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NCAA Men’s Championships: Destin Lasco Leads 1-3-5 Finish for Cal in 200 Backstroke Prelims
California entered the final day of the NCAA Men’s Championships with a 7.5-point lead in the team competition over Texas, and the Golden Bears got a huge boost in the 200 backstroke heats. Cal’s Destin Lasco, who finished second in the 100 back earlier in the meet, dominated the final heat of the event and put up a time of 1:37.80 for the quickest mark of the morning.
Lasco was out in 48.30 and back in 49.50, by far the strongest second 100 yards in the field, and he should have more in the tank in the final. He was the NCAA runnerup in this event last season, when his time of 1:35.99 made him the third-fastest performer of all-time, and it’s a possibility that Lasco could make a run at the American record held by former Golden Bear Ryan Murphy (1:35.73).
Lasco is one of three Golden Bears swimmers who qualified for the A-final as Daniel Carr took third in 1:38.28 and Bryce Mefford finished fifth in 1:38.94. Cal swimmers should occupy lanes two, three and four in the final, and Dave Durden’s team will also get points from Colby Mefford, Bryce’s younger brother, as Mefford qualified for the B-final in 13th place at 1:40.00.
Texas’ Carson Foster, who placed third in the 400 IM Friday night, will be in the mix for another title here after he finished just ahead of Carr in their heat at 1:38.00, good for the second-fastest qualifying time, and Missouri’s Jack Dahlgren swam a lifetime best by a significant margin to qualify fourth in 1:38.85.
Stanford’s Leon MacAlister was sixth in 1:38.95, while Florida’s Kieran Smith got into his third A-final of the meet with his seventh-place mark of 1:38.99. It has been a tough meet for Smith, the American-record holder in the 200 and 500 free, as he finished fourth in the 500 and fifth in the 200, but he has contributed to several strong Gators relay performances, including a win in the 200 free relay, and Florida looks poised for a third-place finish in the team competition.
Eighth went to Virginia’s Justin Grender in 1:39.49.
Event 16 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA: N 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
Meet: M 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
American: A 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
U. S. Open: O 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
Pool: P 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Lasco, Destin SO California 1:37.80
r:+0.65 23.29 48.30 (25.01)
1:13.28 (24.98) 1:37.80 (24.52)
2 Foster, Carson SO Texas 1:38.00
r:+0.60 23.06 47.57 (24.51)
1:12.68 (25.11) 1:38.00 (25.32)
3 Carr, Daniel 5Y California 1:38.28
r:+0.59 22.83 47.34 (24.51)
1:12.52 (25.18) 1:38.28 (25.76)
4 Dahlgren, Jack SR Missouri 1:38.85
r:+0.68 23.29 48.23 (24.94)
1:13.22 (24.99) 1:38.85 (25.63)
5 Mefford, Bryce 5Y California 1:38.94
r:+0.63 23.43 48.62 (25.19)
1:13.78 (25.16) 1:38.94 (25.16)
6 MacAlister, Leon JR Stanford 1:38.95
r:+0.60 23.33 48.60 (25.27)
1:13.71 (25.11) 1:38.95 (25.24)
7 Smith, Kieran SR Florida 1:38.99
r:+0.72 23.40 48.12 (24.72)
1:13.50 (25.38) 1:38.99 (25.49)
8 Grender, Justin SR Virginia 1:39.49
r:+0.66 23.70 48.81 (25.11)
1:14.05 (25.24) 1:39.49 (25.44)
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9 Tapp, Hunter JR NCSU 1:39.59
r:+0.74 23.37 48.26 (24.89)
1:13.84 (25.58) 1:39.59 (25.75)
10 Tornqvist, Samuel 5Y VT 1:39.93
r:+0.61 23.47 48.83 (25.36)
1:14.46 (25.63) 1:39.93 (25.47)
11 Steele, Jacob 5Y Indiana 1:39.98
r:+0.58 23.82 49.20 (25.38)
1:14.84 (25.64) 1:39.98 (25.14)
12 Stokowski, Kacper JR NCSU 1:39.99
r:+0.60 23.48 48.67 (25.19)
1:14.37 (25.70) 1:39.99 (25.62)
13 Mefford, Colby JR California 1:40.00
r:+0.69 23.91 49.53 (25.62)
1:14.65 (25.12) 1:40.00 (25.35)
14 Aikins, Jack FR Virginia 1:40.17
r:+0.64 23.05 47.52 (24.47)
1:13.03 (25.51) 1:40.17 (27.14)
15 Menke, Matthew JR Alabama 1:40.19
r:+0.61 23.67 49.53 (25.86)
1:14.50 (24.97) 1:40.19 (25.69)
16 Marcum, Jake JR Alabama 1:40.37
r:+0.65 24.20 49.63 (25.43)
1:14.91 (25.28) 1:40.37 (25.46)
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