Pac-12 Men’s Championships, Day Two Finals: Led by Ryan Hoffer, Cal Sweeps All Four Events

Ryan Hoffer. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Pac-12 Men’s Championships, Day Two Finals: Led by Ryan Hoffer, Cal Sweeps All Four Events

Day Two Finals, Houston Texas

After Cal-Berkeley jumpstarted the Pac-12 Conference Men’s Championships with opening-night victories in the 800 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay, action picked up on Day Two with the first three individual finals, along with the 200 freestyle relay. With the full diving results included in the team standings, Stanford is still on top with 339 points, but Cal is right behind with 334 points and it’s a matter of time tomorrow evening before the Bears take command of the team race.

Here is an event-by-event look at what transpired during the second night of finals.

Team Standings

  1. Stanford University               339   
  2. Univ of California, Berkeley      334
  3. University Of Arizona             271   
  4. Utah, University of               235
  5. Southern California, Universit    190

500 Freestyle

Coming off a 1:31-point split in the 800 freestyle relay on Sunday night, Cal’s Trenton Julian certainly looked capable of producing a superb performance in the 500 freestyle. That scenario became reality on Monday night, as the senior set a meet record of 4:09.49 and held off teammate Zach Yeadon (4:10.61), who was also under the former championship record.

Julian was aggressive en route to the conference crown as he covered the first 100 yards in 46.93, the only split under 48 seconds, let alone the 47 barrier. Julian went through the 200-yard mark in 1:36.85 and while Yeadon was closing at the finish, Julian had built a big enough advantage to prevail. Third place went to Arizona’s Brooks Fail, the top seed after prelims, who posted a time of 4:11.29.

Stanford’s Grant Shoults, who entered the final as the three-time defending conference champ, took fourth place in 4:13.73.

 Event 6  Men 500 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
       PAC-12: M 4:08.92  2009      Jean Basson, ARIZ
 PAC-12 Champ: P 4:10.67  2017      Grant Shoults, STAN
                 4:11.82  A Standard
                 4:23.34  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Finals ===                       
 
  1 Julian, Trenton  SR CAL               4:14.54    4:09.49PA       20  
             22.52        46.93 (24.41)
        1:11.72 (24.79)     1:36.85 (25.13)
        2:02.28 (25.43)     2:27.76 (25.48)
        2:53.34 (25.58)     3:18.90 (25.56)
        3:44.32 (25.42)     4:09.49 (25.17)
  2 Yeadon, Zach     SR CAL               4:14.59    4:10.61PA       17  
             23.11        48.46 (25.35)
        1:13.49 (25.03)                    
            2:04.18 ( )     2:29.79 (25.61)
        3:00.96 (31.17)                    
            3:46.32 ( )     4:10.61 (24.29)
  3 Fail, Brooks     SR ARIZ              4:13.81    4:11.29 A       16  
             23.05        48.03 (24.98)
        1:13.49 (25.46)     1:39.20 (25.71)
        2:04.95 (25.75)     2:30.38 (25.43)
        2:55.90 (25.52)     3:20.97 (25.07)
        3:45.92 (24.95)     4:11.29 (25.37)
  4 Shoults, Grant   SR STAN              4:15.48    4:13.73 B       15  
             23.16        48.13 (24.97)
        1:13.52 (25.39)     1:39.07 (25.55)
        2:04.88 (25.81)     2:30.68 (25.80)
        2:56.77 (26.09)     3:22.99 (26.22)
        3:48.99 (26.00)     4:13.73 (24.74)
  5 Forst, Preston   FR STAN              4:16.90    4:13.81 B       14  
             23.40        48.25 (24.85)
        1:13.39 (25.14)     1:38.76 (25.37)
        2:04.25 (25.49)     2:29.90 (25.65)
        2:55.81 (25.91)     3:21.91 (26.10)
        3:48.11 (26.20)     4:13.81 (25.70)
  6 Grieshop, Sean   SR CAL               4:15.79    4:16.05 B       13  
             23.23        48.18 (24.95)
        1:13.71 (25.53)     1:39.68 (25.97)
        2:05.65 (25.97)     2:31.57 (25.92)
        2:57.61 (26.04)     3:23.85 (26.24)
        3:50.18 (26.33)     4:16.05 (25.87)
  7 Mefford, Colby   SO CAL               4:18.62    4:19.81 B       12  
             23.53        48.86 (25.33)
        1:14.54 (25.68)     1:40.42 (25.88)
        2:06.74 (26.32)     2:33.33 (26.59)
        2:59.92 (26.59)     3:26.61 (26.69)
        3:53.32 (26.71)     4:19.81 (26.49)
  8 Sweetser, True   JR STAN              4:19.43    4:23.77         11  
             24.18        50.68 (26.50)
        1:17.28 (26.60)     1:43.83 (26.55)
        2:10.44 (26.61)     2:37.05 (26.61)
        3:03.56 (26.51)     3:30.21 (26.65)
        3:57.28 (27.07)     4:23.77 (26.49)

