Minnesota Invitational: Erica Sullivan, Kelly Pash Lead Texas Women to Strong Night; Bjorn Seeliger, Destin Lasco Pace Cal Men
The first night of individual finals and second night overall of the Minnesota Invitational saw swimmers five swimmers post the second-fastest times in the country in their respective events. That list included two men from the defending-national-champion California Golden Bears plus two women and one man from the Texas Longhorns. The Texas women and men each placed second at last season’s NCAA Championships.
Texas’ Erica Sullivan opened the women’s racing with a strong time in the 500 freestyle. The sophomore who won Olympic silver in the 1500-meter free 16 months ago built a strong lead over the first 300 yards before Cal teammates Rachel Klinker and Ayla Spitz got a little closer down the stretch. Sullivan finished in 4:39.26, which ranks behind only Alex Walsh as the second-fastest swim in the country this year. Florida’s Mabel Zavaros and Michigan’s Katie Crom are the only other swimmers to break 4:40 (both 4:39.28). Klinker touched second here in 4:40.30, while Spitz was third in 4:40.47, with both times ranking among the top-eight nationally.
Carson Foster skipped the 200 IM to race the 500 free, and he ended up posting the No. 2 time in the country behind 2021 NCAA champion Jake Magahey. Foster held off a late charge from Texas teammate David Johnston, and he finished in 4:10.31. Magahey (4:09.83) is the only swimmer to officially break 4:10 this season, although Foster did swim 4:09.43 in a suited time trial two weeks ago.
Johnston took second in 4:10.95, good for third-best nationally, and more Longhorns occupied the next three spots: Coby Carrozza (4:14.90), Alec Enyeart (4:15.76) and Luke Hobson (4:15.90). Foster, Carrozza and Hobson were all part of the Texas men’s 800 free relay Wednesday night that swam the top time in the country.
The women’s 200 IM saw Texas senior Kelly Pash taking down Wisconsin’s Phoebe Bacon and Cal’s Leah Polonsky to score a win. Pash finished in 1:54.26 to tie Georgia’s Zoie Hartman for second-best in the country (behind Torri Huske), while Bacon went 1:55.13 for second and Polonsky finished third in 1:55.16. Those times rank fifth and sixth in the country, respectively.
Cal’s Destin Lasco placed second in the 200 IM at last year’s NCAA Championships behind eventual world champion Leon Marchand, and Lasco ranks fourth all-time in the event at 1:38.21. Lasco pulled away from Texas’ Jake Foster to take the win Thursday evening. Foster closed to within 0.11 of Lasco with a 29.29 breaststroke split, but Lasco hammered home in 23.40 to finish in 1:41.52, moving to second in the nation behind Marchand (1:39.28). Foster held off Minnesota’s Kaiser Neverman for second place, 1:43.64 to 1:43.91.
The Texas duo of Grace Cooper and Kyla Leibel swept the top two spots in the women’s 50 free, with Cooper touching in 22.11 and Leibel finishing just behind in 22.28, while Pitt’s Sophie Yendell took third (22.34). In the men’s event, Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger dominated with a time of 18.87, good for third in the country behind Jordan Crooks (18.27) and Florida’s Josh Liendo (18.83). Seeliger and Crooks sit tied for No. 2 all-time in the event behind Caeleb Dressel. Arizona’s Ryan Perham placed second (19.39), just ahead of Texas’ Danny Krueger (19.47).
In a dramatic finish, the Cal women got the better of Texas to win the 200 freestyle relay. Sydney Griscavage (22.59), Klinker (21.85), Jessica Davis (22.07) and Jade Neser (22.00) combined for a time of 1:28.51 to finish 0.13 ahead of the Longhorns’ team of Cooper, Pash, Bridget Semenuk and Leibel, who combined for a mark of 1:28.64. Not far off the pace was Arizona, with Maddy Burt, Lexi Duchsherer, Alyssa Schwengel and Julia Heimstead finishing in 1:29.01.
In the final race of the night, Cal had two sub-19 splits in a men’s 200 free relay win. Jack Alexy (20.04), Seeliger (18.47), Robin Hanson (19.06) and Lasco (18.89) swam a time of 1:16.46, while Arizona’s Marin Ercegovic, Beck Parnham, Tommy Palmer and Billy Oates took second in 1:17.18. Texas took third in 1:17.32 with Charlie Crosby, Krueger, Peter Larson and Peter Paulus.