2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships: Arizona State Off To Quick Start; Leon Marchand Powers Two Relays

Photo Courtesy: Arizona State University Athletics

2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships: Meet Record, Two DQs Give Arizona State Early Control

It took all of one swimming event for chaos to break loose at the 2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships, which opened Wednesday night at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

Arizona State blistered the 200 medley relay with a meet record time of 1:21.69. But as important was a pair of DQs to Stanford and California’s A relays that will shake up the team standings as the meet progresses toward its resolution on Saturday.

Recap from the first night, which includes the tally of all three diving events:

2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships

2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Team Scores

Combined Team Scores - Through Event 5                      
 
  1. Southern California, Universit    198   2. Utah, University of               146
  3. University of Arizona             131   4. Arizona State University          127
  5. Stanford University               117   6. California, University of, Ber     72

200 medley relay

The first duel between Arizona State and Cal is delayed, thanks to the Golden Bears being disqualified. Arizona State did its part, the foursome of Jack Dolan, Leon Marchand, Max McCusker and Jonny Kulow going 1:21.69. It downs the meet record (1:22.16, Cal, 2020) and ties the conference record set by Cal last year. It’s the first time in school history the Sun Devils have won the men’s 200 medley relay.

Marchand split 22.98 on his breaststroke leg. Dolan, in 20.65, was out ahead of Cal’s Destin Lasco. Kulow brought it home in 18.40.

Arizona slid into the second spot in 1:23.74, .02 under the NCAA A cut standard. Utah was third.

 Event 4  Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:21.13  3/23/2022 Florida
                          A. Chaney, D. Hillis, E. Friese, W. Davis
       PAC-12: M 1:21.69  2022      Univ of California, Berkeley, CAL
                          Seelinger, Bell, Julian, Carr
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:22.16  2020      Univ of California, Berkeley
                          D. Carr, R. Whitley, P. Sendyk, R. Hoffer
    School                                 Seed     Finals Points 
==================================================================================
  1 ASU  'A'                            1:22.60    1:21.69M  40  
     1) Dolan, Jack SR                2) Marchand, Leon SO            
     3) McCusker, Max SR              4) Kulow, Jonny FR              
                 20.65        43.63 (22.98)
        1:03.29 (19.66)     1:21.69 (18.40)
  2 Arizona  'A'                        1:24.94    1:23.74   34  
     1) Oates, Billy FR               2) Foote, Ryan SR               
     3) Miller, Seth JR               4) Ercegovic, Marin GS          
                 21.32        44.83 (23.51)
        1:04.95 (20.12)     1:23.74 (18.79)
  3 Utah  'A'                           1:24.58    1:24.45   32  
     1) Ungur, Andrei SR              2) Horner, Jaek SR              
     3) Garstang, Ryan JR             4) O'Haimhirgin, Finn SR        
                 20.97        44.45 (23.48)
        1:05.34 (20.89)     1:24.45 (19.11)
  4 Southern Cali  'A'                  1:25.62    1:25.30   30  
     1) Makrygiannis, Evangelos JR    2) O'Grady, Chris SO            
     3) Parker, Mateo SO              4) Selin, Artem SO              
                 22.13        45.21 (23.08)
        1:06.26 (21.05)     1:25.30 (19.04)

 -- California  'A'                     1:22.84         DQ  
     1) Lasco, Destin JR              2) Bell, Liam SR                
     3) Rose, Dare JR                 4) Alexy, Jack SO               
                 20.99        44.48 (23.49)
        1:04.32 (19.84)                    
 -- Stanford  'A'                       1:24.00         DQ  
     1) MacAlister, Leon SR           2) Fan, Zhier FR                
     3) Minakov, Andrei JR            4) Gu, Rafael FR                
                 21.16        45.15 (23.99)
        1:04.64 (19.49)

1-meter diving

Writ large, Cal takes the edge in the diving points, with three A finalists across the three events to Arizona State’s one. USC is the team that emerged from the diving competition with the most accolades.

Laurent Gosselin-Paradis won 1-meter with a score of 354.80, one of three USC finalists. He was the leader in prelims and ended up on top by 13 points. Stanford’s Jack Ryan was second with Elias Petersen of Utah third. USC’s George Korovin, second after prelims, slipped to sixth, and Robert Gref also got into the final for the Trojans.

