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2016 Men’s Pac-12 Champs: Day One Finals Live Recap

2016 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

The first night of the men’s Pac-12 Championships are set to take place, with the USC Trojans trying to take home another conference title.

Despite just six men’s programs in the Pac-12, this will be a fiercely competitive meet. Tonight will feature the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay, with Cal (1:24.62 and 6:16.41, respectively) going in as top seeds.

Notably, some of Cal’s best swimmers won’t be competing at this meet. Ryan MurphyJosh Prenot, Jacob Pebley, and Jeremy DeZwirek will all be swimming at the Orlando Pro Swim Series this weekend. This is a move to help the three American and one Canadian (DeZwirek) athletes prepare for their respective Olympic Trials.

200 MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINAL

  1. Arizona, 1:23.74
  2. USC, 1:24.50
  3. Cal, 1:24.62

It wasn’t one of the big three. Nope. Neither USC, Cal, nor Stanford were even within a half second of the Wildcats, who blasted a 1:23.74 for the first Pac-12 title of the meet.

Chatham Dobbs got things started with a 21.02 on the back leg, with Andrew Sovero providing a 23.58 on the breaststroke. The wow factor for Arizona came in the fly leg, where Chad Idensohn split an unreal 19.95. For some perspective, the fastest 50 fly split ever seems to be a 19.66. Joe Schooling did that last year, and he tied with Chris Brady‘s and Matt Targett‘s splits from 2009. With no official top times list for relay splits, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where this puts Idensohn in history, but it’s not everyday that you see a sub-20 fly split.

Renny Richmond anchored in 19.19, a very strong split in and of itself. USC finished 2nd with Ralf Tribuntsov (21.11), Carsten Vissering (23.69), Alex Valente (20.39), and Kyle Grissom (19.31).

Cal had the 2nd fastest breaststroke split of the field with Connor Hoppe‘s 23.36, while Stanford, who finished 4th at 1:25.10, had the fastest anchor with Sam Perry (18.97). Cal opted to lead off with Andrew Seliskar (21.97), seeing as top backstrokers Murphy and Pebley are at the Orlando Pro Swim Series. Justin Lynch provided an impressive 20.16 fly split for them, while Tyler Messerschmidt anchored in 19.13.

Joining Perry for Stanford were Ryan Dudzinski leading off (21.38), Matt Anderson on breast (23.98), and Andrew Liang on fly (20.77). This is a young relay for the Cardinal– Dudzinski and Anderson are just freshmen, while Perry and Liang are sophomores.

ASU finished up 5th in 1:25.35, while Utah touched 6th in 1:27.92.

Interestingly enough, ‘Zona freshman Blair Bish had the fastest breaststroke split of the field with his 23.28 on the Wildcat B relay. That’s a good sign for the Wildcats moving forward.

TIME TRIALS

There were a bunch of time trials in between the two relays tonight, and the biggest swim came from Arizona sophomore Justin Wright. Swimming the 200 fly, Wright posted a school record time of 1:41.77. Not only is this an A cut, but it also ranks him 8th in the country so far this year. With most major conference meets already over (along with a lot of last chance meets), Wright will likely hold his place going into NCAAs. Stanford’s Jimmy Yoder had a strong 1:42.41 for 2nd in that time trial.

Another big race was the 200 breast time trial, where Wildcat Gage Crosby went 1:55.81 to just edge Cal’s Hunter Cobleigh (1:55.90).

800 FREESTYLE RELAY – TIMED FINAL

  1. Cal, 6:16.63
  2. USC, 6:16.77
  3. Stanford, 6:18.16

This one really came down to the wire, something that is less common in the longer 800 free relay.

Cal and USC were the two teams above the rest, but it was Cal’s consistency that got them the win in the end. They started off with Trent Williams (1:34.63) and Andrew Seliskar (1:35.01), whereas the Trojans went with Patrick Mulcare (1:34.49) and Michael Domagala (1:33.91).

The third leg was key, as Kyle Coan‘s 1:33.75 was huge compared to Morten Klarskov‘s 1:36.43. Cal anchored with Long Gutierrez (1:33.24), though he was very nearly caught by Reed Malone of USC.

Malone, who has served on US national teams for 800 free relay duties, split a wild 1:31.94, nearly enough to track down Gutierrez and the Bears. Quiet throughout most of the year, Malone’s swim today says something about his preparedness for this meet. He’s entered in the 100 free, 200 free, and 500 free, with an exhibition 200 fly also entered.

