2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships, Day 4: Cal Seeking Final Push With Top Seed in Every Event

Destin Lasco -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships, Day 4: Cal Seeking Final Push With Top Seed in Every Event

Arizona State has been the dominant team of the Pac-12 Men’s Championships so far, with a pair of transcendent individual medley performances from Leon Marchand, a win from Jack Dolan in the 50 freestyle, a 1-2-3 finish led by Grant House in the 200 free and three relay wins. The Sun Devils are more than 100 points ahead of Cal entering the final day of the meet, but the Golden Bears are not quite done yet. Cal, the defending national champion in men’s swimming, secured the top seed in every event on the final day (with three 1-2 finishes), setting up some exciting showdowns in the final.

2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships

2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Team Scores

  Team Scores - Through Event 15                      
 
  1. Arizona State University        637.5   2. California, University of, Ber    534
  3. Stanford University             441.5   4. University of Arizona             245
  5. Utah, University of             239.5   6. Southern California, Universit  233.5

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Cal’s Destin Lasco is the defending national champion in the 200 back, with his season-best mark of 1:38.23 from the Bears’ dual meet against Stanford two weeks ago ranking second in the country. Lasco ended up with the top mark in prelims as he edged out fifth-year teammate Hugo Gonzalez, 1:38.66 to 1:38.84. Lasco will aim to become the first swimmer so far this year to break 1:38 while his lifetime best of 1:35.99 ranks third-fastest in history behind Ryan Murphy and Destin Lasco.

Arizona State freshman Owen McDonald took third in 1:39.62, followed by Stanford’s Aaron Sequeira (1:40.16). Cal also got Sebastian Somerset into the top heat while Hubert Kos joins McDonald as ASU swimmers in the A-final.

Event 17  Men 200 Yard Backstroke
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:35.73  3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, CAL
       PAC-12: M 1:35.73  2016      Ryan Murphy, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:37.87  2020      Daniel Carr, CAL
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Lasco, Destin          JR California        1:38.23    1:38.66  
                 23.15        48.33 (25.18)
        1:13.67 (25.34)     1:38.66 (24.99)
  2 Gonzalez de Oliveira,  GS California        1:39.86    1:38.84  
                 23.29        48.56 (25.27)
        1:13.85 (25.29)     1:38.84 (24.99)
  3 McDonald, Owen         FR ASU               1:41.28    1:39.62  
                 22.72        47.72 (25.00)
        1:13.29 (25.57)     1:39.62 (26.33)
  4 Sequeira, Aaron        SO Stanford          1:42.68    1:40.16  
                 23.54        48.69 (25.15)
        1:14.28 (25.59)     1:40.16 (25.88)
  5 Somerset, Sebastian    SR California        1:42.28    1:40.44  
                 23.57        48.87 (25.30)
        1:14.46 (25.59)     1:40.44 (25.98)
  6 MacAlister, Leon       SR Stanford          1:40.13    1:40.60  
                 23.53        48.90 (25.37)
        1:14.68 (25.78)     1:40.60 (25.92)
  7 Kos, Hubert            FR ASU               1:41.10    1:40.63  
                 22.99        48.95 (25.96)
        1:14.65 (25.70)     1:40.63 (25.98)
  8 Zuchowski, Josh        FR Stanford          1:42.89    1:40.81  
                 24.21        50.13 (25.92)
        1:16.02 (25.89)     1:40.81 (24.79)

Men’s 100 Freestyle

Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger blistered a time of 41.30 in prelims, busting down the meet record of 41.38 set by Vladimir Morozov in 2013. Already, Seeliger’s time ranks third in the country, with only Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks and Florida’s Josh Liendo having posted quicker marks. Jack Alexy finished second for Cal in 41.80, and Arizona State’s Jack Dolan also got under 42 with his mark of 42.84.

Cal’s Matthew Jensen claimed fourth, but the Sun Devils snuck three more swimmers into the final: Grant House, Jonny Kulow and Patrick Sammon, with Sammon beating Cal’s Dylan Hawke for eighth by less than a tenth.

Event 18  Men 100 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 39.90  3/24/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
       PAC-12: M 40.75  2022      Bjorn Seelinger, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 41.38  2013      Vladmir Morozov, USC
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Seeliger, Bjorn        JR California          41.68      41.30P 
                  9.05        19.25 (10.20)
          30.12 (10.87)       41.30 (11.18)
  2 Alexy, Jack            SO California          42.26      41.80  
                  9.45        20.10 (10.65)
          30.94 (10.84)       41.80 (10.86)
  3 Dolan, Jack            SR ASU                 42.53      41.84  
                  9.43        19.90 (10.47)
          30.89 (10.99)       41.84 (10.95)
  4 Jensen, Matthew        JR California          42.92      42.01  
                  9.57        20.27 (10.70)
          31.22 (10.95)       42.01 (10.79)   5 Minakov, Andrei        JR Stanford            42.20      42.03  
                  9.62        20.25 (10.63)
          31.16 (10.91)       42.03 (10.87)
  6 House, Grant           SR ASU                 42.11      42.21  
                  9.60        20.23 (10.63)
          31.27 (11.04)       42.21 (10.94)
  7 Kulow, Jonny           FR ASU                 42.79      42.25  
                  9.58        20.17 (10.59)
          31.17 (11.00)       42.25 (11.08)
  8 Sammon, Patrick        SO ASU                 42.45      42.32  
                  9.63        20.40 (10.77)
          31.48 (11.08)       42.32 (10.84)