 Event 1  Men 1 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 473.75  3/28/2013 Kristian Ipsen, STAN
       PAC-12: M 481.65  2014      Kristian Ipsen, STAN
 PAC-12 Champ: P 520.40  2015      Kristian Ipsen, STAN
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                             === Finals ===                              
 
  1 Paradis, Laurent       FR Southern Cali      350.05     354.80   20  
  2 Ryan, Jack             SO Stanford           292.10     340.15   17  
  3 Petersen, Elias        FR Utah               302.70     337.95   16  
  4 Donald, Peyton         FR Stanford           300.55     333.10   15  
  5 Markentin, Bjorn       SR Arizona            320.50     329.90   14  
  6 Korovin, George        SR Southern Cali      334.80     319.95   13  
  7 Thai, Joshua           FR California         284.95     315.30   12  
  8 Gref, Robert           FR Southern Cali      282.30     279.85   11

3-meter diving

Korovin steadied the ship in 3-meter, going from seventh in prelims to winning the crown with a score of 431.80. It was a USC 1-2 with he and Gosselin-Paradis, who scored 429.40. Petersen grabbed another bronze medal, joining the three-horse title race with 423.25. Ryan, the top scorer in prelims, slid to fifth.

 Event 2  Men 3 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 529.10  3/27/2015 Samuel Dorman, Florida
       PAC-12: M 520.40  2015      Kristian Ipsen, STAN
 PAC-12 Champ: P 451.80  2011      Constantin Blaha, STAN
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                             === Finals ===                              
 
  1 Korovin, George        SR Southern Cali      354.70     431.80   20  
  2 Paradis, Laurent       FR Southern Cali      378.75     429.40   17  
  3 Petersen, Elias        FR Utah               380.45     423.25   16  
  4 Markentin, Bjorn       SR Arizona            359.00     400.70   15  
  5 Ryan, Jack             SO Stanford           411.75     398.05   14  
  6 McDivitt, Luke         SR Utah               322.25     366.60   13  
  7 Wang, Sean             SO Southern Cali      364.10     357.05   12  
  8 Thai, Joshua           FR California         354.65     338.70   11

Platform diving

Gosselin-Paradis should take home the Diver of the Meet honors, adding a decisive title on platform. The freshman from Canada scored 416.05, routing the field by more than 50 points. Bjorn Markentin of Arizona was a distant second, with Utah adding a third bronze via Luke McDivitt.

Joshua Thai was fourth on platform for Cal, augmenting his seventh on 1-meter and eighth on 3-meter. ASU’s Tom Wesche netted points in sixth.

 Event 3  Men Platform Diving
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 548.90  3/26/2011 Nick McCory, Duke
       PAC-12: M 487.25  2012      Ben Grado, ARIZ
 PAC-12 Champ: P 476.80  2010      Riley McCormick, ASU
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                             === Finals ===                              
 
  1 Paradis, Laurent       FR Southern Cali      397.60     416.05   20  
  2 Markentin, Bjorn       SR Arizona            336.80     359.95   17  
  3 McDivitt, Luke         SR Utah               329.45     350.40   16  
  4 Thai, Joshua           FR California         354.15     348.55   15  
  5 Flaute, Austin         SR Arizona            268.20     284.50   14  
  6 Wesche, Tom            JR ASU                262.05     283.65   13  
  7 Foster, Ethan          SR Stanford           308.80     279.60   12  
  8 Pennock, Jenner        SR Utah               319.95     272.45   11

800 freestyle relay

Two relays, two conference records for Arizona State.

Leon Marchand, Grant House, Patrick Sammon and Julian Hill went 6:06.30, setting meet and conference records to sweep the two events on the first night. It downs the meet record that the Sun Devils set last year (6:07.51). ASU loaded the front, with Marchand out in 1:30.77, then Grant House in 1:31.61. The time for Marchand gives him another nation-leading time this season.

Cal finished second in 6:09.65, the foursome of Patrick Callan, Gabriel Jett, Robin Hanson and Destin Lasco. Stanford, third in 6:11.08, and Arizona, fourth in 6:15.69, also notched NCAA A cuts.

