Big 12 Championships, Day 2 Finals: Ilya Kharun Leads Five Sun Devils Under 19 in 50 Freestyle
The Arizona State Sun Devils showed off their sprint skills in the last race Wednesday evening at the Big 12 Championships. Ilya Kharun, an Olympic medalist and NCAA champion, led the way for one of the country’s top sprint contingents as five men went under 19 seconds (with a sixth finishing in 19.00). That performance led Arizona State to a lead in the university’s second appearance at the Big 12 Championships.
The Sun Devils have scored 585 points through two days of competition. Utah sits second with 428 points while Arizona is third with 389. ASU also leads in the women’s meet, with 521.5 points to sit ahead of Arizona (423) and Houston (302.5).
Women’s 3-Meter Diving
Shiyun Lai of Kansas earned the win in 1-meter diving in convincing fashion with 338.70 points. The Utah duo of Emilia Nilsson Garip (303.95) and Kathryn Grant (301.20) completed the top-three.
Women’s 500 Freestyle
Arizona State’s Deniz Ertan dominated the first individual race of the meet, winning the 500 freestyle by 2.67 seconds with a time of 4:41.34. Ertan, a senior with the Sun Devils who began her collegiate career at Georgia Tech, earned the third conference title of her career after topping the 1650 free and 200 fly at last year’s Big-12 meet. As a conference champion, her time will automatically qualify her for the NCAA Championships as it surpassed this year’s cut of 4:43.70, although it would have fallen short of selection in previous years.
The Sun Devils scored big points in this event with Alexa Reyna second (4:44.01) and Grace Lindberg fourth (4:47.26). Getting into the top-three was TCU’s Avery Dillon in 4:45.63.
Men’s 500 Freestyle
Utah made a statement in the first individual men’s race of the meet with a 1-2 finish. Nick Chirafisi led the way in 4:13.48, well under the NCAA cut of 4:18.07 to book his ticket to Atlanta next month. His teammate Jones Lambert picked up second-place points in 4:15.70, two tenths clear of ASU’s Reese Grady (4:15.93).
Women’s 200 IM
The Sun Devils swept the top-three spots here while picking up another automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships. A tight finish went to Sonia Vaishnani in 1:57.16, two tenths over teammate Jordan Greber (1:57.36) while Julia Ullmann was a further four hundredths adrift (1:57.40). The rest of the field was almost two seconds back of the top three, but the Sun Devils picked up even more points with Zoe Summar (fifth) and Ella Guifoil (seventh) in the A-final.
By virtue of the win, Vaishnani qualified for NCAAs, but her teammates did not earn automatic bids despite clearing the qualifying mark of 1:57.88.
Men’s 200 IM
A sensational four-way race in the men’s 200 IM came down to the wire, with the top four finishers finishing within three tenths. Arizona State’s Lucien Vergnes was the dominant swimmer in the race, taking over the lead at the halfway point and extending the advantage to six tenths with his 29.91 breaststroke split. But on freestyle, everything changed. His teammate and top qualifier Jordan Tiffany was charging, as was fellow Sun Devil JT Ewing. But the win went to the one swimmer in the pack from a different institution.
That winner was Utah senior Evan VanBrocklin, who stormed home in 24.86 to beat Ewing by 0.12. VanBrocklin’s time of 1:43.80 was a bit under the NCAA qualifying time of 1:44.13. Ewing came in second at 1:43.92, just ahead of Tiffany (1:43.98) and Vergnes (1:44.03).
Women’s 50 Freestyle
Albane Cachot made it three victories in three attempts for Arizona State. The native of France who joined the Sun Devils at midseason beat a pair of swimmers from top rival Arizona at the finish with her time of 21.80. Cachot finished in 21.80, 0.13 ahead of the Wildcats’ Julia Wozniak in 21.93. Arizona’s Riley Botton got third in 22.08 after going 21.90 in prelims.
Cachot secured the Big-12’s automatic bid for the NCAA Championships, although she was likely to make it in by virtue of her skills in the 200 free and 100 free, both events coming up later this week.
Men’s 50 Freestyle
Sun Devil magic was on display in the men’s splash-and-dash. Arizona State had seven out of eight swimmers in the championship heat, and five of them went under 19 seconds in a speed show. Leading the way was Ilya Kharun, a past NCAA champion in the 200 butterfly, who blasted a time of 18.46. He has been slightly quicker this year, with a mark of 18.40 in November, and that time is tied for the best in the country with Florida’s Josh Liendo. Kharun also clocked 18.47 in prelims.
Kharun finished two tenths ahead of Remi Fabiani, an ASU graduate student who went 18.68. Adam Chaney, another Sun Devil in his bonus year, went 18.81 for third while Jonny Kulow was fourth (18.86) and Tommy Palmer sixth (18.92). Tolu Young just missed the 18-second club with a time of 19.00, and Quin Seider was also in the A-final.
The times by Kharun, Fabiani, Chaney and Kulow add up to 1:14.81, and with the addition of relay starts, the group is in position to challenge the NCAA record of 1:12.80 set by Tennessee last season. ASU head coach Herbie Behm will have tough choices to make for the lineup, but those four men are locks to race Friday when ASU takes its first shot at the record. Helping the cause will be the pedigree of Kulow, an experienced sprinter who has posted 17-second relay splits in the past.
Men’s 3-Meter Diving
