2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Day 4 Finals: Cal Rallies to Fifth Straight Title
2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Day 4 Finals: Backstroke Powers Cal Rally
The mountain has been steep for Cal at the 2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships.
By the end of Day 1 of the meet, with three diving events and two relays factored in, the Golden Bears found themselves in sixth place out of six teams, 141 points adrift of Stanford. It would take the better part of three days for Cal to claw back that deficit, but one race at a time, the Bears managed to.
Cal positioned itself well on Saturday morning, pushing 16 swimmers into finals and flexing its stroke depth. It then finished the 2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships with aplomb, setting a meet record in the 400 free relay to catapult to a fifth straight title. They even made it look a little easy, entering the final relay with an unassailable lead thanks to three individual wins and a boatload of A finalists on the night.
FIVE-PEAT! ?????
Cal wins the 2022 #Pac12Swim Championship! pic.twitter.com/HEaMID9Ktm
— Cal Men’s Swim & Dive (@calmenswim) March 6, 2022
The events of the final day:
2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Team Scores
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 21 1. California University,Berkeley 853.5 2. Stanford University 760 3. Arizona State University 652 4. Southern California, Universit 449 5. University of Arizona 423.5 6. Utah, University of 264
2022 Pac-12 Men’s Championships Links
Men’s 1,650 freestyle
Stanford started with the upper hand in the team competition, though it’s Brooks Fail to picked up the win. The Arizona fifth-year senior won in 14:41.22, comfortably ahead of Stanford’s Grant Shoults. Arizona State was third via Gordon Mason.
Cal took home fifth place (via Sean Grieshop) and eighth.
Event 16 Men 1650 Yard Freestyle ========================================================================= NCAA: N 14:12.08 2/22/2020 Bobby Finke, Florida PAC-12: M 14:24.35 2012 Chad La Tourette, STAN PAC-12 Champ: P 14:33.69 2021 Zach Yeadon, CAL 14:37.31 A Standard 15:26.19 B Standard Name Year School Seed Finals Points ========================================================================= 1 Fail, Brooks 5Y Arizona 14:41.57 14:41.22 B 20 r:+0.56 24.45 26.86 27.11 27.17 26.57 25.62 25.33 25.47 24.60 2 Shoults, Grant SR STAN 14:56.07 14:45.38 B 17 r:+0.65 24.21 26.91 27.24 27.23 26.87 26.70 26.45 26.02 24.81 3 Mason, Gordon JR ASU 14:53.88 14:50.70 B 16 r:+0.69 24.69 26.75 27.03 27.07 27.27 27.37 27.00 27.03 25.62 4 Matheson, Danie FR USC 15:11.78 14:51.59 B 15 r:+0.62 24.45 26.72 27.18 27.28 27.06 27.30 27.22 26.00 24.64 5 Grieshop, Sean SR CAL 15:07.38 15:00.90 B 14 r:+0.64 24.54 26.70 27.29 27.40 27.81 27.70 27.52 27.65 26.59 6 Little, Jack SR ASU NT 15:02.29 B 13 r:+0.64 24.80 27.02 27.43 27.54 27.69 27.87 27.48 27.43 26.49 7 Johansson, Vict SR USC 14:55.21 15:03.03 B 12 r:+0.65 24.39 26.52 26.80 27.13 27.94 28.05 27.83 27.47 26.36 8 Meehan, Jack SO CAL 15:25.36 15:03.27 B 11 r:+0.57 25.14 27.19 27.35 27.61 28.08 27.79 28.10 27.91 27.41
Men’s 200 backstroke
The event that may well define the comeback is the 200 back, so long a strong spot for the Golden Bears on stages much grander than just the Pac-12.
Even by those standards, the dominance meted out by Cal Saturday night – a 1-2 finish, four of the top five, five of the top seven – ranks as exemplary. Destin Lasco and Daniel Carr made it a two-man race, Lesco leaping from the third seed to first in 1:38.81, .09 up on his training partner. Lasco won the race on his third five, taking three tenths out of Carr in 25.18. Carr responded by a 25.13 final 50 that nearly nipped Lasco at the wall. Both are NCAA A cuts.
