2016 Men’s Pac-12 Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2016 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 2nd- Saturday, March 5th
• Prelims 11 AM, Finals 6 PM (Pacific Time)
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, WA
• Defending Champion: USC Trojans (Results)
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet
• Championship Central

It’s the final day of action at the men’s Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington. Headed into today’s finals, Stanford holds the lead with 552 points. USC sits in 2nd with 477, and Cal is a close 3rd with 430.  Tonight we’ll see the fastest heat of the 1650, where Utah senior Bence Kiraly holds the top seed with a 14:50.19.  The 200 back final will feature USC freshman Patrick Mulcare in lane four, after he took the top seed this morning with a 1:40.22.  The 50 free winner Thursday night, Stanford sophomore Sam Perry was the only man under 43.0 in the 100 free this morning, with a 42.92.  USC junior Stephen Stumph lead the 200 breast field this mroning with a 1:53.61.  Yet another sophomore, Arizona’s Justin Wright, was just ahead of Stanford’s Gary Umbach in prelims, 1:42.19 to 1:42.41.

Not only is a conference championship on the line, but for a number of swimmers, this will be their last chance at securing a NCAA qualifying time.  We’ll keep you posted on swimmers who post times that should get them NCAA invites as the evening goes on.

Men’s 1650 Free:

Stanford continues to build its lead, taking two of the top three spots in this event.  Sophomore Liam Egan won the final heat by almost five seconds, beating Arizona junior Ty Fowler 14:44.85 to 14:49.44.  That swim puts Egan 8th in the country this season and puts Fowler 11th.  Stanford senior Danny Thomson had the fastest time heading into the final heat with a 14:52.12 and finished 3rd overall.  Utah’s Bence Kiraly finished 4th in 14:53.28, followed by ASU senior Juan Tolosa, swam a 14:55.22, which should punch his ticket for the national championships.  USC took 6th and 8th, with swims from sophomore Pawel Furtek (14:56.00) and senior Ted Singley (14.57.80).  In between them in 7th place was Cal freshman Nick Norman (14:56.53).

Current score:
Stanford – 588
USC – 501
California – 458
Arizona – 397
ASU – 265
Utah – 228

Men’s 200 Back:

1. Patrick Mulcare, USC – 1:39.64
2. Patrick Conaton, Stanford – 1:41.04
3. Thane Maudslien, Arizona – 1:41.13

With California backstroke stars Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley battling each other to a 1-2 finish in the long course version of this event at the Orlando Pro Series meet, this event appeared to be wide open coming into today.  But USC freshman Patrick Mulcare swam the fastest time this morning and repeated that feat tonight, touching in first in 1:39.64, almost 1.5 seconds faster than anyone else.  That gives him the 5th-fastest time in the NCAA this year, and moves him ahead of Texas Longhorn Ryan Harty as the fastest freshman in the nation heading into NCAA’s.

Stanford sophomore Patrick Conaton beat out Arizona junior Thane Maudslien for 2nd place, 1:41.01 to 1:41.13.  It was a tight battle for the next two places as well, as ASU junior Barkley Perry touched out Stanford senior Ryan Arata 1:41.84 to 1:41.90, to finish 4th.  Arizona freshman Chatham Dobbs finished 5th in 1:43.52, followed by California sophomore Connor Green (1:43.68) and USC sophomore Jonathan Knox 1:44.08.

Men’s 100 Free:

1. Sam Perry, Stanford – 42.72
2. Renny Richmond, Arizona – 42.78
3. Ralf Tribuntsov, USC – 43.13

Stanford sophomore Sam Perry earned 8th place in this event last year.  This year, he held off Arizona junior Renny Richmond to complete a sweep of the sprint freestyle events at this meet.  Perry was ahead of Richmond at the 50, but Richmond closed on Perry over the second 50, with Perry hanging on to win 42.72 to 42.78.

3rd place went to USC sophomore Ralf Tribuntsov, who touched in in 43.13.  ASU earned 4th place for the second event in a row, courtesy of a 43.23 by junior Richard Bohus.  California sophomore Justin Lynch, who won the 100 fly yesterday, took 5th in 43.27.  Another ASU junior, Tadas Duskinas, was just behind Lynch at 43.35, for 6th place.  Stanford freshman Cole Cogswell took 7th in 43.54.  The winner of the 500 and 200 freestyles, USC junior Reed Malone, finished 8th in 43.71.

