ASU Swim and Dive: Sun Devils split with Wisconsin in home opener

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

The No. 5-ranked ASU men’s swim and dive team (3-1) defeated the No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon 183-112, marking its third victory in a row.

In the first event, the 4×100 medley relay, redshirt junior Jack Dolan, sophomore Léon Marchand, graduate student Grant House and sophomore Patrick Sammon joined forces for the victory, recording a time of 3 minutes, 8.61 seconds.

Junior Jack Wadsworth, redshirt junior John Heaphy, fifth-year Max McCusker and freshman Jonny Kulow took home second with a time of 3:11.81.

Sophomore Dylan Gravely and sophomore Daniel Matheson placed first and second in the 1,000 freestyle.

After competing in the 4×100 medley relay, House secured his second and third victory of the meet in the 100 and 200 freestyle. The Devils placed swept the podium in the 100 freestyle.

In the men’s fourth race, ASU continued its dominance. Freshman Owen McDonald won the 100 backstroke with a time of 47.61. McDonald’s win played a key role in the Sun Devils’ win.

“Owen McDonald in the 100 back (stroke), that was probably the swim of the meet,” head coach Bob Bowman said. “We needed that early and to come win an event that’s really not his event was a big deal.”

Wadsworth added two points to ASU’s score with a third-place finish in the same race.

Marchand added three individual wins, including the 100 breaststroke, the 200 backstroke and the 400 individual medley.

Despite Marchand’s performance, Bowman didn’t see anything special from the standout sophomore.

“I think overall he was average,” Bowman said. “He’s working super hard right now, and he’s trying, so it’s not like a fault on him too much. I wanted him to learn to step it up more in those situations and find something extra.”

The Sun Devils continued their dominance in the 200 butterfly, where ASU swimmers finished first and third, securing another 12 points.

McCusker and Dolan ended filled the top-two spots in the 50 freestyle. McCusker won the event by two-hundredths of a second.

Junior diver Zachory Lundgren led the way for ASU on the other side of the pool, netting two second-place finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.

Junior Thomas Wesche placed third in the 3-meter, scoring 303.30

The Sun Devils also swept the field in the 100 butterfly. McCusker took the victory, redshirt junior Alexander Colson placed second, and redshirt senior Cody Bybee placed third.

House, Dolan, McCusker and Bybee completed a last-second comeback in the last race of the afternoon, taking the 4×50 freestyle by one-tenth of a second.

The ASU women’s swim and dive team (0-4) fell to the No. 16-ranked Wisconsin Badgers 187-111.

Sophomore Charli Brown, sophomore Izabella Adame, redshirt junior Jade Foelske and redshirt junior Lindsay Looney opened the competition by placing second in the 4×100 medley. The relay finished with a time of 3:43.03.

Brown added three more podium finishes in the meet, taking second in the 100 and 200 backstroke and winning the final event, the 400 IM.

Foelske also had a productive day. She took home the 200 butterfly crown and narrowly placed second in the 100 butterfly.

Despite the loss, Foelske and Brown stood out to Bowman.

“Both of them were very solid. Charli’s IM, I was very happy with that,” Bowman said. “Jade had some really good butterfly swimming, and she just continues to move forward, which is what we want. I’m very happy with both of them.”

Looney finished second in the 200 butterfly, placing right behind Foelske. Additionally, Looney was the top Sun Devil 200 freestyle finisher, taking third in the race.

Sophomore Emma Gehlert had a successful meet, winning the 200 breaststroke and placing second in the 100 breaststroke.

Bowman was pleased to see Gehlert improving on her past performances.

“Her 200 was really good,” Bowman said. “That’s one of the best ones she’s put together in a dual meet by far, so I’m super happy with that.”

Overall, Bowman had positive things to say about ASU’s relays.

“I loved the relays, the first one and the last one,” Bowman said. “Particularly the last one where we dug in and got that win, it was a good way to do it.”

On the diving side, freshman diver Amayah Wiley added two second-place finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.

Following Saturday’s split result, both teams will travel to Los Angeles to face the USC Trojans in their first Pac-12 competition this season. The meet starts at 1 p.m. on Nov. 4.