Bryce Mefford and Colby Mefford were fourth and fifth for Cal, with Leon McAlister sneaking in to break the blockade on Stanford’s behalf.
With the points, Cal moved within 14 points of the lead.
Event 17 Men 200 Yard Backstroke ========================================================================= NCAA: N 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, CAL PAC-12: M 1:35.73 2016 Ryan Murphy, CAL PAC-12 Champ: P 1:37.87 2020 Daniel Carr, CAL 1:39.13 A Standard 1:45.04 B Standard Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Lasco, Destin SO CAL 1:40.22 1:38.81 A 20 r:+0.66 23.17 48.23 (25.06) 1:13.41 (25.18) 1:38.81 (25.40) 2 Carr, Daniel SR CAL 1:39.71 1:38.90 A 17 r:+0.66 23.32 48.30 (24.98) 1:13.77 (25.47) 1:38.90 (25.13) 3 MacAlister, Leo JR STAN 1:39.36 1:39.18 B 16 r:+0.67 23.62 48.91 (25.29) 1:14.23 (25.32) 1:39.18 (24.95) 4 Mefford, Bryce SR CAL 1:41.29 1:39.49 B 15 r:+0.69 23.30 48.33 (25.03) 1:13.73 (25.40) 1:39.49 (25.76) 5 Mefford, Colby JR CAL 1:41.49 1:40.81 B 14 r:+0.71 23.94 49.66 (25.72) 1:15.21 (25.55) 1:40.81 (25.60) 6 Makrygiannis, E FR USC 1:41.86 1:40.92 B 13 r:+0.74 23.83 49.18 (25.35) 1:15.37 (26.19) 1:40.92 (25.55) 7 Somerset, Sebas JR CAL 1:40.70 1:41.02 B 12 r:+0.67 23.81 49.47 (25.66) 1:15.44 (25.97) 1:41.02 (25.58) 8 Sequeira, Aaron FR STAN 1:41.94 1:41.20 B 11 r:+0.69 23.50 48.68 (25.18) 1:14.54 (25.86) 1:41.20 (26.66)
Men’s 100 freestyle
And just like that, the Golden Bears are in front. Bjorn Seeliger clocked in at 41.51, defending his top seed from prelims and completing the sprint double. With Jack Alexy third and Matthew Jensen and Robin Hanson having snuck into the A final, it’s enough to vault Cal ahead of Stanford by 38 points.
Arizona State picked up big points, finishing second via Grant House in 41.82. The Sun Devils were also fourth and fifth.
Event 18 Men 100 Yard Freestyle ========================================================================= NCAA: N 39.90 3/24/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida PAC-12: M 40.76 2013 Vladmir Morozov, USC PAC-12 Champ: P 41.38 2013 Vladmir Morozov, USC 41.71 A Standard 43.80 B Standard Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Seeliger, Bjorn SO CAL 41.77 41.51 A 20 r:+0.63 9.16 10.41 10.96 10.98 2 House, Grant SR ASU 42.15 41.82 B 17 r:+0.61 9.52 10.51 10.91 10.88 3 Alexy, Jack FR CAL 41.77 41.93 B 16 r:+0.62 9.48 10.49 11.07 10.89 4 Swift, Carter SR ASU 42.30 42.16 B 15 r:+0.56 9.57 10.62 10.99 10.98 5 Dolan, Jack JR ASU 42.53 42.45 B 14 r:+0.65 9.65 10.57 11.16 11.07 6 Ercegovic, Mari SR Arizona 42.59 42.52 B 13 r:+0.65 9.56 10.71 11.08 11.17 7 Jensen, Matthew SO CAL 42.52 42.66 B 12 r:+0.63 9.57 10.61 11.14 11.34 8 Hanson, Robin FR CAL 42.57 42.71 B 11 r:+0.61 9.57 10.84 11.09 11.21
Men’s 200 breaststroke
Leon Marchand wrapped up a sensational weekend by winning the 200 breast, taking the fifth seed out of prelims to go 1:50.39. It upsets Cal’s Reece Whitley, the top seed from prelims and the reigning Pac-12 champ. Whitley slid to third in 1:50.89, with teammate Hugo Gonzalez second to consolidate Cal’s lead.
