(Photo via Hailey Sasnett/WCSN)
The No. 5-ranked ASU men’s swim and dive team (4-1, 1-0) opened Pac-12 conference competition Friday, defeating the No. 17th-ranked USC Trojans 185-115 in Los Angeles. With the victory, the Sun Devils have now won four meets in a row.
ASU continued its dominance in the medley relays, securing wins in both the 4X50 medley relay and the 4X100 medley relay.
Redshirt juniors Jack Dolan and John Heaphy, fifth-year Max McCusker and graduate student Grant House notched the victory in the 4X50 medley relay in one minute, 26.38 seconds.
Dolan, sophomore Patrick Sammon and McCusker developed a lead in the 4X100 medley relay, allowing sophomore anchor Léon Marchand to put the race away in 2:55.22. The Devils won the final race of the meet by over two seconds.
Marchand continued his dominant campaign, taking home three more individual events, including the 100-yard breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. Marchand is undefeated in his first 10 individual events this season.
House added a top finish in the 100 freestyle, winning the race in 43.44 seconds. House swam well overall, notching two second-place finishes in the 200 IM and the 50 freestyle. House added 17 points to the Devils’ score, second only to Marchand’s 27.
The Sun Devils swept the podium in the 1000 freestyle, as sophomore Daniel Matheson took first with a 9:16.29 finish. Sophomore Dylan Gravely finished second, and freshman Parker Reynolds placed third.
Redshirt junior Alex Colson won the 200 butterfly, taking the event in 1:46.39. Colson, Arizona State’s record holder in the 200 butterfly, has won the event in back-to-back meets, as he won the race against Wisconsin in ASU’s home opener.
McCusker added an individual victory in the 100 butterfly, securing the race in 47.18 seconds. McCusker has now won three individual events as a Sun Devil after winning his first two individual races in the meet against Wisconsin.
Dolan took home his first individual win of the season, winning the 100 backstroke with a time of 47.65 seconds. Dolan had a successful meet, placing first in three of his four events.
In addition to his first-place finish in the 4X100 medley relay, Sammon placed first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:36.54. The race went down to the wire as redshirt junior Julian Hill placed second, finishing just three-tenths of a second behind Sammon.
The diving team had less success this meet, but junior Zachory Lundgren netted fourth-place finishes on both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
Following the team’s dominant win, the Sun Devils continue their season at the Wolfpack Invite in Greensboro, North Carolina. The meet begins on Nov. 17.
