Leah Polonsky, Gabriel Jett Star as Cal Cruises Past Pittsburgh
In the first home meet of the season for California, the Golden Bears had no trouble handling Pittsburgh, losing only the men’s breaststroke events in a pair of dominant wins. The Cal women were led by Leah Polonsky, a junior originally from Haifa, Israel, as they won 202-93, while Gabriel Jett took center stage in a 170-127 Cal men’s victory. The meet marked a return to Berkeley for Pitt coach Chase Kreitler, who served as Dave Durden’s assistant coach for the Cal men from 2018 through 2022, a run which included two national titles and one national runnerup finish.
Polonsky started her day with a 1:57.51 runaway in the 200 butterfly, and she later touched first in the 200 backstroke (1:59.23) and 200 IM (1:57.98). Meanwhile, Cal fifth-year transfer Hannah Brunzell also had two individual wins in the breaststroke events, winning the 100 (1:01.53) and 200 (2:14.95). Brunzell also handled the breaststroke leg of Cal’s 200 medley relay, joining Isabelle Stadden, Mia Kragh and Mckenna Stone to record a time of 1:38.51.
Fanni Fabian was dominant in the longer freestyle events, topping the 1000 free (10:04.07) and 500 free (4:52.05), and fifth-year Eloise Riley took the 50 free (22.89) and 100 free (49.56). Riley anchored a 400 free relay team also consisting of Ella Mazurek, Stone and Emily Gantriis to a comfortable win in the 400 free relay (3:18.63).
Stadden, now a senior, also won the 100 backstroke (52.71) and placed second in the 200 IM (1:58.51). Freshman Ava Chavez cruised to a win in the 200 free (1:47.82), and Mia Kragh claimed first in the 100 fly (52.75). In diving, Cal’s Caroline Li finished first in 1-meter and 3-meter to complete the sweep of the women’s events.
The Cal men were not quite as dominant, but the outcome was never in doubt here, beginning when the powerhouse 200 medley relay team of Bjorn Seeliger, Liam Bell, Dare Rose and Jack Alexy touched first by a second-and-a-half in 1:25.88. That group finished fourth in a tight final at last year’s NCAA Championships, but this is the top group to return for the 2023-24 season without any graduations or departures.
Jett’s big day included two individual wins, a dominant performance in the 100 back (46.99) and an exciting win over American-record holder Destin Lasco in the 200 IM, with Jett using superior butterfly and breaststroke legs to beat the man who finished second to Leon Marchand at the last two NCAA Championships by a five hundredths. Jett won in 1:46.84, with Lasco finishing in 1:46.89.
Rose, fresh off his breakout long course season in which he won bronze in the 100-meter fly at the World Championships, raced only the 200 fly individually against Pitt, and he won comfortably in 1:45.62. Fellow Worlds medalist Alexy took third in the 200 free (1:39.17) before cruising to a win in the 100 free and joining Seeliger, Roman Jones and Robin Hanson for a dominant 400 free relay win (2:55.62). Lasco, also a Worlds team member, had two second-place finishes, with a rare 200 breast appearance (2:00.33) preceeding his medley race with Jett.
Cal senior Jack Meehan was a standout in the distance races, claiming the 1000 free (9:14.16) and 500 free (4:28.59), and Seeliger was the only man under 20 in the 50 free as he clocked 19.69. Fifth-year swimmer Colby Mefford held off surging Pitt swimmer Marcin Goraj to win the 200 back, 1:43.88 to 1:44.08. Matthew Jensen stopped the clock first in the 100 fly in 48.23.
Pitt got on the winning ledger with fifth-year swimmer Jerry Chen topping both breaststroke events, the 100 (54.03) and 200 (1:57.83) while in diving, Dylan Reed won both the 1-meter (368.03) and the 3-meter (356.63) events.