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NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas Finishes Meet on High Note With 400 Free Relay Triumph
The California Golden Bears had already been declared winners of the NCAA team title, but that was not going to stop Texas from going out with a bang. Arizona State had the lead through 300 yards, but Texas anchor Danny Krueger was brilliant on the final leg to pull his team to another triumph. The team of Drew Kibler (41.58), Cameron Auchinachie (41.39), Caspar Corbeau (42.06) and Krueger (41.00) combined for a time of 2:46.03, defeating the Sun Devils by 0.37.
The comeback brought back memories of the 2019 NCAA Championships, when Texas captured the title in the 400 free relay after Cal had clinched the meet. Kibler and Krueger were both freshmen on that Texas team, and Krueger actually led off that winning relay quartet.
“I think it was really an opportunity to share an experience with a team and enjoy an awesome race with the guys,. It was a fantastic team effort, and the coaching staff was super supportive through the whole thing,” Krueger said.
“I know DK (Krueger) was familiar with this from 2019,” Kibler said. “We were in a familiar situation. We knew the outcome of the meet. It’s in our nature to race, to give it everything we have. It can be easy to throw in the towel, but Texas Fight all the way. I was reminiscing on my seniors, how they fought all the way. It meant a lot.”
Arizona State’s Grant House, Leon Marchand, Carter Swift and Cody Bybee finished second in 2:46.40, marking the highest relay finish at an NCAA Championships since Bob Bowman took over as head coach in 2015. Cal ended up fourth, two hundredths behind, in 2:46.42. Bjorn Seeliger, Jack Alexy, Hugo Gonzalez and Destin Lasco swam for the Bears.
Virginia finished fourth in 2:46.80 as Matt King propelled the Cavaliers with a 41.28 split. That was enough to propel Virginia into the top-10 by 11.5 points over in-state rival Virginia Tech. NC State finished fifth in 2:47.29, just ahead of Florida (2:47.39), which had Kieran Smith splitting 41.35 on the anchor leg.
The fastest split of the competition belonged to Harvard’s Dean Farris, who recorded a 40.51 split on the Crimson’s ninth-place relay.
But this brief moment belonged to Texas, a chance for the Longhorns to take the spotlight despite coming up a little bit short in the always-competitive team showdown against the Golden Bears.
“It being only my second NCAAs, we always knew that the battle between us and Cal was going to be a tough one. It’s never going to be easy. I remember talking with Cam and Drew before the race by saying a statement that I heard from (head coach) Eddie (Reese) and (assistant coach) Wyatt (Collins) before. ‘How do you want to be remembered?’” Corbeau said. “I think that was something that helped us leave it in the pool tonight and throw everything we possibly can at this last relay.”
Event 21 Men 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
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NCAA: N 2:44.31 3/24/2018 NC State
