ASU Men, UGA Women Win Tri-Meet with Mizzou, Marchand Goes 3 for 3

ASU v. UGA v. Missouri Tri-Meet

• October 1, 2022
• Athens, GA
• SCY (25 yards)
• Full Results

Men’s Meet

• ASU – 155.5 v. UGA – 145.5
• ASU – 191 v. Missouri – 109
• UGA – 205 v. Missouri – 95

After dropping a dual against UGA that featured eclectic events like 150s of stroke yesterday, the ASU men came out firing on Saturday. They swept their duals against Georgia and Missouri, improving to 2-1 on the season.

They were led by Leon Marchand and Grant House, who won a combined five individual events. Marchand collected wins in the 200 fly (1:43.21), 200 breast (1:57.67), and 200 IM (1:44.32). All three of those times are the fastest in the country at this early point in the season. At ASU’s first dual meet last season — which didn’t come until November 6 — Marchand was 1:43.76 in the 200 fly and 1:43.69 in the 200 IM.

At this meet, Marchand also anchored ASU’s winning 400 free relay, splitting 42.64. That’s just .11 seconds off the suited 100 free he swam at ASU’s pentathlon last week, which is his best official yards time.

House also played a massive role in ASU’s sweep. On the opening 200 medley relay, House dove in for the freestyle leg just .04 seconds ahead of UGA’s Dillon Downing. He split a massive 18.98, giving ASU the win by .42 seconds in 1:26.50. He then won his two individual events, the 100 and 200 free in 43.91 and 1:34.54. To finish the day, he teamed with Marchand, Patrick Sammon, and Jack Dolan for the win in the 400 free relay.

House finished the long course season on a high, posting multiple lifetime SCM bests at Australia’s Short Course Championships. He seems to have kept that momentum through the first part of the NCAA season–his 47.42 100 IM at ASU’s pentathlon is the sixth fastest in history.

The UGA backstroke group was on full display, sweeping the first three spots. Ian Grum took the win in 47.38 (an NCAA ‘B’ cut), with Bradley Dunham and Wesley Ng just behind in 47.43 and 47.51. Grum and Dunham went 1-2 in the 200 backstroke later in the meet, again with NCAA ‘B’ times of 1:42.91 and 1:44.09.

In 2021, Grum finished 10th in the 200 back at NCAAs in 1:40.01. Last year, he was 1:40.82 and failed to make it back. At UGA’s first meet was year, he was 1:45.08, making this a significant improvement on his speed from this time last year. That’s a good sign for him as he begins his campaign to make it back to NCAA finals.

UGA also dominated the men’s 500 freestyle, going 1-2-3-4. Fifth-year Andrew Abruzzo finished first in 4:23.56, well ahead of teammate Jake Magahey, the 2022 NCAA runner-up in this event, who clocked 4:29.10. Magahey won the 500 at NCAAs as a freshman; with both Kieran Smith and Matt Sates gone from the NCAA, he’s a major threat to reclaim the title.

After he shattered Ryan Murphy‘s 100 back American record with a 43.35 leading off the 400 medley relay, many are excited to see what Luca Urlando can do in the individual event. We’ll have to wait a little longer, because while he dropped a 21.77 50 back leading off the 200 medley relay today, he stuck to the fly events individually. After finishing second to Marchand in the 200 with a 1:44.54, he won the 100 fly in 46.55.

Missouri got a huge boost when Jack Dahlgren signed on for a fifth-year. His best finishes Saturday were third in the 200 free (1:36.67) and the 200 back (1:44.87). It was senior breaststroker Ben Patton who came away with Missouri’s only win in the pool, edging out John Heaphy to win the 100 breast in 55.28. With Danny Kovac graduated, these two will be the driving force for the Tigers this season. Carlo Lopez grabbed their other win of the day, on the 3-meter board.

Women’s Meet

• UGA – 190 v. Missouri – 105
• UGA – 203 v. ASU – 90
• Missouri – 164.5 v. ASU – 133.5

The Georgia women were dominant Saturday morning, winning all but three events: the 200 IM, 400 freestyle relay, and 1-meter diving. They got started with a win in the women’s 200 medley relay, with Marie Schobel, Zoie Hartman, Callie Dickinson, and Eboni McCarty posting 1:39.18 for the win.

After posting a 25.00 lead-off split in that relay, Schobel controlled the individual backstroke events, winning both the 100 and 200 with NCAA ‘B’ cuts with 53.85 and 1:56.58, respectively. She wasn’t the only woman posting ‘B’ cuts either; Hartman posted 2:11.99 in the 200 breaststroke, and Dickinson clocked 1:58.76 in the 200 fly.

That’s a positive sign for the Georgia women, especially Hartman, who was well off her bests in her signature breaststroke events last season. For context, Hartman’s best time in the 200 breast is 2:05.05, but her 2021-2022 season best was 2:07.71. If she can get back down to her best, that would be a huge boost for a retooling Georgia team.

Another strong sign for them was sophomore Abby McCulloh‘s performances. McCulloh swept the distance events, winning the 500 free in 4:47.90 and the 1000 in 9:46.48. McCulloh scored 15 individual NCAA points for the Dawgs last season, placing 16th in the 500 and 5th in the mile.

ASU upset Georgia’s winning streak in the pool, taking the wins in the 200 IM and the 400 freestyle relay. Sophomore Emma Gehlert grabbed the win in the 200 IM, touching in 2:04.24, edging out teammate Jade Foelske by .14 seconds. Hartman posted the fastest time with a 2:00.82, but was swimming exhibition as the Dawgs had already locked up the meet.

In the 400 free relay, Lindsay Looney, Erin Milligan, Ieva Maluka, and Charli Brown clocked the fastest time in 3:24.78. Freshman Ieva Maluka had the fastest split in 50.22. Paired with her second place finish in the 200 free (1:49.37) and third place in the 100 free (50.88), she’s proven to be a valuable asset to the Sun Devil women early in the season.

Missouri’s lone win of the day came in diving, where fifth-year Sarah Rousseau tallied 278.50 points. Missouri is feeling the loss of sprinter Sarah Thompson, who finished her fifth-year last season. They’re in a bit of a rebuild as they look to recreate her 78.5 individual SEC points. Nevertheless, they were able to hold on for a win against ASU, despite a late push from the Sun Devils.