Pac-12 Men’s Championships, Day 2 Prelims: Leon Marchand Opts for 500, Grabs 2nd Seed
There are no shortage of options for Leon Marchand when it comes to events to swim at a meet like the Pac-12 Men’s Championships. So with an A cut already solidified in the even in which he holds the NCAA record, the 200 individual medley, and his Arizona State team possessing sufficient depth in that event, Marchand made a change in his program Thursday, the first full day of the conference championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
Marchand opted for the 500 freestyle, and he eased through prelims with a time of 4:12.56 that gives him the second seed behind teammate Zalan Sarkany. It’s the only event of three in the morning session in which the Sun Devils did not record a 1-2-3 finish.
Pac-12 Men’s Championships Team Scores
Through Event 5 1. University of Southern Calif 183 2. University of California-Berk 175 3. University of Arizona 154 4. Arizona State University 150 5. Stanford University 106 6. University of Utah 75
500 freestyle
Zalan Sarkany led the way with a time of 4:12.28, a season-best. He’s just .28 ahead of Leon Marchand. That is Sarkany’s best time in the three semesters he’s been in college. Marchand went 4:07.81 last year, a Pac-12 record. Arizona State earned two other A final spots, with Julian Hill fifth and Daniel Matheson seventh.
With many of Cal’s big guns opting for the Pro Swim Series this week, it would seem there’s little impeding Arizona State storming to a title. Cal’s Tyler Kopp finished third in 4:14.96, a massive drop of more than five seconds for him. Rex Maurer of Stanford was fourth, teammate Preston Forst sixth and Henry McFadden eighth.
Event 6 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 4:06.32 2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
PAC-12: M 4:07.81 2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
PAC-12 Champ: P 4:09.49 2021 Trenton Julian, CAL
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Sarkany, Zalan SO ASU 4:12.45 4:12.28
22.52 47.09 (24.57)
1:12.36 (25.27) 1:37.89 (25.53)
2:03.46 (25.57) 2:29.27 (25.81)
2:55.07 (25.80) 3:20.85 (25.78)
3:46.74 (25.89) 4:12.28 (25.54)
2 Marchand, Leon JR ASU 4:14.34 4:12.56
22.38 48.00 (25.62)
1:14.03 (26.03) 1:40.09 (26.06)
2:06.18 (26.09) 2:30.93 (24.75)
2:56.16 (25.23) 3:21.43 (25.27)
3:47.00 (25.57) 4:12.56 (25.56)
3 Kopp, Tyler SR CAL 4:20.64 4:14.96
23.78 49.23 (25.45)
1:14.93 (25.70) 1:40.71 (25.78)
2:06.53 (25.82) 2:32.57 (26.04)
2:58.27 (25.70) 3:24.02 (25.75)
3:49.76 (25.74) 4:14.96 (25.20)
4 Maurer, Rex FR STAN 4:11.88 4:15.62
22.94 48.15 (25.21)
1:13.74 (25.59) 1:39.62 (25.88)
2:05.52 (25.90) 2:31.55 (26.03)
2:57.66 (26.11) 3:23.87 (26.21)
3:50.20 (26.33) 4:15.62 (25.42)
5 Hill, Julian SR ASU 4:12.37 4:15.79
23.03 48.67 (25.64)
1:14.57 (25.90) 1:40.80 (26.23)
2:06.93 (26.13) 2:33.00 (26.07)
2:58.72 (25.72) 3:24.33 (25.61)
3:50.10 (25.77) 4:15.79 (25.69)
6 Forst, Preston SR STAN 4:17.04 4:16.31
23.64 49.33 (25.69)
1:15.34 (26.01) 1:41.29 (25.95)
2:07.18 (25.89) 2:33.19 (26.01)
2:59.18 (25.99) 3:24.84 (25.66)
3:50.50 (25.66) 4:16.31 (25.81)
7 Matheson, Daniel JR ASU 4:14.91 4:16.40
23.34 48.82 (25.48)
1:14.70 (25.88) 1:40.65 (25.95)
2:06.70 (26.05) 2:32.83 (26.13)
2:58.66 (25.83) 3:24.57 (25.91)
3:50.57 (26.00) 4:16.40 (25.83)
8 McFadden, Henry FR STAN 4:17.52 4:16.61
23.28 48.73 (25.45)
1:14.77 (26.04) 1:40.99 (26.22)
2:07.27 (26.28) 2:33.48 (26.21)
2:59.61 (26.13) 3:25.84 (26.23)
3:51.70 (25.86) 4:16.61 (24.91)
200 individual medley
No Marchand, no problem for ASU. Owen McDonald secured the top seed in 1:40.37. He was followed by Hubert Kos in 1:41.33, then David Schlicht in third. Fifth went to Cale Martter.
Stanford had three A finalists, led by Rick Mihm in fourth. Sean Swift got Cal a lane in the final in eighth.
Event 7 Men 200 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona State
PAC-12: M 1:36.34 2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
PAC-12 Champ: P 1:37.81 3/2/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 McDonald, Owen SO ASU 1:41.60 1:40.57
21.59 45.80 (24.21)
1:16.12 (30.32) 1:40.57 (24.45)
2 Kos, Hubert SO ASU 1:39.26 1:41.33
21.24 45.91 (24.67)
1:16.04 (30.13) 1:41.33 (25.29)
3 Schlicht, David SR ASU 1:42.25 1:42.02
21.94 47.93 (25.99)
1:16.87 (28.94) 1:42.02 (25.15)
4 Mihm, Rick SR STAN 1:43.68 1:42.69
22.20 47.31 (25.11)
1:16.97 (29.66) 1:42.69 (25.72)
5 Martter, Cale SO ASU 1:43.62 1:43.36
21.92 48.46 (26.54)
1:17.81 (29.35) 1:43.36 (25.55)
6 Holmes, Gibson FR STAN 1:46.14 1:43.74
22.52 48.22 (25.70)
1:18.39 (30.17) 1:43.74 (25.35)
7 Maurer, Luke SR STAN 1:42.89 1:43.86
22.56 47.96 (25.40)
1:19.25 (31.29) 1:43.86 (24.61)
8 Swift, Sean JR CAL 1:46.97 1:43.88
22.86 49.23 (26.37)
1:18.61 (29.38) 1:43.88 (25.27)
50 freestyle
Ilya Kharun is in fine form, as an 18.82 50 free showed. He’s at the head for an ASU sweep of the middle three lanes, with Jack Dolan going 18.94 and Jonny Kulow 19.17. The latter is tied with USC’s Artem Selin for third. ASU also pushed Cam Peel (fifth) and Patrick Sammon (eighth) into the A final.
Among those missing out is Stanford’s Andrei Minakov, who went 19.40 for ninth.
Event 8 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
PAC-12: M 18.27 2022 Bjorn Seeinger, CAL
PAC-12 Champ: P 18.80 2014 Brad Tandy, ARIZ
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Kharun, Ilya FR ASU 18.93 18.82
9.25 18.82 (9.57)
2 Dolan, Jack SR ASU 18.90 18.94
9.10 18.94 (9.84)
3 Kulow, Jonny SO ASU 19.00 19.17
9.30 19.17 (9.87)
3 Selin, Artem JR USC 19.12 19.17
9.10 19.17 (10.07)
5 Palmer, Tommy SO ARIZ 19.29 19.30
9.22 19.30 (10.08)
5 Peel, Cam SR ASU 19.41 19.30
9.12 19.30 (10.18)
7 Tan, Jonathan FR STAN 19.20 19.35
9.34 19.35 (10.01)
8 Sammon, Patrick JR ASU 19.79 19.36
9.39 19.36 (9.97)
