Texas A&M junior Shaine Casas won his second NCAA title of the weekend in Greensboro with a 44.20 in the 100 backstroke, adding to his 200 IM title last night that brought home the first for the Texas A&M men. It did not come easy for Casas, who won narrowly over NC State sophomore Kacper Stokowski (44.37) and Cal freshman Destin Lasco (44.49).
Casas was a 43.8 earlier this season at a home invite in November, that saw him become the fourth fastest performer in the event’s history. He did not quite replicate that here in Greensboro but he finally lived up to the hype he has shown since the fall of 2019 with his second NCAA title, and he will follow that up with a potential third in the 200 back tomorrow.
“It is double the happiness and success for the program. I wish I was a bit faster but I cannot complain with the win,” Shaine Casas said after the race.
NC State’s Stokowski is now 10th all-time with his swim tonight while Lasco is tied for 11th.
In the team race, Cal’s Lasco and Bryce Mefford (45.52) scored third and eighth fro the Golden Bears to put them 23 points in second place behind Texas. Texas had one finalist in Alvin Jiang in fourth at 44.60. Jiang and Louisville’s Nick Albiero each raced in the 100 fly final earlier, as Albiero finished in fifth at 44.86 in the 100 back.
Indiana’s Brendan Burns (45.03) an Georgia’s Javier Acevedo (45.06) also swam in the championship final.
This is Texas A&M’s second NCAA title in men’s swimming, and the first for the SEC in the 100 back since Auburn’s Kohlton Norys won in 2009.
All-Time Rankings:
- 43.49, Ryan Murphy, California, 2016
- 43.62, Coleman Stewart, NC State, 2020
- 43.66, Dean Farris, Harvard, 2019
- 43.87, Shaine Casas, Texas A&M, 2020
- 44.07, Nick Thoman, Swim MAC, 2013
- 44.10, Zane Waddell, Alabama, 2020
- 44.14, Zachary Poti, Arizona State, 2020
- 44.33, Mark Nikolaev, Grand Canyon, 2019
- 44.35, John Shebat, Texas, 2019
- 44.37, Kacper Stokowski, NC State, 2021
- 44.49, Destin Lasco, California, 2021
- 44.49, Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford, 2013
Event 12 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA: N 43.49 3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
Meet: M 43.49 3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
American: A 43.49 3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
U. S. Open: O 43.49 3/25/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
Pool: P 44.04 2/28/2020 Coleman Stewart, NC State
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Casas, Shaine JR TAMU 44.41 44.20 20
r:+0.61 21.19 44.20 (23.01)
2 Stokowski, Kacper SO NC State 44.70 44.37 17
r:+0.67 21.49 44.37 (22.88)
3 Lasco, Destin FR California 44.55 44.49 16
r:+0.63 21.65 44.49 (22.84)
4 Jiang, Alvin SR Texas 44.97 44.60 15
r:+0.65 21.83 44.60 (22.77)
5 Albiero, Nicolas SR Louisville 44.85 44.86 14
r:+0.67 21.67 44.86 (23.19)
6 Burns, Brendan SO Indiana 44.87 45.03 13
r:+0.67 21.79 45.03 (23.24)
7 Acevedo, Javi SR Georgia 44.95 45.06 12
r:+0.69 22.00 45.06 (23.06)
8 Mefford, Bryce SR California 45.04 45.52 11
21.94 45.52 (23.58)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Chaney, Adam FR Florida 45.24 44.74 9
r:+0.65 21.42 44.74 (23.32)
10 Staka, Chris SR Texas 45.35 45.23 7
r:+0.69 21.57 45.23 (23.66)
11 Carr, Daniel SR California 45.53 45.32 6
22.04 45.32 (23.28)
12 Menke, Matthew SO Alabama 45.39 45.39 5
r:+0.67 22.10 45.39 (23.29)
13 Armstrong, Hunter SO Ohio St 45.15 45.48 4
r:+0.67 21.52 45.48 (23.96)
14 Fantoni, Gabriel SR Indiana 45.51 45.50 3
r:+0.72 21.86 45.50 (23.64)
15 Katz, Austin SR Texas 45.27 45.64 2
r:+0.75 21.92 45.64 (23.72)
16 Steele, Jacob SR Indiana 45.48 45.80 1
r:+0.64 22.02 45.80 (23.78)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 1. Texas 363 2. California 340 3. Florida 239 4. Georgia 174 5. Indiana 126 6. Louisville 110 7. Texas A&M 109 8. NC State 106 9. Virginia 80 10. Michigan 74 11. Missouri 67 12. Arizona 66 13. Ohio St 59 14. Stanford 58 15. Virginia Tech 52 16. Alabama 43 17. Lsu 36 18. Purdue 30 19. Georgia Tech 29 20. Pittsburgh 23 21. Minnesota 20 22. University of Miami 19 23. Florida St 18.5 24. Tennessee 16 25. Notre Dame 15 25. Southern California 15 27. Penn St 13 28. Kentucky 9 29. Wisconsin 8 30. UNC 5 31. Utah 2.5
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