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Cal’s Jason Louser, an NCAA B-finalist in this race last season, topped prelims by more than a second with his time of 1:50.99. But in the final, Louser will swim next to Arizona State’s Leon Marchand, who already swam the fastest time in history in the 400 IM at this meet and could do the same in the 200 breast. Last season, Marchand won the NCAA title in 1:48.20, which was just three tenths off Will Licon’s long-standing record. At night, Louser and Marchand will have competition from Cal’s Reece Whitley, who qualified third in 1:52.54, and ASU’s David Schlicht, who was fourth in 1:52.92.

Event 19  Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:47.91  3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
       PAC-12: M 1:48.20  2022      Leon Marchand, ASU
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:48.86  2020      Reece Whitley, CAL
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Louser, Jason          SR California        2:01.10    1:50.99  
                 24.89        52.82 (27.93)
        1:21.37 (28.55)     1:50.99 (29.62)
  2 Marchand, Leon         SO ASU               1:48.82    1:52.34  
                 24.99        53.32 (28.33)
        1:22.19 (28.87)     1:52.34 (30.15)
  3 Whitley, Reece         GS California        1:51.01    1:52.54  
                 25.22        53.23 (28.01)
        1:22.62 (29.39)     1:52.54 (29.92)
  4 Schlicht, David        SR ASU               1:53.89    1:52.92  
                 25.47        54.03 (28.56)
        1:23.35 (29.32)     1:52.92 (29.57)
  5 O'Grady, Chris         SO Southern Cali     1:52.79    1:53.72  
                 25.73        54.95 (29.22)
        1:23.91 (28.96)     1:53.72 (29.81)
  6 Polonsky, Ron          SO Stanford          1:56.57    1:54.43  
                 25.20        53.97 (28.77)
        1:23.56 (29.59)     1:54.43 (30.87)
  7 Soderlund, Jacob       SO California        1:58.02    1:54.45  
                 25.89        55.35 (29.46)
        1:24.81 (29.46)     1:54.45 (29.64)
  8 Dillard, Ben           JR Southern Cali     1:53.29    1:54.52  
                 26.00        55.06 (29.06)
        1:24.12 (29.06)     1:54.52 (30.40)

Men’s 200 Butterfly

The theme of this prelims session continued, with Cal at the top but Arizona State likely doing enough to ensure that the Bears cannot catch up in the team race. Gabriel Jett, whose seed time of 1:39.95 ranks third in the country, led the way in 1:40.46, about one second clear of teammate Dare Rose (1:41.82). However, ASU’s Alexander Colson will give pursuit in the final after he touched in 1:42.43 to qualify third, and another Sun Devil, Andrew Gray, was fifth in 1:43.15, with only Arizona’s Haakon Naughton (1:43.11) in between.

Event 20  Men 200 Yard Butterfly
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:37.35  3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
       PAC-12: M 1:38.53  2021      Trenton Julian, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:38.53  2021      Trenton Julian, CAL
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Jett, Gabriel          SO California        1:39.95    1:40.46  
                 22.53        47.29 (24.76)
        1:13.41 (26.12)     1:40.46 (27.05)
  2 Rose, Dare             JR California        1:41.01    1:41.82  
                 22.65        48.06 (25.41)
        1:14.15 (26.09)     1:41.82 (27.67)
  3 Colson, Alexander      SR ASU               1:40.78    1:42.43  
                 22.64        48.44 (25.80)
        1:15.00 (26.56)     1:42.43 (27.43)
  4 Naughton, Haakon       FR Arizona           1:43.51    1:43.11  
                 22.77        48.89 (26.12)
        1:15.97 (27.08)     1:43.11 (27.14)
  5 Gray, Andrew           SR ASU               1:42.18    1:43.15  
                 23.07        48.37 (25.30)
        1:14.90 (26.53)     1:43.15 (28.25)
  6 Affeld, Jonny          JR Stanford          1:43.64    1:43.26  
                 22.60        48.11 (25.51)
        1:14.84 (26.73)     1:43.26 (28.42)
  7 Hu, Ethan              JR Stanford          1:44.35    1:43.58  
                 23.07        48.96 (25.89)
        1:16.18 (27.22)     1:43.58 (27.40)
  8 Homans, Harry          SR Southern Cali     1:44.47    1:43.94  
                 23.21        49.31 (26.10)
        1:16.27 (26.96)     1:43.94 (27.67)

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