(Photo: Casey McNulty/Sun Devil Athletics)
The Arizona State Sun Devils completed their victory path Saturday night after sweeping the Big 12 Championships on both the women’s and men’s teams.
ASU finalized the meet with 29 first-place finishes, six school records and four Big 12 meet records. The Sun Devils were able to come back from their setbacks during Friday night’s session and produce unforgettable performances on Saturday.
The last session of the meet began with the 200-yard backstroke, and the Devils were at full strength to secure the title. Graduate Caroline Bentz held almost a full body length lead the entire race and touched at 1 minute and 51.89 seconds, setting a new Arizona State school record. Cincinnati’s graduate Hunter Gubeno won the men’s side, while Sun Devil senior Jono Adam was knocked down to sixth place.
In the women’s 100-yard freestyle, freshman Julia Ullmann took third place behind sophomore Julia Wozniak and junior Riley Botton from Arizona. The men’s 100-yard freestyle final heat had five swimmers representing the Sun Devils. Junior Jonny Kulow came charging into the wall to touch in a new meet record time of 41.07. Senior Patrick Sammon was right behind Kulow, placing second with his time of 41.39.
The third and longest event of the night was the 1650-yard freestyle. Junior Deniz Ertan dominated the competition early in the race to earn the Sun Devils another Big 12 Champion. Ertan beat her personal best time by almost a full second. Senior Daniel Matheson claimed his victory in the extensive event, and his time of 14:46.53 keeps him ranked in the top 10 nationally.
The 200-yard breaststroke was the final individual swimming event of the evening. Brigham Young junior Mackenzie Miller won the event, dropping almost three seconds to achieve a new best time of 2:06.53. Senior Emma Gehlert claimed seventh place overall, with junior Zoe Summar not far behind in eighth place.
Junior Andy Dobrzanski took home a massive win in the 200-yard breaststroke, dropping over a second from his prelims swim. Fellow Sun Devil freshman Oscar Bilbao snagged second place and dropped two seconds off his seeded time as well.
Over in the diving well, ASU sophomore Kayden Hayes placed first overall in the platform diving final to earn another first-place finish for the Sun Devils.
The Devils went out with a bang in the 400-yard freestyle relay to prove their dominance over the Big 12. Bentz went out strong in the first 100 yards of the relay, with fifth-year Erin Milligan picking up Bentz’s lead to start the second leg. Ullmann kept the energy going, gaining almost a body length, and led ahead of Arizona and Cincinnati. Senior Charli Brown secured the win for ASU on the anchor leg after previously swimming the 200-yard backstroke.
The Sun Devil men controlled their heat, blowing past all other competition. Sophomore Ilya Kharun dove off the blocks, ready to race, and handed the second leg to Sammon. Sammon had the fastest split of anyone on the relay, touching in 40.34 seconds before junior Tommy Palmer dove into the water. Kulow finished the job for the squad, touching at a new best time of 2:44.03.
The Sun Devils went out with a bang for the last session of the meet to prove their worth in the new conference. The ASU men’s and women’s teams earned the conference title by over 400 points, establishing themselves as the new powerhouses in the Big 12.