R Held, J Ress, J Molacek, C Stewart
Meet: M 2:44.31 3/24/2018 NC State
R Held, J Ress, J Molacek, C Stewart
American: A 2:44.31 3/24/2018 NC State
R Held, J Ress, J Molacek, C Stewart
U. S. Open: O 2:44.31 3/24/2018 NC State
R Held, J Ress, J Molacek, C Stewart
Pool: P 2:46.18 2/19/2022 NC State
L Miller, B Piszczorowicz, N Henderson, H Tapp
School Finals Points
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1 Texas 2:46.03P 40
1) Kibler, Drew SR 2) r:0.24 Auchinachie, Caeron 5Y
3) r:0.30 Corbeau, Caspar JR 4) r:0.09 Krueger, Danny SR
r:+0.63 19.83 41.58 (41.58)
1:00.93 (19.35) 1:22.97 (41.39)
1:42.70 (19.73) 2:05.03 (42.06)
2:24.16 (19.13) 2:46.03 (41.00)
2 ASU 2:46.40 34
1) House, Grant SR 2) r:0.41 Marchand, Leon FR
3) r:0.32 Swift, Carter 5Y 4) r:0.06 Bybee, Cody SR
r:+0.60 19.97 41.48 (41.48)
1:01.27 (19.79) 1:22.79 (41.31)
1:42.72 (19.93) 2:04.54 (41.75)
2:23.75 (19.21) 2:46.40 (41.86)
3 California 2:46.42 32
1) Seeliger, Bjorn SO 2) r:0.29 Alexy, Jack FR
3) r:0.20 Gonzalez, Hugo SR 4) r:0.19 Lasco, Destin SO
r:+0.65 18.95 40.92 (40.92)
1:00.43 (19.51) 1:22.76 (41.84)
1:42.83 (20.07) 2:04.75 (41.99)
2:24.69 (19.94) 2:46.42 (41.67)
4 Virginia 2:46.80 30
1) Brownstead, Matt SO 2) r:0.04 King, Matt SO
3) r:0.26 Aikins, Jack FR 4) r:0.23 Boyle, Connor FR
r:+0.62 20.04 42.10 (42.10)
1:01.62 (19.52) 1:23.38 (41.28)
1:42.84 (19.46) 2:05.20 (41.82)
2:24.45 (19.25) 2:46.80 (41.60)
5 NCSU 2:47.29 28
1) Miller, Luke SO 2) r:0.54 Korstanje, Nyls JR
3) r:0.09 Piszczorowicz, tosz JR 4) r:0.28 Henderson, Noah JR
r:+0.64 20.21 41.65 (41.65)
1:01.50 (19.85) 1:23.72 (42.07)
1:43.04 (19.32) 2:05.24 (41.52)
2:24.74 (19.50) 2:47.29 (42.05)
6 Florida 2:47.39 26
1) Chaney, Adam SO 2) r:0.13 Friese, Eric JR
3) r:0.12 McDuff, Macguire FR 4) r:0.10 Smith, Kieran SR
r:+0.62 19.96 41.93 (41.93)
1:01.77 (19.84) 1:24.25 (42.32)
1:43.93 (19.68) 2:06.04 (41.79)
2:25.59 (19.55) 2:47.39 (41.35)
7 Indiana 2:48.12 24
1) Miroslaw, Rafael FR 2) r:0.24 Blaskovic, Bruno 5Y
3) r:0.23 Frankel, Tomer SO 4) r:0.13 Mathias, Van SR
r:+0.63 20.03 41.91 (41.91)
1:01.53 (19.62) 1:23.83 (41.92)
1:43.98 (20.15) 2:06.18 (42.35)
2:25.91 (19.73) 2:48.12 (41.94)
8 Stanford 2:48.21 22
1) Minakov, Andrei SO 2) r:0.34 MacAlister, Leon JR
3) r:0.36 Polonsky, Ron FR 4) r:0.24 Maurer, Luke SO
r:+0.63 19.58 41.61 (41.61)
1:01.90 (20.29) 1:23.72 (42.11)
1:43.85 (20.13) 2:06.11 (42.39)
2:26.16 (20.05) 2:48.21 (42.10)
Full Team Scores:
1. California 487.5 2. Texas 436.5 3. Florida 374 4. NC State 291 5. Indiana 265 6. Arizona St 236 7. Stanford 231 8. Georgia 194 9. Ohio St 165 10. Virginia 154.5 11. Virginia Tech 143 12. Louisville 132 13. Harvard 103 14. Alabama 91 15. Lsu 85 15. Purdue 85 17. Arizona 79 18. Tennessee 72.5 19. Minnesota 44 19. Texas A&M 44 21. Georgia Tech 38 22. Michigan 36 23. Miami (Florida) 31 24. Columbia 30 25. Missouri 27 26. Southern California 25 27. UNC 24 28. Penn 22.5 29. Auburn 22 30. Princeton 14 31. Kentucky 11 32. Northwestern 6.5 33. Notre Dame 5 34. Towson 4 34. Wisconsin 4 34. Smu 4 37. Utah 2
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