Men’s 200 Breast:

1. Steven Stumph, USC – 1:54.01
2. Matt Anderson, Stanford – 1:54.77
3. Christian Lorenz, ASU – 1:55.32

USC junior Steven Stumph earned his second consecutive victory in this event.  His time of 1:54.01 was .40 slower than his time from this morning, and 1.51 seconds off his time from last year, but it was still plenty fast enough to win this event by a comfortable margin.  Stanford freshman Matt Anderson took 2nd in 1:54.77.  ASU sophomore Christian Lorenz outsplit Cal junior Hunter Cobleigh just enough over the final lap to take 3rd, 1:55.32 to 1:55.34.

Arizona junior Gage Crosby held off California sophomore Matt Whittle for 5th place, 1:55.73 to 1:55.95.  Arizona Blair Bish, who split a noteworthy 23.38 in the medley relay on the opening night of competition, was out first tonight in 25.48, but faded quickly, ending up in 7th with a 1:56.62.  USC senior Morten Klarskov took 8th in 1:56.69.

The top three finishers in the B-final had notable times.  USC freshman Carsten Vissering touched in 1:54.09, which would have finished just behind Stumph in the A-final.  California freshman Carson Sand swam a 1:54.92, while teammate and sophomore Connor Hoppe, last night’s winner in the 100 breast, touched in 1:55.23.

Men’s 200 Fly:

1. Andrew Seliskar, Cal – 1:41.53
2. Justin Wright, Arizona – 1:41.76
3. Long Gutierrez, Cal – 1:43.02

California freshman Andrew Seliskar completed his sweep of his individual events by holding off Arizona sophomore Justin Wright down the stretch and take the win, 1:41.53 to 1:41.76.  Seliskar, who came into Cal recruited as one the most versatile high school swimmers ever, won both individual medley races, swam backstroke on Cal’s medley relay in the absence of Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley, and was part of the Golden Bears’ winning 800 free relay.

Seliskar’s teammate, junior Long Gutierrez finished 3rd in 1:43.02.  Arizona sophomore Rasmus Skjaerpe took 4th in 1:44.16.  The race for 5th place was tight, as Stanford junior Jimmy Yoder and ASU sophomore Patrick Park both almost tracked down Stanford senior Gary Umbach.  However, Umbach held off both men to finish in 1:44.37, while Yoder just touched out Park 1:44.44 to 1:44.45.  Stanford freshman Abrahm DeVine finished 8th in 1:45.29.

California freshman Michael Thomas, swimming in the unscored C-final, made the most of his opportunity, swimming a 1:43.49 that gives him a good chance at a NCAA invite in the event.

Men’s 400 Free Relay:

1. California, 2:51.47
2. Stanford, 2:52.04
3. ASU, 2:52.36

California wrapped up the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay, while Stanford took 2nd place, with their overall victory already secured before the race began.  Justin Lynch led off for the Golden Bears in 42.71, the fastest opening 100 in the field, and Kyle Coan, Andrew Seliskar, and Long Gutierrez followed him to give Cal the victory in 2:51.47.  Gutierrez had the fastest anchor leg (or any leg, actually) at 42.47, not too long after swimming a 200 fly.

(Notably, Tyler Messerschmidt, who’s been a staple of Cal’s relays for years, did not swim this relay after swimming a 50 free time trial after the individual events wrapped up.  At the moment, Messerschmidt does not appear to have any individual times fast enough to secure a NCAA invite).

Stanford’s quartet of Sam Perry, Cole Cogswell, Connor Black, and Spencer DeShon took 2nd place in 2:52.04.  While the Cardinal had an insurmountable lead going into this relay, and would have won even if they had DQ’d, the 2nd place finish rounded out their team championship nicely.

Richard Bohus, Tadas Duskinas, Thomaz Martins, and Barkley Perry combined to give the Arizona State Sun Devils a 3rd place finish in 2:52.36, just behind Stanford.

USC finished 4th in 2:52.49, followed by Arizona in 2:53.08, and Utah in 3:00.01.

Final Scores:

1. Stanford – 808
2. Southern California – 700
3. California – 628
4. Arizona – 569
5. Arizona State – 402
6. Utah – 295