The event was one of the fastest of the meet, yielding six A cuts. Daniel Roy and Ron Polonsky got there, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively. Chris O’Grady’s 1:51.67 fell between them.
Event 19 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke ========================================================================= NCAA: N 1:47.91 3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas PAC-12: M 1:48.53 2020 Reecce Whitley, CAL PAC-12 Champ: P 1:48.86 2021 Reece Whitley, CAL 1:52.28 A Standard 1:58.43 B Standard Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Marchand, Leon FR ASU 1:52.97 1:50.39 A 20 r:+0.60 25.28 28.39 28.14 28.58 2 Gonzalez, Hugo SR CAL 1:51.27 1:50.57 A 17 r:+0.65 24.84 28.11 28.81 28.81 3 Whitley, Reece SR CAL 1:50.57 1:50.89 A 16 r:+0.61 24.92 28.06 28.73 29.18 4 Roy, Daniel SR STAN 1:52.37 1:51.21 A 15 r:+0.50 25.44 28.08 28.49 29.20 5 O'Grady, Chris FR USC 1:52.66 1:51.67 A 14 r:+0.69 25.53 28.30 28.65 29.19 6 Polonsky, Ron FR STAN 1:54.60 1:51.73 A 13 r:+0.66 25.28 28.43 28.46 29.56 7 Dillard, Ben SO USC 1:53.77 1:53.14 B 12 r:+0.69 25.68 28.71 28.92 29.83 8 Louser, Jason JR CAL 1:52.97 1:54.60 B 11 r:+0.67 25.29 28.59 29.64 31.08
Men’s 200 butterfly
Back to the Cal wheelhouse, and back to the top of the standings. Trenton Julian left no doubt in the final, going 1:39.95, an NCAA A cut. It’s more than a second off his Pac-12 champs record from last year (1:38.53). Cal also finished in third and fourth, with Dare Rose and Gabriel Jett, respectively, to run the team lead to an insurmountable 85.5 points.
Alexander Colson of Arizona State finished second in 1:40.28, an NCAA A cut.
Event 20 Men 200 Yard Butterfly ========================================================================= NCAA: N 1:37.35 3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas PAC-12: M 1:38.53 2021 Trenton Julian, CAL PAC-12 Champ: P 1:38.53 2021 Trenton Julian, CAL 1:40.44 A Standard 1:46.69 B Standard Name Year School Prelims Finals Points ========================================================================= === A - Final === 1 Julian, Trenton SR CAL 1:41.22 1:39.95 A 20 r:+0.51 22.09 25.21 25.71 26.94 2 Colson, Alexand JR ASU 1:41.25 1:40.28 A 17 r:+0.66 22.56 25.44 26.19 26.09 3 Rose, Dare SO CAL 1:41.85 1:41.36 B 16 r:+0.51 22.63 25.83 26.41 26.49 4 Jett, Gabriel FR CAL 1:43.27 1:41.42 B 15 r:+0.66 22.66 25.37 26.65 26.74 5 Forst, Preston SO STAN 1:42.30 1:41.70 B 13.5 r:+0.62 22.87 25.46 26.49 26.88 5 Gray, Andrew JR ASU 1:42.25 1:41.70 B 13.5 r:+0.58 22.73 25.68 26.21 27.08 7 Sancov, Alexei SR USC 1:43.10 1:42.72 B 12 r:+0.57 22.81 26.14 26.68 27.09 8 Roberts, Will SR CAL 1:43.23 1:48.24 11 r:+0.68 23.73 27.44 28.19 28.88
Men’s 400 freestyle relay
There are exclamation points. Then there are exclamation points that are bolded, underlined and highlighted in Cal gold. The Golden Bears delivered the latter.
