MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Seven Sun Devils earned All-America honors in three different events on the third day of the NCAA Championships Friday evening at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. With seven All-Americans, the Sun Devils nearly doubled their tally through the first two days of action to total 15.
Senior Andrew Porter competed first in the 100 Fly, an event he earned an honorable mention in just one season ago. However, a 15-meter violation hindered his attempt, rendering him disqualified.
The turning point in the meet for the Devils came in the very next event when ASU entered both Cameron Craig and Grant House in the 200 Free. Going up against each other in the same heat in the preliminary rounds, Craig and House both continued to the finals through 12th and 15th place finishes. This made ASU one of just three schools in the country – including swimming powerhouses Texas (3) and Indiana (2) – to send multiple athletes into the final rounds of the event.
Staking his claim in lane six, Craig held a steady lead in the B Finals through the first 150 yards. The sophomore eventually lost his lead in the final lap in the tight finish, with just three tenths-of-a-second separating the top five spots in the heat. House followed a fraction of a second later to finish 13th and 14th in the race while grabbing seven points for ASU in the event.
Craig's 1:33.48 mark was the top-10 fastest time for a 200 Free in program history, with the sophomore seizing eight of the top 10 times in ASU history. With their finishes, the two added two more All-America honors for the Devils.
The pair of Christian Lorenz and Danny Comforti took the block for ASU in the 100 Breast. Both cracked ASU's top-10 finishes leaderboard with Lorenz's 24th place finish (52.93) good for third-best in ASU history and Comforti's 31st place finish good for seventh.
Rounding out the individual events were Zach Poti and Reid Elliott in the 100 Back, with Poti leaping to a 15th place finish in the preliminaries en route to a trip to the B Finals. Elliott maxed out at a 46.69 for 31st place. In the finals, Poti charged to a 45.83 time, finishing 15th and adding two more points to ASU's total.
Elliott again represented the Devils in the 200 Medley Relay, leading off with the backstroke with a speedy 21.10 split. Christian Lorenz followed with the breast, Andrew Porter with the fly and Patrick Park anchoring the quartet. Tonight marked the first time the foursome competed in a relay together on the weekend. The squad raced to a 13th place finish in the preliminaries to secure a ticket to the B finals, the third Devil relay team to do so on the weekend.
In finals, the Devils fell behind early on. Lorenz made up for lost time with one of the fastest breasts in the heat to propel the Devils to 13th place, adding eight more points for ASU.
Youssef Selim competed for the Devils in the 3M dive, scoring 331.10 points to place 29th in the event.
The Sun Devils return to action tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with the 200 back. Fans can follow the action on social media by following @ASUSwimDive on Twitter.
Team Leaderboard (Through Day Three)
1. Indiana (325)
2. Texas (306)
3. California (291.5)
4. North Carolina State (252)
5. Florida (246)
6. USC (181)
7. Stanford (165)
8. Louisville (118.5)
9. Michigan (101.5)
10. Georgia (98)
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14. Arizona State (45)
Senior Andrew Porter competed first in the 100 Fly, an event he earned an honorable mention in just one season ago. However, a 15-meter violation hindered his attempt, rendering him disqualified.
The turning point in the meet for the Devils came in the very next event when ASU entered both Cameron Craig and Grant House in the 200 Free. Going up against each other in the same heat in the preliminary rounds, Craig and House both continued to the finals through 12th and 15th place finishes. This made ASU one of just three schools in the country – including swimming powerhouses Texas (3) and Indiana (2) – to send multiple athletes into the final rounds of the event.
???? pic.twitter.com/Us0kVBcrdO
— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) March 23, 2018
Staking his claim in lane six, Craig held a steady lead in the B Finals through the first 150 yards. The sophomore eventually lost his lead in the final lap in the tight finish, with just three tenths-of-a-second separating the top five spots in the heat. House followed a fraction of a second later to finish 13th and 14th in the race while grabbing seven points for ASU in the event.
Craig's 1:33.48 mark was the top-10 fastest time for a 200 Free in program history, with the sophomore seizing eight of the top 10 times in ASU history. With their finishes, the two added two more All-America honors for the Devils.
The pair of Christian Lorenz and Danny Comforti took the block for ASU in the 100 Breast. Both cracked ASU's top-10 finishes leaderboard with Lorenz's 24th place finish (52.93) good for third-best in ASU history and Comforti's 31st place finish good for seventh.
Rounding out the individual events were Zach Poti and Reid Elliott in the 100 Back, with Poti leaping to a 15th place finish in the preliminaries en route to a trip to the B Finals. Elliott maxed out at a 46.69 for 31st place. In the finals, Poti charged to a 45.83 time, finishing 15th and adding two more points to ASU's total.
100 Back
— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) March 23, 2018
15. Zach Poti: 45.80
31. 46.69 @reidospeedoyolo
Poti slides into the B Finals later tonight, the third Devil to make it so far! pic.twitter.com/BREXrEMMjo
Elliott again represented the Devils in the 200 Medley Relay, leading off with the backstroke with a speedy 21.10 split. Christian Lorenz followed with the breast, Andrew Porter with the fly and Patrick Park anchoring the quartet. Tonight marked the first time the foursome competed in a relay together on the weekend. The squad raced to a 13th place finish in the preliminaries to secure a ticket to the B finals, the third Devil relay team to do so on the weekend.
In finals, the Devils fell behind early on. Lorenz made up for lost time with one of the fastest breasts in the heat to propel the Devils to 13th place, adding eight more points for ASU.
Youssef Selim competed for the Devils in the 3M dive, scoring 331.10 points to place 29th in the event.
The Sun Devils return to action tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with the 200 back. Fans can follow the action on social media by following @ASUSwimDive on Twitter.
Four more All-Americans is pretty good, right? ????????@reidospeedoyolo, @CLorenz95, @PorterAndrew831 and @ppark_95 combine to place 13th and rack up an honorable mention! pic.twitter.com/PNJchl4oAp
— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) March 24, 2018
Team Leaderboard (Through Day Three)
1. Indiana (325)
2. Texas (306)
3. California (291.5)
4. North Carolina State (252)
5. Florida (246)
6. USC (181)
7. Stanford (165)
8. Louisville (118.5)
9. Michigan (101.5)
10. Georgia (98)
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14. Arizona State (45)