200 Individual Medley

Since transferring to Cal from Auburn, much has been expected of Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez, especially on the postseason stage. Well, Gonzalez came through in the 200 individual medley, as he won the event in 1:41.05, more than a second faster than the 1:42.18 of Arizona’s David Schlict. Gonzalez sat fourth after the opening butterfly leg and remained in that position through the backstroke leg. But a 29.03 split on the breaststroke leg was the fastest in the field, as was Gonzalez’s 24.33 split on freestyle.

Cal’s Daniel Carr finished third in 1:42.34 while Stanford took the fourth through sixth spots, thanks to the trio of Jonny Affeld, Alex Liang and Shane Blinkman.

 Event 7  Men 200 Yard IM
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:38.13  2/15/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
       PAC-12: M 1:38.14  2019      Andrew Seliskar, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:40.07  2015      Dave Nolan, STAN
                 1:41.34  A Standard
                 1:46.77  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Finals ===                       
 
  1 Gonzalez, Hugo   JR CAL               1:41.82    1:41.05 A       20  
             22.44        47.69 (25.25)
        1:16.72 (29.03)     1:41.05 (24.33)
  2 Schlicht, David  SO ARIZ              1:43.68    1:42.18 B       17  
             21.88        47.61 (25.73)
        1:17.14 (29.53)     1:42.18 (25.04)
  3 Carr, Daniel     SR CAL               1:44.91    1:42.34 B       16  
             22.73        47.27 (24.54)
        1:17.47 (30.20)     1:42.34 (24.87)
  4 Affeld, Jonny    FR STAN              1:43.42    1:43.49 B       15  
             22.35        48.13 (25.78)
        1:18.07 (29.94)     1:43.49 (25.42)
  5 Liang, Alex      JR STAN              1:43.24    1:43.71 B       14  
             22.58        48.22 (25.64)
        1:18.43 (30.21)     1:43.71 (25.28)
  6 Blinkman, Shane  FR STAN              1:43.53    1:43.79 B       13  
             23.10        49.09 (25.99)
        1:18.64 (29.55)     1:43.79 (25.15)
  7 Iida, Sam        SR ARIZ              1:43.78    1:43.82 B       12  
             22.82        49.12 (26.30)
        1:18.32 (29.20)     1:43.82 (25.50)
  8 Maric, Ogi       SO ARIZ              1:44.52    1:44.77 B       11  
             22.33        47.15 (24.82)
        1:19.17 (32.02)     1:44.77 (25.60)

50 Freestyle

The Cal victory train rolled on behind a gold-silver finish behind the tandem of senior Ryan Hoffer and freshman Bjorn Seeliger. Hoffer and Seeliger cracked the 19-second barrier, with Hoffer clocking a time of 18.81 to better the 18.84 of Seeliger. Hoffer figures to be a contender for the NCAA title later this month and was complemented by teammate Nate Biondi (19.63) taking sixth.

While Hoffer has been a standout for the Bears since enrolling at the school, Seeliger has emerged as the latest standout freshman in a talent-rich class. Arizona’s Marin Ercegovic took the third spot on the podium with an effort of 19.22 and Utah’s Cooper Deryk was fourth in 19.46.

