Dec. 2, 2001
AUSTIN, Texas - Among a 13-team field that included at least partial squads from seven teams ranked in the top-10, Arizona State's No. 5 men's swimming and diving team completed the Texas Invitational in second place as the three-day meet concluded Sunday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
Accumulating 549.5 points, the Sun Devils finished behind only meet host and national No. 2 Texas, which had 669 points. Eighth-ranked Arizona placed third (493), with No. 6 California (480.5) and No. 9 USC (435) rounding out the top-five.
Leading the Sun Devils on the final day was sophomore Nick Brunelli, who won the 100-yard freestyle in an NCAA consideration time of 43.73. A collegiate-best effort for Brunelli, his victorious time moved him into a tie with Emmanuel Nascimento (1992) as the fourth-fastest Sun Devil ever in the 100y free.
Not far behind Brunelli was senior Simon MacDonald, who also garnered NCAA consideration with his sixth-place effort of 44.84. Competing in the 'B' final, juniors Anders Lyrbring (45.26) and Justin Mathias (45.28) placed 12th and 13th, respectively.
ASU's other big event of the evening was the 200y backstroke, where junior Christian Harcsas, sophomore Ahmed Hussein and senior Bo West all placed among the top-eight. Matching his effort from the preliminaries, Harcsas placed fourth in 1:45.54, making him the fourth-fastest Sun Devil ever in that event. West placed seventh in 1:48.26, ahead of Hussein in eighth, who swam only 1:48.44 in the finals after recording the third-fastest time in ASU history during prelims at 1:45.07.
Other individual event finals Sunday included the 200y breaststroke, where senior Christian Rasmussen led the way for ASU in 2:04.54 (21st), the 200y butterfly where junior Ace Tate paced ASU with a 15th-place time of 1:51.17 and the platform dive, where sophomore Gordon Blukis placed fifth with a finals total of 459.25.
Finals of the 1650y free were scheduled for Sunday, but results were not provided.
The Sun Devils capped off the meet with a second-place finish in the 400y free relay, with a team of Brunelli, sophomore Mark Hill, Simon MacDonald and senior Gavin Meadows combining for an NCAA consideration time of 2:56.66, behind only Arizona at 2:55.05.
The Sun Devils now have a healthy competitive layoff, as their next meet is not until December 29, when they host Pac-10 foe Washington at noon at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe.
Texas Invitational -- Final Men's Team Scores:
1. Texas 669, 2. Arizona State 549.5, 3. Arizona 493, 4. California 480.5, 5. USC 435, 6. Auburn 389, 7. Wisconsin 367, 8. Michigan 252, 9. SMU 135, 10. Harvard 102, 11. Stanford 51, 12. Hawaii 45, 13. TCU 39.