Shaine Casas Claims Second Title of NCAAs with 44.2 in 100 Back

Photo Courtesy: Luke Jamroz Photography

Texas A&M junior Shaine Casas won his second NCAA title of the weekend in Greensboro with a 44.20 in the 100 backstroke, adding to his 200 IM title last night that brought home the first for the Texas A&M men. It did not come easy for Casas, who won narrowly over NC State sophomore Kacper Stokowski (44.37) and Cal freshman Destin Lasco (44.49).

Casas was a 43.8 earlier this season at a home invite in November, that saw him become the fourth fastest performer in the event’s history. He did not quite replicate that here in Greensboro but he finally lived up to the hype he has shown since the fall of 2019 with his second NCAA title, and he will follow that up with a potential third in the 200 back tomorrow.

“It is double the happiness and success for the program. I wish I was a bit faster but I cannot complain with the win,” Shaine Casas said after the race.

NC State’s Stokowski is now 10th all-time with his swim tonight while Lasco is tied for 11th.

In the team race, Cal’s Lasco and Bryce Mefford (45.52) scored third and eighth fro the Golden Bears to put them 23 points in second place behind Texas. Texas had one finalist in Alvin Jiang in fourth at 44.60. Jiang and Louisville’s Nick Albiero each raced in the 100 fly final earlier, as Albiero finished in fifth at 44.86 in the 100 back.

Indiana’s Brendan Burns (45.03) an Georgia’s Javier Acevedo (45.06) also swam in the championship final.

This is Texas A&M’s second NCAA title in men’s swimming, and the first for the SEC in the 100 back since Auburn’s Kohlton Norys won in 2009.

All-Time Rankings:

43.49, Ryan Murphy, California, 2016
43.62, Coleman Stewart, NC State, 2020
43.66, Dean Farris, Harvard, 2019
43.87, Shaine Casas, Texas A&M, 2020
44.07, Nick Thoman, Swim MAC, 2013
44.10, Zane Waddell, Alabama, 2020
44.14, Zachary Poti, Arizona State, 2020
44.33, Mark Nikolaev, Grand Canyon, 2019
44.35, John Shebat, Texas, 2019
44.37, Kacper Stokowski, NC State, 2021
44.49, Destin Lasco, California, 2021
44.49, Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford, 2013

 Event 12  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
         Meet: M 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
     American: A 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
   U. S. Open: O 43.49  3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
         Pool: P 44.04  2/28/2020 Coleman Stewart, NC State
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Casas, Shaine          JR TAMU                44.41      44.20   20  
    r:+0.61  21.19        44.20 (23.01)
  2 Stokowski, Kacper      SO NC State            44.70      44.37   17  
    r:+0.67  21.49        44.37 (22.88)
  3 Lasco, Destin          FR California          44.55      44.49   16  
    r:+0.63  21.65        44.49 (22.84)
  4 Jiang, Alvin           SR Texas               44.97      44.60   15  
    r:+0.65  21.83        44.60 (22.77)
  5 Albiero, Nicolas       SR Louisville          44.85      44.86   14  
    r:+0.67  21.67        44.86 (23.19)
  6 Burns, Brendan         SO Indiana             44.87      45.03   13  
    r:+0.67  21.79        45.03 (23.24)
  7 Acevedo, Javi          SR Georgia             44.95      45.06   12  
    r:+0.69  22.00        45.06 (23.06)
  8 Mefford, Bryce         SR California          45.04      45.52   11  
             21.94        45.52 (23.58)
 
                        === Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Chaney, Adam           FR Florida             45.24      44.74    9  
    r:+0.65  21.42        44.74 (23.32)
 10 Staka, Chris           SR Texas               45.35      45.23    7  
    r:+0.69  21.57        45.23 (23.66)
 11 Carr, Daniel           SR California          45.53      45.32    6  
             22.04        45.32 (23.28)
 12 Menke, Matthew         SO Alabama             45.39      45.39    5  
    r:+0.67  22.10        45.39 (23.29)
 13 Armstrong, Hunter      SO Ohio St             45.15      45.48    4  
    r:+0.67  21.52        45.48 (23.96)
 14 Fantoni, Gabriel       SR Indiana             45.51      45.50    3  
    r:+0.72  21.86        45.50 (23.64)
 15 Katz, Austin           SR Texas               45.27      45.64    2  
    r:+0.75  21.92        45.64 (23.72)
 16 Steele, Jacob          SR Indiana             45.48      45.80    1  
    r:+0.64  22.02        45.80 (23.78)

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 12                  
 
  1. Texas                             363   2. California                        340
  3. Florida                           239   4. Georgia                           174
  5. Indiana                           126   6. Louisville                        110
  7. Texas A&M                         109   8. NC State                          106
  9. Virginia                           80  10. Michigan                           74
 11. Missouri                           67  12. Arizona                            66
 13. Ohio St                            59  14. Stanford                           58
 15. Virginia Tech                      52  16. Alabama                            43
 17. Lsu                                36  18. Purdue                             30
 19. Georgia Tech                       29  20. Pittsburgh                         23
 21. Minnesota                          20  22. University of Miami                19
 23. Florida St                       18.5  24. Tennessee                          16
 25. Notre Dame                         15  25. Southern California                15
 27. Penn St                            13  28. Kentucky                            9
 29. Wisconsin                           8  30. UNC                                 5
 31. Utah                              2.5

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