TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 10 Sun Devil men started the meet on a high note and despite the No. 2 Longhorns coming within striking distance near the end, earned the upset victory vs. 13-time and reigning national champion Texas, 162-138. The No. 4 Longhorn women won, 178-121.
"Quite frankly, facing Texas, I was worried about how they'd step up but they stepped up and did a fantastic job of racing and that's what we had talked about," said head swimming coach Bob Bowman. "We were very fortunate to get by them because they're an amazing team, but I'm very proud of our guys because they stepped up."
The Sun Devil men's "A" team (Zach Poti, Christian Lorenz, Andrew Porter, Cameron Craig) grabbed the first win in the 200 medley relay and took a commanding early lead by virtue of winning the next four individual events.
All-told the ASU men won 7 of 12 individual events, with Christian Lorenz (100 breast, 200 breast) and Zach Poti (100 back, 200 back) winning two apiece. Ben Olszewski (1000 free), Grant House (200 free), and Cameron Craig (100 free) also picked up victories on the men's side. Craig's 100 free time was the team's fastest of the season.
The men's race came down to the final event – the 200 free relay – as the Sun Devils were ahead by just 15 points going into the event. The "A" squad – Craig, Porter, Evan Carlson, and Patrick Park – stepped up once again to grab a crucial 11 points to secure victory while the "B" squad also picked up two points. Craig's startoff leg and Park's anchor leg were good for top-five ASU times in the 50 free this season.
"I think we gained some confidence last week at Cal and Stanford," said Bowman. "I thought we raced really well against those teams and I felt like if we just stayed positive and just keep moving forward, we'd be in a good place."
The breaststroke continued a strong event for the Sun Devil women, with ASU winning both events (Silja Kansakoski in the 100, Marlies Ross in the 200). Frida Kaellgren also posted a victory in women's diving in the 1-meter springboard, the team's highest score in the event of the season, finishing second in the 3-meter.
Reigning Pac-12 women's diver of the week Ashley McCool finished second (1-meter) and third (3-meter), respectively, while Youssef Selim also finished second (1-meter) and third (3-meter) in his events.
Looking ahead, Bowman concluded, "I'm very much looking forward to the Pac-12 Championships coming up in about three weeks. I think we're going to see some really good swimming and we're going to have some really good performances at NCAA's."
Next weekend, Arizona State closes the regular season playing host to their cross-state rival, No. 18/20 Arizona, on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 pm MT. The Territorial Cup point will be not be decided in the meet as that point is decided at Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships in February and March.
"Quite frankly, facing Texas, I was worried about how they'd step up but they stepped up and did a fantastic job of racing and that's what we had talked about," said head swimming coach Bob Bowman. "We were very fortunate to get by them because they're an amazing team, but I'm very proud of our guys because they stepped up."
?? UPSET ALERT!!! ??
— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) January 26, 2018
Our men held on the defeat No. 2 Texas, 162-138 ?? pic.twitter.com/30Hk85VuQV
The Sun Devil men's "A" team (Zach Poti, Christian Lorenz, Andrew Porter, Cameron Craig) grabbed the first win in the 200 medley relay and took a commanding early lead by virtue of winning the next four individual events.
All-told the ASU men won 7 of 12 individual events, with Christian Lorenz (100 breast, 200 breast) and Zach Poti (100 back, 200 back) winning two apiece. Ben Olszewski (1000 free), Grant House (200 free), and Cameron Craig (100 free) also picked up victories on the men's side. Craig's 100 free time was the team's fastest of the season.
The men's race came down to the final event – the 200 free relay – as the Sun Devils were ahead by just 15 points going into the event. The "A" squad – Craig, Porter, Evan Carlson, and Patrick Park – stepped up once again to grab a crucial 11 points to secure victory while the "B" squad also picked up two points. Craig's startoff leg and Park's anchor leg were good for top-five ASU times in the 50 free this season.
"I think we gained some confidence last week at Cal and Stanford," said Bowman. "I thought we raced really well against those teams and I felt like if we just stayed positive and just keep moving forward, we'd be in a good place."
?? UPSET ALERT!!! ??
— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) January 26, 2018
Our men held on the defeat No. 2 Texas, 162-138 ?? pic.twitter.com/30Hk85VuQV
The breaststroke continued a strong event for the Sun Devil women, with ASU winning both events (Silja Kansakoski in the 100, Marlies Ross in the 200). Frida Kaellgren also posted a victory in women's diving in the 1-meter springboard, the team's highest score in the event of the season, finishing second in the 3-meter.
Reigning Pac-12 women's diver of the week Ashley McCool finished second (1-meter) and third (3-meter), respectively, while Youssef Selim also finished second (1-meter) and third (3-meter) in his events.
Looking ahead, Bowman concluded, "I'm very much looking forward to the Pac-12 Championships coming up in about three weeks. I think we're going to see some really good swimming and we're going to have some really good performances at NCAA's."
Next weekend, Arizona State closes the regular season playing host to their cross-state rival, No. 18/20 Arizona, on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 pm MT. The Territorial Cup point will be not be decided in the meet as that point is decided at Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships in February and March.