Bjorn Seeliger capped an outstanding meet by rallying Cal on the final leg, chasing down Leon Marchand with an anchor leg of 40.91 seconds to lead Cal’s A squad to the win by one-hundredth of a second. The foursome of Dylan Hawk, Jack Alexy, Hugo Gonzalez and Seeliger went 2:45.94, nearly three seconds under its seed time. The time downed the meet record set by Cal in 2022 (2:46.92) and the conference record set by Cal in 2019 (2:46.41). The time leads three four A cuts across the line (plus A cuts for the B relays from Cal and ASU).
WHAT. A. FINISH. pic.twitter.com/P5rsVKCq8N
— Cal Men’s Swim & Dive (@calmenswim) March 6, 2022
Arizona State was second in 2:45.95, via Grant House, Carter Swift, Jack Dolan and Marchand. Identical 41.46s by Swift and Dolan did the job in the middle. Marchand’s split of 41.26 was the third-fastest in the race, trailing Seeliger and Alexy (41.14).
Stanford was third despite Andrei Minakov going 41.47 out front to obtain clean water. That time was .04 quicker than the time Seeliger used to win the 100 free earlier in the night. Stanford landed third in 2:47.17.
Arizona also nabbed a A cut in 2:50.72 in fourth. Speaking of those B relays, Destin Lasco (41.87) and Daniel Carr (41.84) also turned in splits that weren’t too shabby.
Event 21 Men 400 Yard Freestyle Relay ================================================================================== NCAA: N 2:44.31 3/24/2018 NC State R.Held, J. Ress, J. Molacek, C. Stewart PAC-12: M 2:46.41 2019 CAL Jensen, Sendyk, Hoffer, Seliskar PAC-12 Champ: P 2:46.92 2020 Univ of California, Berkeley M Jensen, P Sendyk, D Carr, R Hoffer 2:50.99 A Standard 2:52.46 B Standard School Seed Finals Points ================================================================================== 1 CAL 'A' 2:48.80 2:45.94MA 40 1) Hawk, Dylan SO 2) Alexy, Jack FR 3) Gonzalez, Hugo SR 4) Seeliger, Bjorn SO 20.12 42.19 19.20 41.14 19.82 41.70 19.52 40.91 2 ASU 'A' 2:47.43 2:45.95MA 34 1) House, Grant SR 2) Swift, Carter SR 3) Dolan, Jack JR 4) Marchand, Leon FR 19.98 41.77 19.79 41.46 19.35 41.46 19.77 41.26 3 STAN 'A' 2:49.09 2:47.17 A 32 1) Minakov, Andrei FR 2) MacAlister, Leon JR 3) Polonsky, Ron FR 4) Maurer, Luke SO 19.90 41.47 20.21 41.79 19.92 41.79 19.95 42.12 4 Arizona 'A' 2:51.79 2:50.72 A 30 1) Ercegovic, Marin SR 2) Ingram, Hunter JR 3) Miller, Seth SO 4) Perham, Ryan SO 20.03 42.44 20.41 42.79 20.03 42.98 20.02 42.51 5 USC 'A' 2:51.33 2:52.92 28 1) Saunders, Max JR 2) Sancov, Alexei SR 3) Pellini, Trent 5Y 4) Miljenic, Nikola 5Y 20.48 42.79 20.40 43.10 20.61 43.48 20.41 43.55 6 Utah 'A' 2:55.42 2:56.18 26 1) Ungur, Andrei SR 2) Horner, Jaek JR 3) Waterman, Ben SR 4) Carlson, Noah JR 20.66 43.47 20.45 43.52 21.60 44.89 21.09 44.30
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