 Event 8  Men 50 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 17.63  3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
       PAC-12: M 18.58  2019      Ryan Hoffer, CAL
 PAC-12 Champ: P 18.80  2014      Brad Tandy, ARIZ
                 18.96  A Standard
                 19.96  B Standard
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Finals ===                       
 
  1 Hoffer, Ryan     SR CAL                 19.00      18.81 A       20  
              9.06         18.81 (9.75)
  2 Seeliger, Bjorn  FR CAL                 18.88      18.84 A       17  
              9.06         18.84 (9.78)
  3 Ercegovic, Mari  JR ARIZ                19.45      19.22 B       16  
              9.30         19.22 (9.92)
  4 Deryk, Cooper    JR UTAH                19.64      19.46 B       15  
              9.32        19.46 (10.14)
  5 Miljenic, Nikol  SR USC                 19.47      19.60 B       14  
              9.38        19.60 (10.22)
  6 Biondi, Nate     SR CAL                 19.87      19.63 B       13  
              9.52        19.63 (10.11)
  7 Maurer, Luke     FR STAN                19.79      19.92 B       12  
              9.73        19.92 (10.19)
  8 Gonzalez, Mason  SO STAN                19.74      20.00         11  
              9.72        20.00 (10.28)

200 Freestyle Relay

With the top-two finishers in the 50 freestyle handling the middle legs, Cal had no trouble blowing away the field in the 200 freestyle relay, as the Bears registered a time of 1:15.80 and bettered runner-up USC by 1.57 seconds. After Nate Biondi led off for Cal in 19.61, Bjorn Seeliger churned out a split of 18.66, followed by Ryan Hoffer, the winner of the 50 free, going 18.55. Daniel Carr capped the title with an 18.98 leg.

Southern Cal’s second-place effort was fueled by four consistent legs, but the event was underwhelming outside of the Cal performance.

 Event 9  Men 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:14.08  3/26/2009 Auburn
                          J. Andkjaer, G. Louw, K. Norys, M. Targett
       PAC-12: M 1:14.46  2019      California
                          Sendyk, Hoffer, Jensen, Seliskar
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:15.54  2009      Stanford
                          Coville, Staab, J. Dunford, D. Dunford
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:15.54  2020      Univ of California, Berkeley
                          P Sendyk, R Hoffer, M Jensen, Z Quah
                 1:17.17  A Standard
                 1:17.86  B Standard
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 CAL  'A'                      1:15.54    1:15.80 A       40  
     1) Biondi, Nate SR               2) r:0.32 Seeliger, Bjorn FR    
     3) r:0.19 Hoffer, Ryan SR        4) r:0.34 Carr, Daniel SR       
             19.61        38.27 (18.66)
          56.82 (18.55)     1:15.80 (18.98)
  2 USC  'A'                      1:18.12    1:17.37 B       34  
     1) Miljenic, Nikola SR           2) r:0.28 Saunders, Max SO      
     3) r:0.31 Sancov, Alexei JR      4) r:0.05 Cruz Zuniga, Billy JR 
             19.64        38.94 (19.30)
          58.23 (19.29)     1:17.37 (19.14)
  3 ARIZ  'A'                     1:16.33    1:17.86 B       32  
     1) Ercegovic, Marin JR           2) r:0.33 Maric, Ogi SO         
     3) r:0.35 Reid, Noah SR          4) r:0.36 Combs, Tai JR         
             19.40        38.88 (19.48)
          58.47 (19.59)     1:17.86 (19.39)
  4 STAN  'A'                     1:18.77    1:17.92         30  
     1) Maurer, Luke FR               2) r:0.24 Affeld, Jonny FR      
     3) r:0.29 Mihm, Rick FR          4) r:0.37 Gonzalez, Mason SO    
             19.87        39.08 (19.21)
          58.53 (19.45)     1:17.92 (19.39)
  5 UTAH  'A'                     1:18.85    1:18.83         28  
     1) Deryk, Cooper JR              2) r:0.23 O'Haimhirgin, Finn SO 
     3) r:0.39 Contreras, Santi SR    4) r:0.25 Chiun, Felix SR       
             19.48        38.91 (19.43)
          58.86 (19.95)     1:18.83 (19.97)
 -- STAN  'B'                     1:20.00   x1:20.46        
     1) Dang, Ethan FR                2) r:0.31 MacAlister, Leon FR   
     3) r:0.26 Tarvestad, William FR  4) r:0.38 Roy, Neel FR          
             20.53        40.65 (20.12)
        1:00.56 (19.91)     1:20.46 (19.90)
 -- CAL  'B'                           NT         DQ        
      False start
     1) Jensen, Matthew FR            2) r:0.24 Mefford, Bryce SR     
     3) r:0.37 Lasco, Destin FR       4) r:0.38 Hatch, Jarod SR       
             19.99        39.72 (19.73)
          59.30 (19.58)          DQ (20.03)

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