Wolfpack Elite Invitational, Night 1: Arizona State Starts with 1:13.93 in 200 Free Relay
Arizona State started the Wolfpack Elite GAC Invitational Thursday night with school records in both 200 freestyle relays, with a men’s time that creeps up on the national record.
NC State won the women’s 200 free relay with Arizona State second, then the men’s team won its race at Greensboro Aquatic Center, setting the tone for a formidable meet ahead. The men’s team is within a second of the NCAA Record in the event.
Women’s 200 freestyle relay
NC State picked up the first gold medal of the meet by going 1:27.34 in the 200 free relay. That and Arizona State’s runner-up time of 1:27.71 were NCAA A cuts.
NC State was led by Lily Cristianson, Tyler Driscoll, Leah Shackley and Erika Pelaez. Pelaez brought the quartet home in 21.49. Arizona State downed a school record that had stood since 2018 by 1.63 seconds. Caroline Bentz led off with the fastest leadoff leg of 22.08, followed by sub-22 splits from Miriam Sheehan, Erin Milligan and Julia Ullman.
Arizona finished third with an NCAA B cut of 1:28.65. The A teams from Duke, Virginia Tech and Northwestern all cracked 1:30.
Men’s 200 freestyle relay
Arizona State is in fine form, going 1:13:93 to win the 200 free relay. Ilya Kharun led off in 18.51, followed by Tommy Palmer (18.42), Patrick Sammon (18.81) and Jonny Kulow (18.19) on the anchor. Kharun’s time breaks a tie for the school record that he had Jack Dolan at 18.59.
The time is quicker than the 1:13.95 that the Sun Devils used to finish third at NCAAs last year. That race was won by Florida in 1:13.49, and Gators’ 2023 squad set the NCAA record at 1:13.35. In a testament of sprint depth, Arizona State’s B team was also under the A cut.
NC State and Virginia Tech each notched A cuts. The Wolfpack went 1:16.02 with Drew Salls, Jerry Fox, Kaii Winkler and Sam Hoover, Fox fastest in 18.72. Virginia Tech went 1:16.43 for the A cut and third place. Youssef Ramada, Carles Coll Marti, William Hayon and Brendan Whitfield comprised that squad.
Women’s 500 freestyle
Arizona State’s Alexa Reyna led the way with a time of 4:41.32. She’s been 4:40.19 this season.
Chase Travis of NC State finished second in 4:43.16, besting ASU’s Charli Brown by a half second. Malia Rausch of Arizona was also under 4:44.
The top seed, ASU’s Deniz Ertan, was more than 2.5 seconds slower at night to finish seventh.
Men’s 500 freestyle
Chase Mueller didn’t have a postseason as a freshman at NC State. His first big meet as a sophomore sends him flying past many of his peers among the Wolfpack’s distance elite.
Mueller won the race in 4:14.16, just ahead of a college best time for Lance Norris in 4:14.22. Mueller moves into seventh place in program history, while Norris improves a spot up to eighth.
The Wolfpack took five of the top six spots and six of the top eight. Kyle Ponsler finished third in 4:16.47, ahead of Arizona State’s Daniel Matheson. Will Gallant and Owen Lloyd of NC State were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Women’s 200 individual medley
Kennedy Noble got to the wall first in 1:56.37, defending her top seed from prelims and one of eight times under two minutes. Noble pulled away from teammate Lisa Nystrand, who was second in 1:57.22. Sonia Vaishnani of Arizona State was third in 1:58.90. Northwestern’s Sophie Martin was fourth in 1:58.93; her prelims time of 1:58.84 slots her fifth in program history.
Men’s 200 individual medley
Daniel Diehl dropped two best times on the day, 1:41.68 in prelims and the winning time of 1:41.39. He was 1:41.84 at NCAAs last year.
Second was Carles Coll Marti of Virginia Tech, fresh off a weekend of racing in Spain, in 1:42.98. Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun dropped his best time of the season for third in 1:43.77.
Women’s 50 freestyle
It was a thriller of a race, with a Duke spoiler among the NC State stars.
Tatum Wall got her hand to the … well, wall … first in 21.79. That’s a best time for the junior, who broke 22 seconds for the first time in prelims. She is .01 off the school record owned by Alyssa Marsh.
Wall ended up .01 ahead of Caroline Bentz, the 21.80 good for her to set the Sun Devils’ program record. NC State took the next three spots, led by Lily Christianson in 21.89. Tyler Driscoll was fourth in 22.08, .05 up on Erika Pelaez. The A cut if 18.72.
Men’s 50 freestyle
Jonny Kulow picked up the win with a season-best time of 18.78. ASU had two others in the top four, with Tommy Palmer third in 19.23 and Patrick Sammon fourth in 19.40.
Women’s 400 medley relay
NC State laid down an impressive A cut in what might be its strongest relay this season, winning in 3:29.08 to undercut the standard by 1.81 seconds. Kennedy Noble led off in 51.62, followed by Aubree Brouwer, Leah Shackley and Erika Pelaez. Pelaez split 47.04, Shackley 50.71.
Duke secured an A cut .08 under the standard in 3:30.81. Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley (58.57), Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall (47.40) made up the team.
Arizona State was third in 3:32.37, with Virginia Tech fourth.
Men’s 400 medley relay
A rebuilt Arizona State relay may not be at the subterranean depths of last year’s 2:57, but it’s still pretty strong, as an A cut 3:02.18 showed. The quartet this time was Lucien Vergnes, Andy Dobrzanski, Ilya Kharun and Jonny Kulow. Kharun (43.75) and Kulow (40.91) are retained from last year’s NCAA gold medalists.
NC State added an A Cut in 3:30.74 with the squad of Hudson Williams, Sam Hoover, Luke Miller and Jerry Fox. Virginia Tech’s quartet just missed the A cut by .03, taking third place in 3:04.99.
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