Sun Devils close out day three with first relay national title and NCAA record

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

Day three of the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships saw exciting races in the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke and 400-yard medley relay.

Four Sun Devils represented ASU in the 400-yard individual medley to start the night. Junior Léon Marchand came into the event as the number one seed, and after his performance in the 500-yard freestyle on Friday, many expected the Frenchman to have something in store for his signature event. Despite getting the win, the junior touched the wall at 3 minutes and 32.12 seconds, well off his time from last year.

However, the highlight of the race was senior David Schlicht. Schlicht had himself a monster swim to take second place overall and go one-two for the Devils in the event. Junior Daniel Matheson and sophomore Cale Martter placed eleventh and thirteenth in the event, respectively.

Freshman Ilya Khraun was the sole Sun Devil in the 100-yard butterfly. Khraun had an excellent swim in the championship final, and despite only being a freshman, he seemed to have veteran poise behind the blocks. His 44.26 was a personal best time and good for fifth place overall.

Junior Patrick Sammon and fifth-year Julian Hill found themselves in the consolation final of the 200-yard freestyle. Both Devils swam near the outside lanes of the pool, but they managed to set the pace for the field early on. At one point in the race, Sammon and Hill nearly led the pack, but they struggled to close the race. The other swimmers in the field chased them down at the end of the race, leaving Hill to finish twelfth and Sammon to finish fourteenth.

No Sun Devil qualified for Friday’s final in the 100-yard breaststroke, the only event in which ASU was not represented. While the 100-yard breaststroke is one of the Devils’ weakest events, they made up for their lack of points in the remaining events of the session.

The sophomore duo of Owen McDonald and Hubert Kós stood at second and third on the podium on Thursday for the 200-yard individual medley but couldn’t replicate that same result during the 100-yard backstroke on Friday. Kós entered the race as one of the favorites to win but finished fourth despite a charge on the final lap. McDonald continued his stellar meet, especially with his underdog performance in the individual medley. He carried that momentum into Friday’s race, placing sixth overall after coming into the meet as the 31st seed.

The Devils came into the 400-yard medley relay as the only team under the three-minute mark. Like the other relays, Kós, Marchand, Kharun and Jonny Kulow were, once again, surrounded by their challengers, Florida and California. Kós kept the Devils in the race, but it was Marchand on the breaststroke leg that gave the Devils the lead. Kharun maintained the pace for the Devils when he touched first after the fly leg.

It all came down to Kulow as the anchor to bring home the win for the Devils. With his 40.54 split, the sophomore was able to hold off the Gators and the Golden Bears for ASU’s very first national title in a relay event. The quartet also established an NCAA record with their time of 2:57.32, making it the first time any team has broken the 2-minute and 58-second barrier.

The Devils extended their lead after day three and are now 56.5 points ahead of second-place California. With only one day of the meet remaining and six swimming events up for grabs, the win is not yet solidified for the Devils, but they are in a good position heading into the final day of racing.