Destin Lasco, Gabriel Jett Lead Cal Men Over Stanford in Competitive Rivalry Meet

Destin Lasco -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Destin Lasco, Gabriel Jett Lead Cal Men Over Stanford in Competitive Rivalry Meet

The final dual meet of the 2022-23 college season saw the Cal men defeat Bay Area rival Stanford in a tight 156-142 showdown Saturday at Spieker Aquatic Complex in Berkeley. The Golden Bear men, who captured last year’s NCAA team title, won both relays while junior Destin Lasco won three events and sophomore Gabriel Jett won two on the way to securing the win. Cal came up short in a meet against Arizona State last month, but the Golden Bears looked the part of national-title contenders in this finale.

Lasco blasted a time of 44.73 in the 100 backstroke, which beat what had been the country’s top time before Friday, although now he ranks behind performances by Florida’s Adam Chaney, NC State’s Kacper Stokowski and Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan from their respective conference championship meets. Shortly after, Lasco took first in the 200 back with a time of 1:38.23, which moved him in front of Georgia’s Ian Grum (1:38.84) for the top time in the country while teammate Hugo Gonzalez went 1:39.86 for second, which was good for No. 6 nationally.

Finally, Lasco won the 200 IM in 1:41.28, improving on his own season-best but remaining at No. 5 in the national rankings. Lasco was also part of Cal’s meet-opening victory in the 200 medley relay, combining with teammates Forrest Frazier, Dare Rose and Jack Alexy to win the event in 1:23.15.

Jett, meanwhile, recorded a brilliant performance in the 200 butterfly, winning in 1:39.95 to become only the second man this season to get under 1:40, joining Arizona State’s Leon Marchand (1:39.57). Later on, Jett won the 100 fly in 45.21, and he swam the third leg on Cal’s winning 400 free relay to conclude the meet. The team of Alexy, Bjorn Seeliger, Jett and Robin Hanson posted a time of 2:47.07, with Jett swimming an impressive 41.56 on his leg. Seeliger, meanwhile, blasted a 40.65 for the top performance of the race.

Alexy won the 50 free in 19.14, and he also posted swift freestyle splits of 18.40 (anchoring the 200 medley relay) and 42.09 (leading off the 400 free relay). Fifth-year swimmer Reece Whitley dominated the 200 breaststroke in 1:51.02 for the country’s third-fastest time so far, and Lucas Henveaux delivered a strong swim in the 1000 free, where he posted a time of 8:45.39 for the win.

Stanford’s top swimmer Saturday was sophomore Andrei Minakov, who split 20.16 on the butterfly leg of the Cardinal’s 200 medley relay before winning the 100 free (42.20) and splitting 41.30 on the 400 free relay. Luke Maurer edged out Preston Forst in the 200 free, 1:34.04 to 1:34.16, but Stanford did finish 1-2 in that race, and Forst later held off Henveaux to win the 500 free in 4:16.79.

Ron Polonsky won the 100 breast for Stanford in 51.77, and he was second behind Lasco in the 200 IM in 1:42.08. Stanford’s Jack Ryan had a pair of diving wins in 1-meter (381.08) and 3-meter (395.63).

Results

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