim in the second-to-last timed finals heats of the 400 medley relay at the NCAA meet, denying that foursome a chance to race against the best competition in a national-title pursuit.

Event 15  Men 400 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 2:59.22  3/23/2017 Texas
                          J. Shebat, W. Licon, J. Schooling, J.Conger
       PAC-12: M 3:01.28  2016      Univ of California, Berkeley
                          Murphy, Prenot, Lynch, Guiterrez
 PAC-12 Champ: P 3:00.73  2021      Univ of California, Berkeley
                          Lasco, Whitley, Hoffer, Seelinger
                 3:05.47  A Standard
                 3:07.53  B Standard
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 STAN  'A'                     3:05.85    3:01.45 A       40  
     1) MacAlister, Leon JR           2) Polonsky, Ron FR             
     3) Minakov, Andrei FR            4) Maurer, Luke SO              
       21.68    44.75    23.51    50.60
       20.41    44.16    19.99    41.94
  2 ASU  'A'                      3:03.63    3:02.66 A       34  
     1) Dolan, Jack JR                2) Heaphy, John JR              
     3) Bybee, Cody SR                4) Marchand, Leon FR            
       21.94    45.71    23.36    51.21
       20.19    44.57    19.96    41.17
  3 CAL  'A'                      3:04.36    3:02.84 A       32  
     1) Lasco, Destin SO              2) Whitley, Reece SR            
     3) Rose, Dare SO                 4) Seeliger, Bjorn SO           
       22.16    45.43    24.02    51.57
       20.56    44.99    19.35    40.85
  4 USC  'A'                      3:06.12    3:05.69 B       30  
     1) Makrygiannis, Evangelos FR    2) Pellini, Trent 5Y            
     3) Sancov, Alexei SR             4) Miljenic, Nikola 5Y          
       22.79    46.59    23.55    51.58
       20.58    45.50    19.63    42.02
  5 Arizona  'A'                  3:08.55    3:06.05 B       28  
     1) Maric, Ognjen JR              2) Foote, Ryan JR               
     3) Miller, Seth SO               4) Ercegovic, Marin SR          
       22.30    46.22    23.47    52.44
       20.76    46.13    19.32    41.26
  6 Utah  'A'                     3:10.36    3:07.29 B       26  
     1) Ungur, Andrei SR              2) Horner, Jaek JR              
     3) Waterman, Ben SR              4) O'Haimhirgin, Finn JR        
       22.38    45.87    24.05    52.85
       21.26    46.27    19.85    42.30

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