 Event 5  Men 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 6:03.89  3/23/2022 Texas
                          D. Kibler, C. Carrozza, L. Hobson, C. Foster
       PAC-12: M 6:06.83  2022      Stanford, STAN
                          Minakov, Maurer, Polonsky, Forst
 PAC-12 Champ: P 6:07.51  2022      Arizona State Univ
                          House, Swift, Hill, Marchand
    School                                 Seed     Finals Points 
==================================================================================
  1 ASU  'A'                            6:08.97    6:06.30M  40  
     1) Marchand, Leon SO             2) House, Grant SR              
     3) Sammon, Patrick SO            4) Hill, Julian SR              
                 20.79        43.78 (43.78)
      1:07.34 (1:07.34)   1:30.77 (1:30.77)
        1:50.89 (20.12)     2:14.05 (43.28)
      2:37.98 (1:07.21)   3:02.38 (1:31.61)
        3:22.78 (20.40)     3:45.84 (43.46)
      4:09.91 (1:07.53)   4:34.44 (1:32.06)
        4:55.26 (20.82)     5:18.34 (43.90)
      5:42.29 (1:07.85)   6:06.30 (1:31.86)
  2 California  'A'                     6:10.35    6:09.65   34  
     1) Callan, Patrick GS            2) Jett, Gabriel SO             
     3) Hanson, Robin SO              4) Lasco, Destin JR             
                 21.27        44.40 (44.40)
      1:08.15 (1:08.15)   1:32.47 (1:32.47)
        1:53.42 (20.95)     2:17.01 (44.54)
      2:40.84 (1:08.37)   3:05.17 (1:32.70)
        3:25.92 (20.75)     3:49.11 (43.94)
      4:13.44 (1:08.27)   4:37.90 (1:32.73)
        4:58.97 (21.07)     5:22.63 (44.73)
      5:46.20 (1:08.30)   6:09.65 (1:31.75)
  3 Stanford  'A'                       6:17.35    6:11.08   32  
     1) Maurer, Luke JR               2) Polonsky, Ron SO             
     3) Dupont, Andres FR             4) Forst, Preston JR            
                 21.30        44.66 (44.66)
      1:08.57 (1:08.57)   1:32.80 (1:32.80)
        1:53.61 (20.81)     2:16.95 (44.15)
      2:40.55 (1:07.75)   3:04.96 (1:32.16)
        3:26.10 (21.14)     3:49.67 (44.71)
      4:13.81 (1:08.85)   4:38.31 (1:33.35)
        4:59.38 (21.07)     5:22.83 (44.52)
      5:46.59 (1:08.28)   6:11.08 (1:32.77)
  4 Arizona  'A'                        6:17.49    6:15.69   30  
     1) Daleiden Ciuferri, Ralph FR   2) Ingram, Hunter SR            
     3) Holt, Evan JR                 4) Naughton, Haakon FR          
                 21.71        45.07 (45.07)
      1:08.89 (1:08.89)   1:32.80 (1:32.80)
        1:53.91 (21.11)     2:17.39 (44.59)
      2:41.79 (1:08.99)   3:06.76 (1:33.96)
        3:28.28 (21.52)     3:52.27 (45.51)
      4:16.89 (1:10.13)   4:41.67 (1:34.91)
        5:03.19 (21.52)     5:26.93 (45.26)
      5:51.29 (1:09.62)   6:15.69 (1:34.02)
  5 Southern Cali  'A'                  6:27.94    6:24.16   28  
     1) Saunders, Max SR              2) Homans, Harry SR             
     3) Makrygiannis, Evangelos JR    4) Retterer, Paul SR            
                 21.98        45.69 (45.69)
      1:09.93 (1:09.93)   1:34.71 (1:34.71)
        1:56.82 (22.11)     2:21.29 (46.58)
      2:46.01 (1:11.30)   3:11.01 (1:36.30)
        3:32.63 (21.62)     3:57.02 (46.01)
      4:22.05 (1:11.04)   4:47.27 (1:36.26)
        5:09.01 (21.74)     5:33.13 (45.86)
      5:58.36 (1:11.09)   6:24.16 (1:36.89)
  6 Utah  'A'                           6:36.56    6:30.46   26  
     1) Kovacic, Marko JR             2) VanBrocklin, Evan FR         
     3) Carlson, Noah SR              4) Stachelek, Davis FR          
                 21.90        46.25 (46.25)
      1:10.91 (1:10.91)   1:36.20 (1:36.20)
        1:58.66 (22.46)     2:23.48 (47.28)
      2:48.68 (1:12.48)   3:14.15 (1:37.95)
        3:35.98 (21.83)     4:00.18 (46.03)
      4:25.81 (1:11.66)   4:52.19 (1:38.04)
        5:14.12 (21.93)     5:38.88 (46.69)
      6:04.20 (1:12.01)   6:30.46 (1:38.27)

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Frank Wilson

1 year ago

We are observing a “Changing of the Guard” in PAC12 swimming. NCAAs are going to be exciting!