FEDERAL WAY – Tonight’s finals at the men’s Pac 12 championships was electrifying, as three schools battled for the lead in the overall team race with impressive performances in three individual events and one relay. But the most-talked about moment of the night was David Nolan’s American record in the 200 individual medley, taking down Ryan Lochte’s mark by the slimmest of margins.
Team Scores After Day Two, Men’s Pac 12 Championships
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500 freestyle final
Southern California fired the first shot tonight with a 1-2 finish in the distance freestyle to take a 20-point lead in the team race. Cristian Quintero, the reigning NCAA champion, took the race out hard, with teammate Reed Malone matching his speed for the entire race. Never separated by more than two tenths throughout the race, Quintero and Malone posted the second- and third-fastest swims of the season with times of 4:11.25 and 4:11.30. Only Florida’s Mitch D’Arrigo has been faster with a 4:10.77 from the SEC championships.
Stanford’s Danny Thomson looked like he was going to comfortably place third, but Utah’s Bence Kiraly had other plans, posting a 24.55 in the final 50 yards to Thomson’s 25.67. That gave Kiraly the third-place points with a 4:14.67 to Thomson’s 4:14.98. Both just missed the automatic qualifying time of 4:14.59, but are certain to be invited to the NCAA championships. Kiraly stands eighth in the nation, while Thomson is tied for ninth with Alabama’s Anton McKee.
Stanford’s Liam Egan (4:16.65), USC’s Pawel Furtek (4:17.91), Stanford’s Drew Cosgarea (4:18.34) and California’s Trent Williams (4:23.35) rounded out the top eight.
200 individual medley final
Since setting the national high school record books aflame in his senior year at Hershey High School, David Nolan has been tapped as the next big thing in the 200 IM. That promise came true tonight as the Stanford senior broke Ryan Lochte’s American record of 1:40.08 by just one hundredth of a second with a 1:40.07. Lochte set the record in November 2007 at the USA Swimming nationals, in his first year as a postgrad swimmer.
Nolan vs. Lochte:
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Nolan’s best time before tonight was a 1:41.21, which he swam to win the 2013 NCAA title. Nolan leapfrogs over seven major names in IM history to stand at the top of the mountain. Nolan also took down Bradley Ally’s NCAA record of 1:40.49 from the 2009 NCAA championships.
Also at stake in tonight’s final was a major point grab for Stanford with five men in the final. Curtis Ogren was fourth with a 1:44.08, Tom Kremer fifth in 1:44.48, Gray Umbach seventh with a 1:45.49 and Max Williamson was eighth with a 1:45.88. It should be noted that Stanford has the public and independent high school record holders on the team, with Ogren still holding the independent record with a 1:44.90 from last May.
California’s Josh Prenot scored his automatic NCAA qualifying time with a 1:41.79 for second, while teammate Ryan Murphy was third with a 1:42.94. Morten Klarskov of USC placed sixth with a 1:44.84.
Stanford took a hefty lead in the points race with the strong showing in the 200 IM, 179-151 over California.
50 freestyle final
Brad Tandy won the 50 free conference title tonight with an 18.95, the same time he posted last year in tying for the NCAA championship last March. Tandy moves up the national rankings from fourth to third. His co-champion, Alabama’s Kristian Gkolomeev, holds an 18.64 from the SEC championships, where Florida’s Caeleb Dressel posted an 18.89.
Santo Condorelli, who posted a lifetime best 19.27 in prelims for the top seed, finished second with a 19.29. Though he missed the “A” cut of 19.25, he is almost assured a place in the event at NCAAs, as he stands in a tie for ninth nationally. Seth Stubblefield of California took third with a 19.32, good for 11th in the nation.
Stanford freshman Sam Perry looks to also get an NCAA invite, thanks to a 19.49 for fourth place and a tie for 26th nationally. His 19.69 from prelims marked his first time under 20 seconds.
California’s Fabio Gimondi and USC’s Dylan Carter tied for fifth with times of 19.52, while Utah’s Nick Soedel took seventh in 19.54 and California’s Tyler Messerschmidt was eighth with a 19.64.
No one could overtake Stanford after the sprint freestyle event, as the Cardinal kept a 12.5-point lead.
200 freestyle relay timed final
California got its first victory of the night with a close win in the sprint relay over USC. A 19.33 from Condorelli on the first leg gave USC a big lead, but Cal took over after the third leg with a blazing 18.94 from Ryan Murphy. Stubblefield kept the lead with an 18.63 to help the Golden Bears post a 1:16.57 to USC’s 1:16.88.
David Nolan showed no signs of being out of fuel after his American record in the 200 IM, posting an 18.63 on Stanford’s second leg (tied for fastest in the field) to help the Cardinal get third with a 1:17.52. Arizona was fourth with a 1:17.69 as Tandy put up an 18.81 split on the second leg. The top four teams all posted automatic qualifying times for the NCAA championships.
Arizona State could get an invite to the Big Meet with a fifth-place time of 1:18.45, while Utah struggled and placed sixth with a 1:22.69.
1-meter diving
Though the zone diving competitions next week are where divers can qualify for the NCAA championships, Kristian Ipsen showed during the conference diving events held last week that he is on track for an impressive NCAA championships. In the 1-meter event, Ipsen won by 14.65 points with a score of 459.25. Arizona’s Rafael Quintero, better on the 10-meter platform, got big points for the Wildcats by placing second with 444.60 points. A very distant third was Utah’s Jacob Crayne with 383.75 points.
Awesome to see this guy deliver.
Michelle Romy Nieuwstad