Meet of the Week: Arizona State Cruises Past UNLV; 186-122 Men/236-68 Women

By Jason Marsteller

TEMPE, Arizona, October 20. IN the initial SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Meet of the Week, Arizona State opened its season successfully with a pair of wins over UNLV. The No. 19 men topped the Rebels, 186-122, while the women crushed UNLV, 236-68. In an outdoor meet under the lights at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, junior Caitlin Andrew and sophomore Jen Beckberger paced the Sun Devil women with four event titles each, while juniors Lucas Azevedo and CJ Nuess picked up three wins a piece for the ASU men. Notably, the Sun Devil women secured every event title.

"I am really happy about it, because we are swimming much better than we did at this time last year," ASU head coach Michael Chasson said. "Overall, we raced better and the performances we faster. Also, our team enthusiasm was much better tonight. It was just a positive start to the season."

In the women's 200-yard medley relay, Arizona State claimed the top two spots to jump out to a 15-2 lead. The Sun Devil quartet of Andrew, freshman Sara McDaniel, freshman Ashton Aubry and Beckberger touched first in 1:44.07. Meanwhile, ASU's team of senior Carissa Abe, freshman Ashley Evans, senior Amanda Gillespie and freshman Jess Perazzo placed second in 1:46.95. UNLV's squad of sophomore Amanda Weinbrecht, junior Megan Hunt-Higgins, sophomore Nakita Buenbrazo and sophomore Sarah Pirie finished third in 1:47.00.

In the men's 200-yard medley relay, UNLV pushed out to an 11-6 lead when its team of junior Devin Phillips, sophomore Jonas Andersson, junior Tiger Christian and senior Brandon Nelms captured the title in 1:32.33. ASU's A-squad of freshman Ante Cvitkovic, junior Steve Neuwart, freshman Max Laney and sophomore Magnus Kjellberg placed second in 1:34.03. The Sun Devil B-team of sophomore Brandon Pierson, junior Will Weeks, freshman Cade Judkins and freshman Marin Naranca took third in 1:34.10.

In the women's 1000-yard freestyle, the Sun Devils stretched their lead to 29-7 when ASU junior Sarah Fischer stopped the clock in 10:12.20 for the win. UNLV senior Lani Seaman picked up second in 10:14.89, while ASU junior Emlynn Tursick completed the top three in 10:36.89.

In the men's long distance free, the Sun Devils cut the gap quickly to knot the score at 18-18. ASU's Azevedo cruised by the rest of the field with a 9:15.35 for first. Meanwhile, UNLV took the next two spots as junior Johan Claar finished second in 9:29.64 and senior Erik Ringdahl placed third in 9:53.33.

In the women's 200-yard freestyle, ASU took a commanding 45-10 lead with a top-three sweep. ASU's Beckberger nearly posted a provisional cut with a 1:50.47, while senior Abra Armour touched second in 1:52.62. ASU junior Ellis Schieman closed out the podium with a 1:53.06.

In the men's 200-yard freestyle, the Sun Devils took a three-point lead, 29-26, when sophomore Sean Boyle crushed the competition with a 1:40.61. UNLV senior Richard Hortness placed second in 1:42.43, while his teammate Phillips took third in 1:44.05.

In the women's 100-yard backstroke, ASU continued to pour on the steam with a 60-14 advantage. ASU's Andrew placed first in 56.45, while Abe touched second in 58.06. Meanwhile, UNLV's Weinbrecht rounded out the top three with a 58.24.

In the men's 100-yard backstroke, Arizona State stretched its lead out to 41-33 when Cvitkovic won the event in 50.98. UNLV's Christian finished second in 52.14, while Sun Devil Laney posted a third-place 52.56.

In the women's 100-yard breaststroke, the Sun Devils kept bringing the pain with another top-three grab to take a 76-17 lead. Evans debuted nicely for ASU with a 1:04.50, while her classmate McDaniel placed second in 1:04.56. Additionally, senior Christie Creek placed third in 1:05.01

In the men's 100-yard breaststroke, UNLV countered with a big one-three finish to move to within three points, 48-45. UNLV's Andersson hit the wall first in 57.97, while ASU sophomore Gal Nevo took second in 59.15. UNLV senior Eric Culberson wound up in third in 59.29.

In the women's 200-yard butterfly, ASU cleaned house with the top-four spots, but could only score three for a 92-20 advantage. ASU rookie Aubry captured the event crown in 2:06.39, while Schieman took second just behind in 2:06.93. Senior Jill Kripps concluded Sun Devil scoring with a third-place 2:07.85.

In the men's 200-yard butterfly, the Sun Devils responded to extend their lead to 61-51. ASU's Nuess won the event in 1:52.04, while UNLV's Claar picked up second in 1:54.17. ASU's Boyle rounded out the top three in 1:54.21.

In the women's 50-yard freestyle, ASU's Andrew recorded the only provisional qualifier of the meet with a 23.41 to help the Sun Devils out to a 105-26 lead. UNLV junior Marina Sandback placed second in 23.87, while ASU's Armour picked up third in 24.05.

"I felt really good during warm ups and especially in the freestyle," Andrew said. "I was really excited that I was actually swimming freestyle today, because I usually only do fly and back."

