TEMPE, Ariz. - Just hours after it was announced that they had maintained their No. 1 ranking in the country, the Sun Devil Men certainly looked the part in a decisive win against No. 12 Stanford, while a late comeback by the Sun Devil Women wasn't enough to down No. 3 Stanford on Friday afternoon at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
FINAL
No. 1 Sun Devil Men 186, No. 12 Stanford Men 114
No. 3 Stanford Women 175, Sun Devil Women 122
The Sun Devil Men's victory marks just the second time in program history, and the first this century, that they've beaten the Cardinal.
The Sun Devil Men were powered by impressive performances from Léon Marchand, Grant House, Alex Colson and a pair of newcomers in Zalan Sarkany and Hubert Kos, who made their ASU debuts against the Cardinal. In his first race as a Sun Devil, Sarkany ripped off a 8:50.56 to win the 1000 free, which set a new school record in the process. Scott Brackett previously owned the record, a time of 8:57.64 that he set in 1984.
It was a sign of what was to come on Friday afternoon for the Sun Devils.
EVENT-BY-EVENT BREAKDOWN
Women's 200-Yard Medley Relay
The Sun Devil Women got off to a strong start by placing second in the relay with a time of 1:39.21 courtesy of Charli Brown-Iza Adame-Jade Foelske-Erin Milligan.
Men's 200 Yard Medley Relay
The Sun Devil Men began the day just as they'd envisioned, finishing first and third in the relay. Jack Dolan-Léon Marchand-Max McCusker-Grant House won with a time of 1:22.60, while the relay of Jack Wadsworth-John Heaphy-Cody Bybee-Jonny Kulow trailed in third at 1:24.52.
Women's 1000 Yard Freestyle
Freshman Katherine Randall, who swam the event in 9:55.15, was the Sun Devils' top finisher in this event.
Men's 1000 Yard Freestyle
The Sun Devil Men continued to keep the pressure on Stanford with a very strong performance courtesy of a one-two finish by freshman Zalan Sarkany and sophomore Daniel Matheson. Sarkany dominated the event, winning by a margin of almost ten seconds and breaking the school record.
Women's 200 Yard Freestyle
Charli Brown continued her strong performance by posting third with a time of 1:46.88.
Men's 200 Yard Freestyle
Strong individual performances from the Sun Devil Men continued, with Grant House winning the event in 1:31.51 and sophomore Patrick Sammon placing third in 1:34.59.
Women's 100 Yard Backstroke
Freshman Ieva Maluka had the highest-scoring finish in this event, posting fourth with a time of 54.35.
Men's 100 Yard Backstroke
Redshirt junior Jack Dolan widened the Sun Devils' gap over the Cardinal with a winning time of 45.66.
Women's 100 Yard Breaststroke
The finest showing of the afternoon so far for the Sun Devil Women happened in this event. It was a one-two-three finish by Iza Adame, Isabella Krantzcke, and Zoe Summar, who posted times of 1:00.71, 1:02.32, and 1:02.79, respectively.
Men's 100 Yard Breaststroke
The Sun Devil Men continued to press home their advantage, with Marchand and David Schlicht posting times of 51.15 and 53.33, respectively, to expand their lead.
Women's 200-Yard Butterfly
The Sun Devil Women continued their comeback with two more strong performances courtesy of redshirt juniors Lindsay Looney and Jadé Foelske, who posted first- and third-place times of 1:53.48 and 1:56.70. Looney's 1:53.48 is the third-fastest 200 fly time in school history.
Men's 200-Yard Butterfly
Another one-two-three Sun Devil finish by redshirt juniors Alex Colson and Andrew Gray and freshman Hubert Kos, who posted times of 1:40.99, 1:43.10, and 1:43.41, continued to increase ASU's hold on the meet.
Women's 50 Yard Freestyle
The Sun Devil Women's highest finisher in this event was freshman Indigo Armon, who swam the event in 23.39 to place fourth overall.
Men's 50 Yard Freestyle
Max McCusker and Jonny Kulow posted times of 19.55 and 19.63, respectively, to take two of the top three spots to keep the meet further out of Stanford's reach.