Stanford (6:18.16) and Arizona (6:19.31) were next up. The Cardinal got bookend 1:33’s from Gray Umbach and Liam Egan, while the Wildcats’ best split was a 1:33.81 from Thane Maudslien.

ASU touched 5th in school-record time (6:24.26), while Utah finished 6th (6:26.15).

TEAM SCORES

With diving already done, USC and Stanford led the field before tonight’s relays with 127 points each. Factoring in the 200 medley and 800 free relay points, USC has a slim lead over Stanford, while Arizona and Cal have a lot of work to do in the pool to catch the leaders.

  1. USC 195
  2. Stanford 189
  3. Utah 138
  4. ASU 137
  5. Arizona 101
  6. Cal 80

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WolfPack
8 years ago

interestingly too see that NC state would have won both of these relays when comparing to their swim at the ACCs. Just show the the rapid improvemnent that is going on Raleigh. Only a matter of time they’re beating cal and USC

PKWater
Reply to  WolfPack
8 years ago

If Cal had Murphy… Could have dropped over a second in the medley. It will be interesting to see the top teams matched up with their top guys come NCAAs.

Also think texas could win every relay except the 200free, Conger is an absolute tank on relays when he gets amped for it.

PK
Reply to  PKWater
8 years ago

As good as Schooling and Conger are, enough of the other top flight teams have a good enough counter on the fly, that Texas won’t be able to cover that amount in the breast in the 200 MR. As such, they’re drawing pretty slim in that race specifically.

TByers
Reply to  PK
8 years ago

I thought Murray split 23mid for Texas last year, right? I would be more worried about their anchor if NC State is bringing an 18(very)low on the way home.

MG
Reply to  PKWater
8 years ago

Well if NC State DQs again Texas could win the 200free……

Paswim
8 years ago

ZONA!!! WOW!!!! That’s why I’m not a betting man, no way would I have guessed that!!

Stanford
8 years ago

Have to give credit for Zona tonight. Their first three splits on the 200MR compare with anyone. You knew USC would bring it in the 800FR

Uberfan
8 years ago

Zona killing it. Knew they would do good. Great relay splits

PACFAN
8 years ago

REED MALONE SPLITS 1:31 ON THE 800 RELAY

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  PACFAN
8 years ago

THIS guy is one to look after at OT – he has what it takes to put down a great 200 free / maybe a spot on the Olympic team 800 free relay .

Texas
8 years ago

Arizona’s first three splits were smoking. And if they had subbed Fish into the ‘A’, they’d have been .30 faster….

PKWater
8 years ago

Where can I find the results? Meet mobile doesn’t seem to have them yet.

Karl Ortegon
Reply to  PKWater
8 years ago

Whereas the women’s meet was labeled “pac-12,” the men’s is just “pac12” with no space or hyphen. Meet mobile does have the meet, labeled as “2016 men’s pac12 swimming/diving champions” (must’ve gotten cut for length) and it’s updated live.

PKWater
Reply to  Karl Ortegon
8 years ago

Thanks!

Golfer
Reply to  PKWater
8 years ago

Wonder why he was on the B. Not every day you see a fastest split of the meet on the B relay. Probably an unreliable swimmer, but an impressive split none the less. Looks like its second in the country behind Stevens of Tennessee

Reply to  Golfer
8 years ago

Again… assuming he isn’t a reliable swimmer is not the first conclusion you should jump to. He’s a freshman with no experience at the conference level. Also, Sovero may have been the best option coming into the meet. There are plenty of reasons why he might be on the B relay.

Buckeyeboy
8 years ago

Freshman Blair Bish on the Arizona “B” relay with a really nice 23.2 breast split also. Rocket knows what he is doing, just watch.

Golfer
Reply to  Buckeyeboy
8 years ago

Wonder why he was on the B. Not every day you see a fastest split of the meet on the B relay. Probably an unreliable swimmer, but an impressive split none the less. Looks like its second in the country behind Stevens of Tennessee

Reply to  Golfer
8 years ago

I wouldn’t say unreliable. He’s a freshman. Maybe he had never been that fast before.

JP
Reply to  Golfer
8 years ago

He hadn’t swam in any second semester meets. I couldn’t tell you why, but that may have had something to do with it.

Having trained with Blair for a bit (albeit when he was quite a bit younger), I don’t think it has anything to do with reliability. Kid’s a heck of a racer.

Jennifer Robins
Reply to  JP
8 years ago

Bish is a junior national champion. He’s a heck of a swimmer. Keep your eye on him.

Ayelmao
Reply to  Jennifer Robins
8 years ago

I just don’t know why zona decided to keep chunky ragu off that relay honestly

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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