(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
Arizona State swim and dive has had a strong campaign in its sophomore season in the Big 12; the Sun Devils carried that success into the first day of the Big 12 Swim and Dive Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina.
At the end of day one on Tuesday, ASU ended up first in the men’s scoring at 180, and the women’s team in second with a score of 168, just behind in-state rival Arizona’s 172 due to a lackluster diving performance and a loss in the 200-yard medley relay to kick off the day.
That relay would start with a bang as Arizona and ASU got the two strongest starts of the 10 teams, but Arizona sophomore Lila Lillie would gain a slight advantage at the exchange, which was the catalyst for Arizona to extend its lead over the next two legs.
This would be most evident in the butterfly portion, as Arizona freshman Patricija Kondraskaite would fly through the water and end her leg with a time of 23:40 seconds, earning Arizona a three-stroke lead going into the final leg. Despite a comeback and strong jump off from ASU in the final leg, the Sun Devils could only grab second place.
The men’s relay would look to be a similar story at the start, as ASU graduate Adam Chaney would start off even with most of the field before pulling away near the end, giving Arizona State a three-stroke lead when he passed it off to Junior Ilya Kharun. Kharun would blast through his butterfly leg, giving ASU a lead that it would only expand on. Senior Tommy Palmer would bring it home for the Sun Devils with an 18.62 leg and a meet record of 1:20.96.
The first 200 of the 800 women’s relay that followed was close, but Arizona would seem to pull away slightly each lap of the pool to put together a great leg and a repeat of the 200.
The Sun Devils had other plans, though. ASU senior Gerda Szilagyi would fight back fast during the first 100, and at the end of the leg, ASU would lead by a hundredth of a second. In the third leg, Junior Grace Lindberg would extend its lead to a body length.
ASU would hold on to that and bring in the anchor, Freshman Albane Cachot, who showed why she’s been such a threat, snuffing out any chance Arizona had. ASU ended up finishing six seconds ahead of their downstate rivals to claim first in the 800 relay.
The men would look to one-up the dominance they showed earlier in their 200 medley. While this would be a tough task, it was one they were up to. First, they had to focus on beating Arizona, which exploded off the gate and took the fight to ASU during the first two legs, with ASU senior Jonny Kulow losing the lead to Arizona at the end of the second.
The lead would be short-lived, however, as sophomore Quin Seider would gain back the lead with a blistering 47.18-second half before handing over the reins to graduate anchorman Remi Fabiani.
Fabiani would steam ahead and leave the field in his wake. His 1:30.88 leg would not only have the pack disappear behind him but also give ASU its second meet record of the night with a 6:08.31 to sweep the men’s relays for Arizona State.
Diving would be a bit more of a somber point for the Sun Devils as TCU and Utah dominated both Men’s and Women’s team diving.
It wasn’t a complete loss, as the men’s team had three strong dives to start off the event, but tapered off and dropped down into fourth by the final dive. The women’s side had the opposite issue as their beginning was weak and by the third round were down in 9th, only leading West Virginia. However, ASU would make its way into sixth before it was all over.
Day two preliminary rounds will start Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.