Women's 100 Yard Freestyle
ASU continued to battle its way back with Lindsay Looney and Ieva Maluka finishing one-two with times of 49.34 and 49.52.
Men's 100 Yard Freestyle
The Sun Devil Men effectively slammed the door on the Cardinal by finishing one-two-three, courtesy of Grant House, Jonny Kulow, and Jack Dolan, who swam the event in 42.54, 42.87, and 43.17. The finish increased Arizona State's lead to 57 points, with the scoreboard showing a margin of 113-56.
Women's 200 Yard Backstroke
The Sun Devil Women refused to quit, despite being down 39 points, with Charli Brown posting a second-place time of 1:56.54.
Men's 200 Yard Backstroke
Hubert Kos' time of 1:41.50 helped keep the pedal down for the Sun Devil Men, whose lead had now ballooned to 52 points.
Women's 200 Yard Breaststroke
Iza Adame and sophomore Emma Gehlert kept the momentum going for the Sun Devil Women by finishing one-two with times of 2:12.82 and 2:13.85.
Men's 200 Yard Breaststroke
Another podium sweep by the Sun Devil Men, courtesy of Marchand, David Schlicht, and freshman Cale Martter, helped widen the gap a bit more. Times of 1:49.16, 1:55.69, and 1:55.80 stretched the lead to 65 points.
Women's 500 Yard Freestyle
Redshirt junior Molly Batchelor's second-place finish, with a time of 4:47.25, cut the deficit to 36 points, which helped keep the Sun Devil Women within reach of the Cardinal. She was just .03 removed from winning the race.
Men's 500 Yard Freestyle
Strong finishes from Sarkany and Andrew Gray, who posted times of 4:17.83 and 4:19.63, pushed the Sun Devil Men's lead over the Cardinal to 74 points.
Women's 100 Yard Butterfly
Lindsay Looney finished second with a time of 53.42. It was a terrific afternoon for the redshirt junior, who already added a pair of victories.
Men's 100 Yard Butterfly
Alexander Colson finished second with a time of 45.43.
Women's 200 Yard IM
While the meet was out of reach for the Sun Devil Women at this point, they continued to battle. Strong swims of 1:58.97, 1:58.99, and 2:01.73, courtesy of Maluka, Brown, and Foelske helped ASU sweep the podium.
Men's 200 Yard IM
ASU had an exceptional performance in this event, courtesy of Marchand, Kos, Schlicht, and freshman Owen McDonald. Times of 1:38.89, 1:44.53, 1:45.21, and 1:47.17 helped the Sun Devil Men inch one step closer to victory.
Women's 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
ASU ended its afternoon with one more strong performance in the final event, finishing runner-up with a relay time of 1:32.47 from the team of Natalia Fryckowska-Erin Milligan-Lindsay Looney-Ieva Maluka.
Men's 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
The Sun Devil Men ended a dominant performance over the Cardinal by claiming the top spot with a time of 1:16.12 courtesy of the powerhouse team of Jack Dolan-Jonny Kulow-Max McCusker-Grant House.
Diving
Back in action for the first time in 2023, six Sun Devil divers competed on Friday afternoon.
Amayah Wiley had a team-best second-place finish in the 3-meter, scoring 266.25. She also added a third-place finish in the 1-meter, rounding out at 198.60. Ashlyn Kirsch had a pair of fourth-place finishes in both the 1-meter (182.25) and the 3-meter (217.58).
On the Men's side, Zachory Lundgren was the team's top finisher in the 1-meter (277.05).
Thomas Wesche was the Sun Devils' top diver in the 3-meter when he scored 310.35.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil Men's and Women's Swim & Dive teams look to carry the momentum from today's meet into the highly-anticipated showdown against the Pac-12 heavyweight California Golden Bears. Like Stanford, both Cal squads are nationally-ranked, with the Men checking in at No. 2 overall and the Women listing at No. 11.
The meet begins tomorrow at 12 p.m. MST at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
Keep up with the action via the Sun Devils' Twitter account, @ASUSwimDive, which will be full of results, scores and more from meet day.