(Photo: Casey McNulty/Sun Devil Athletics)
Arizona State brought its full force toward day one of the GAC invitational on Thursday. From record-breaking swims to first-place finishes, the Sun Devils presented tough competition to the six other competing teams and are looking to uphold the energy throughout the rest of the meet.
Thursday night’s finals session opened up with the 200-yard freestyle relay, and Arizona State did not disappoint. The Sun Devil women scored second place right behind the North Carolina State Wolfpack, slicing 1.65 seconds off their time and achieving a new ASU school record. On the men’s side, the squad of sophomore Ilya Kharun, junior Tommy Palmer, senior Patrick Sammon and junior Jonny Kulow secured first place. They impressively claimed a pool, meet and new ASU school record. Kharun also set a new school record in the 50-yard freestyle during the first leg with his time of 18.51 seconds.
Creating upward momentum for the distance events, sophomore Alexa Reyna claimed first overall in the 500-yard freestyle, touching in 4:41.32. Meanwhile, the Sun Devil men fell short to the Wolfpack in the event. However, senior Daniel Matheson placed fourth with a time of 4:16.47, which was over four seconds faster than his preliminary results.
Entering the 200-yard individual medley, senior Emma Gehlert claimed third in her heat, swimming her fastest time this season of 1:59.98. Sophomore Sonia Vaishnani was also right in front and went a personal best time of 1:58.90.
Finals required speed, and graduate Caroline Bentz delivered. She scored second overall in the 50-yard freestyle, going a 21.80, breaking her own school record, and achieving a personal best of the season. Junior Jonny Kulow won first overall in the 50-yard freestyle in 18.84, bringing fire to the pool.
To close up the Thursday night session, the Sun Devil men took home first place in the 400-yard medley relay, while the women’s team managed to sneak in a time drop of about a second to take third place and touch behind Duke University.
Overall, the meet’s first day was full of record-breaking and confident energy in the water from the Devils. With plenty more events to go, Arizona State is looking forward to keeping its success throughout the next two days.