In the men's sprint free, the Rebels cut the gap to 69-62 as Nelms stopped the clock in 20.72. ASU went two-three to close out the top three when Neuwart placed second in 20.88 and sophomore Mohammed Madwa claimed third in 21.17.

In the women's 100-yard freestyle, the Sun Devil women exploded out of the break with another top-three sweep for a 121-29 advantage. Beckberger narrowly missed a B cut with a 51.08 to win the race. Armour pocketed second in 51.93, while junior Lindsey Brown finished third in 52.55.

In the men's 100-yard freestyle, ASU began to put some space between it and UNLV. ASU's Neuwart won the race in 45.78, while UNLV's Nelms touched just behind in 45.82. ASU's Madwa closed out the podium with a 47.08 to help ASU to an 82-68 lead.

In the women's 200-yard backstroke, ASU sophomore Rikka Brunner cruised into first with a 2:05.26, while Tursick placed second in 2:07.29. UNLV's Weinbrecht finished the event in third with a 2:07.33 as the Sun Devils pushed out to a 136-33 lead.

In the men's 200-yard backstroke, Croatian Cvitkovic stopped the clock in 1:50.94 for a Sun Devil win to defeat UNLV junior Devin Phillips (1:51.54). Meanwhile, ASU's Laney placed third in 1:52.59 as the Sun Devils vaulted out to a 95-74 advantage.

In the women's 200-yard breaststroke, the Sun Devils continued the rout with a top-three sweep to take a 152-36 lead. Creek hit the wall first in 2:18.74, while teammate Amy Konowalik took second in 2:20.30. Evans rounded out the top-three whitewash in 2:21.15.

In the men's 200-yard breaststroke, ASU bounced its lead to 107-81 with a one-three finish. ASU's Nuess captured the event crown in 2:03.82, while UNLV's Andersson finished second in 2:05.65. Meanwhile, ASU's Nevo rounded out the top three in 2:10.12.

In the women's 500-yard freestyle, ASU captured the top-two spots when Fischer touched in 4:58.51 and Schieman finished second in 4:59.62. That performance pushed the Sun Devil lead out to 166-41. Meanwhile, UNLV's Seaman swam in for third in 5:04.51.

In the men's middle distance, Azevedo won for the Sun Devils in 4:30.32, while UNLV's Claar claimed second in 4:40.43. Meanwhile, UNLV's Ringdahl picked up third in 4:46.52. At the end of the event, ASU led 119-88.

In the women's 100-yard butterfly, ASU's Andrews remained on fire for her fourth title of the evening when she stopped the clock in 55.84. UNLV's Sandback finished second in 57.36, while ASU senior Jill Kripps placed third in 58.44. At the completion of the women's 100 fly, Arizona State led 180-46.

In the men's 100-yard butterfly, the Sun Devils snared the top two spots to move into a 133-93 lead. Boyle ripped off a 50.21 to win the event, while junior John Dwelley took second in 51.03. Meanwhile, UNLV's Christian finished third in 51.26.

In the women's 400-yard IM, ASU's Evans came home with her second crown of the evening with a 4:27.61. UNLV sophomore Bailey Kuestermeyer split the Sun Devils with a second-place 4:31.18, while Fischer took third for Arizona State in 4:31.92. At the end of the race, ASU held a 194-50 advantage.

In the men's 400-yard IM, ASU's Nuess snagged his third title of the night with a 3:55.63 to far surpass the rest of the field. Teammate Nevo placed second in 4:02.29, while UNLV junior Tamas Bosnyak rounded out the top three in 4:06.79. With the top-two sweep, the Sun Devils strode out to a 147-98 lead.

In the women's 200-yard freestyle relay, the Sun Devils completed an event sweep when the contingent of Beckberger, Armour, junior Lindsey Brown and Perazzo finished first in 1:34.61. UNLV's quartet of senior Katie Wronn, Sandback, senior Lauren Browning and junior Kim Bonney placed second in 1:35.39. ASU's B-team of McDaniel, Abe, Gillespie and Creek grabbed third in 1:38.82.

The men's 200-yard freestyle relay concluded the evening when the Sun Devils touched out the Rebels to secure the dual-meet triumph. ASU's squad of Neuwart, Kjellberg, Madwa and Azevedo stopped the clock in 1:23.60, while UNLV's team of Hortness, Nelms, senior Eric Culberson and senior John Byers took second in 1:23.74. Meanwhile, the UNLV B-team of Christian, junior Magnus Egmar, Ringdahl and freshman Thomas Andolfsson closed out the top three in 1:26.86.

The Sun Devil diving corps of coach Mark Bradshaw dominated on the boards with a four-event sweep. For the women, sophomore Erin Hobbs won the one-meter with a zone-qualifying score of 266.47. She also captured the three-meter crown with another zone-qualifying effort of 289.95. On the men's side, redshirt freshman Micky Benedetti earned a diving sweep with a 364.27 in the one-meter and a 404.77 in the three-meter – both scores eclipsing the zone-qualifying standards.

Other zone diving qualifiers included ASU senior Cassidy Farwell on the one-meter with a 275.77, and Sun Devil sophomore Billy Sweeney on the three-meter with a 349.35.

UNLV at Arizona State Meet of the Week Map

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