ASU Men Rip 4 NCAA Leading Times and 2 School Records in Win Over Stanford

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

ARIZONA STATE VS. STANFORD

• Jan. 20, 2023
• Mona Plummer Aquatic Center – Tempe, AZ
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Results: “Arizona State v. Stanford” on MeetMobile

Final Scores

Women: #3 Stanford Cardinal – 175 vs. HM Arizona State Sun Devils – 122

Men: #4 Arizona State Sun Devils – 186 vs. #9 Stanford Cardinal – 114

Men’s Recap

Where should we start with the men’s meet? It was a barn burner of a day for the Sun Devil men, who kicked off a busy weekend with a dominant win over the Stanford Cardinal. The day featured four NCAA-leading times, two school records, and two mid-season debuts.

Let’s start at the top with the 200 medley relay, where the squad of Jack Dolan (21.04 back), Leon Marchand (23.10 breast), Max McCusker (19.70 fly), and Grant House (18.76 free) ripped 1:22.60. That’s the second fastest time in program history and takes over the top time in the NCAA from Florida, who posted 1:22.82 at their midseason invitational.

That set the tone for ASU, and kicked off an incredible three-event run for them. In the next event, the 1000 free, Zalan Sarkany made his SCY debut with a bang. He touched the wall in 8:50.56, taking down a 39-year-old school record. We expected Hubert Kos to be the mid-season game changer for ASU, but Sarkany is showing that he’s a big addition in his own right.

The 200 freestyle saw Grant House take the win in 1:31.51. With that time, he overtakes Charlie Hawke as the fastest swimmer in the nation this season. Last season, House didn’t go faster than that until Pac-12s. Now, he’s dropping 1:31s in a January dual.

Then, it was Marchand’s turn to shine. In under two hours, not only did Marchand drop a 23.10 50 breast split, he cracked two NCAA-leading times and a school record. The record came in his first individual event, the 100 breaststroke, where he ripped 51.15. That breaks John Heaphy‘s record of 51.82 from last year, and is only .01 seconds behind Reid Mikuta‘s nation leading 51.14.

Marchand was far from done though. In his 200 breast, he popped a 1:49.16, which is the fastest time in the NCAA this season by more than a second. He’s the only man to crack the 1:50 barrier so far, with Matt Fallon now second at 1:50.28. The time is also less than a second off the 1:48.20 he went to win NCAAs last year.

His final event of the day was the 200 IM, where he clocked 1:38.96. He was actually ahead of his U.S. Open pace for the first 150 yards before backing off with a 24.66 50 free split to finish the race. It’s an eye-popping time at a dual meet, especially considering that at this point in the afternoon, it was actually quite windy at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.

Overall, it was an impressive day for the Sun Devils. They had some blazing swims and their depth was on display, as they went 1-2-3 in three individual events. They did all of that and they still have another meet this weekend; they face NCAA defending champion Cal less than 24 hours after this meet’s start time.

One of the brightest spots in Stanford’s day was Andrei Minakov. This is just the second meet of the season for the defending 100 fly champion, who returned to competing in a Cardinal cap last week against Pacific. He dropped big from his times a week ago, highlighted by his 19.81 50 fly split on the 200 medley relay.

He also finished second in the 50 free (19.62), won the 100 fly (45.07), and led-off the 200 free relay in 19.55. Those times are an improvement from the Pacific meet, where his fastest 50 free was 20.92 and he clocked 48.29 in the 100 fly.

Another highlight was their 200 medley relay, where they posted 1:24.47, faster than they were at their midseason invite. Minakov’s fly split is a big part of that for sure, but Zhier Fan also split a solid 23.76 breaststroke leg.

Finally, Ron Polonsky, who the team mostly utilizes as a IM/stroke specialist, took second in the 200 free with a 1:33.83. That’s less than half a second off the 1:33.44 he went leading off the 800 free relay at midseason, solidifying him as the Cardinal’s top 200 freestyler this season. No one else on Stanford’s roster has broken 1:34 yet this season.

Stanford is also back in action tomorrow, taking on the Arizona Wildcats.

Women’s Recap

The women’s meet didn’t have the same fireworks that the men’s did, but there were still several exciting races. The top performer was sophomore Torri Huske, who totaled three individual event wins. The highlight of her day was her 22.17 50 free, which earned her the win by almost a full second, as no other swimmer was under 23 seconds. She also won the 200 free in 1:46.07, then clocked 51.54 in the 100 fly.

Her Olympic teammate Claire Curzan won the 200 back in 1:53.45, finishing three seconds ahead of ASU’s Charli Brown. Brown’s swim was excellent for her, as it’s only .22 seconds off the lifetime best that she posted at midseason. The 20-year-old stormed onto the scene at ASU’s pentathlon and has been a boost for the Sun Devil women’s team.

For Curzan’s part, it’s a strong time for her in a dual meet. She burst onto the 200 back scene in a big way with her 1:48.50 at midseason. The 200 back title is very much up for grabs in March, and the freshman is developing into a strong contender.

Like the Sun Devil men, the Cardinal women put their depth on display with sweeps of the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. It was Olympian Taylor Ruck posting the fastest 100 back time (53.28), with Natalie Mannion (54.04) and Alex Crisera (54.22) taking the next two spots. That’s a season best time for Mannion, outdoing the 54.48 she posted at Stanford’s dual with Utah.

The ASU women claimed a couple podium sweeps of their own, taking the top three spots in both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 IM. Iza Adame won the 100 breast in 1:00.71, nearing her lifetime best of 1:00.37 from 2021.

In the IM, it was Ieva Maluka with the win, coming within half a second of her lifetime best with a 1:58.97. Brown earned second in 1:58.99, followed by Jade Foelske in 2:01.73.

Lindsay Looney, the big name of the women’s team, earned two wins. First, she beat Curzan in the 200 fly, 1:53.48 to 1:54.05. That 1:53.48 is just off her season best, and is just a bit further from her lifetime best of 1:53.25. With this kind of consistency, she could be gearing up for a big drop in season.

She followed that up by getting her hand on the wall first in the women’s 100 free (49.34). That was one of the closest races of the meet, with the top four separated by just .36 seconds.

SwimSwam: ASU Men Rip 4 NCAA Leading Times and 2 School Records in Win Over Stanford