ASU Swim And Dive Concludes Regular Season At Home With Victory Over Arizona

(Photo: Casey McNulty/Sun Devil Athletics)

TEMPE – Arizona State swim and dive concluded its regular season with a decisive victory over the University of Arizona and a slew of commanding performances during the last home meet. The Sun Devil men defeated the Wildcats by a score of 227-73, while the women secured a 190-110 victory. It was an electric environment at Mona Plummer. As the crowd roared, seniors were celebrated and alumni rallied the team, setting an energizing scene for ASU to finish strong in Tempe for the last time this season.

Head coach Herbie Behm believes that such empowering scenes and supercharged atmospheres provide his team with important preparation heading into championship season.

“I think that’s really the only way to do it, is the bigger moments. Making these as big as we can almost makes the bigger [competitions] feel normal, so that’s the goal.”

The Devils certainly seized the big moments during the meet. The women established strength early as ASU’s powerhouse relay team of sophomore Miriam Sheehan, senior Iza Adame, freshman Julia Ullmann and graduate student Caroline Bentz claimed first place in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute and 36.36 seconds, which was less than a second shy the school record.

The women’s prowess carried into the distance events, as sophomore Alexa Reyna and juniors Deniz Ertan and Katherine Randall swept the top three spots for ASU in the 1000-yard freestyle. The Sun Devil women continued their distance dominance in the 500-yard freestyle as Reyna, Ertan and sophomore Grace Lindberg swept the podium to secure the distance events for the Devils.

Adame continued to have a senior showcase. She claimed first place and broke one minute in the 100-yard breaststroke during her final home meet as a Sun Devil, touching with a time of 59.95. She also achieved a personal record with her second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Beyond individual events, Adame closed out the competition by contributing to the women’s third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

A sentimental tone guided Adame’s performances during her last home meet as she reflected on the swim program’s past and embraced the present.

“I was just channeling all the Sun Devil women that came before me. And honestly, it was the best atmosphere to race in today, so that just made it easy.”

The Sun Devil men also dove into the competition headfirst, as they claimed first place in the 200-yard medley with the quartet of freshman Lucien Vergnes, junior Andy Dobrzanski, sophomore Ilya Kharun and junior Jonny Kulow. As Kulow plowed through the water to anchor the race, he made waves and created nearly a three-second gap to drive it home for the Devils. Similarly to the women, the team’s final time of 1:21.88 was less than a second shy of their personal best.

In the individual events, seniors Patrick Sammon and Tiago Behar claimed the top two spots for the men in the 200-yard freestyle. It was the start of a spectacular senior day for Sammon, who also took second in the 100-yard freestyle and contributed to the men’s victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Kharun had several prevailing performances during the day. During the last two laps of the 200-yard butterfly, he accelerated past the competition in a dominant fashion, creating an unrecoverable gap of nearly five whole seconds to take first place. He also claimed victory in the 100-yard butterfly and contributed to the men’s win in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

The Sun Devil men maintained momentum going into the 50-yard freestyle, sweeping the podium yet again. Kulow, junior Tommy Palmer, and freshman Tolu Young claimed the top three spots, respectively, setting new personal records. It was Kulow’s first individual victory of the day before his first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.

ASU sealed Arizona’s fate with a dominant showing in the 200-yard freestyle relay. During the final event of the day, the group of Palmer, Kharun, Sammon and Kulow looked strong from the beginning. While ASU swept the podium for the event, Kulow’s anchor created a gap of nearly three seconds to secure the quartet’s first-place finish.

With the regular season completed, the Sun Devils are now looking ahead toward championship season. As preparation for the Big 12 Championship begins, remaining focused will be important for the Devils. Behm is laying a steady foundation for his team to maintain poise as the stakes escalate.

“I think the mindfulness of being the best you possibly can under any circumstances is what we have to continue because there’s a lot of superstition with the big meets,” Behm said. “Almost forgetting about that is going to be the most valuable preparation that we can have.”