The ASU men’s swimming team defeated the three-time defending national champion Texas Longhorn’s team 162-138 for perhaps the biggest win in program history.
The Sun Devils took home nine of 15 men’s events and had nine NCAA b-cut times.
Arizona State started off the day with a big win in the 200-yard medley relay. The Devil’s A team of Zachary Poti, Andrew Porter, Christian Lorenz and Cameron Craig defeated the Longhorn’s A team that included 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Zachary Poti took the win for the Devils with an NCAA b-cut time of 47.83. Poti also got the win in the 200-yard backs and achieved an NCAA b-cut time of 1:43.70
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Christian Lorenz took the victory for the Devils with a b-cut time of 54.60 seconds.
The Devils’ Cameron Craig destroyed his competition in the 100-yard freestyle. His time of 42.97 nearly was an NCAA a-cut, which stands at 42.11. He also finished second behind the Devils’ Grant House and achieved a b-cut time in the 200-yard free.
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Poti also got the win in the 200-yard backstroke and achieved an NCAA b-cut time of 1:43.70
For the Longhorns, Schooling won both of his individual events and achieved b-cuts in both. The Longhorns also won all three men’s diving events.
Devils coach Bob Bowman was very happy with his team’s performance.
“We had a kind of tough weekend last weekend of racing where I thought they raced hard, but obviously it was very good competition,” Bowman said. “And coming back against Texas I was quite frankly worried how they’d step up, but they stepped up and did a fantastic job of racing and that’s what we had talked about.”
Bowman mentioned that he cannot really gauge where his team is despite such a big win. He referenced the Harvard meet that the Devils lost earlier in the season. “We stepped down at every event that day, today we stepped up at pretty much every event.”
As far as the Sun Devil women’s team goes, it was another tough loss. The Longhorns crushed the Devils 177-122 Friday. However, it was not only negatives for the Devils.
Silja Kansakoski took home a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke with an NCAA b-cut time of 1:02.32. Chloe Isleta took second-place in the 100-yard back with a b-cut time of 54.59, and Nora Deleske also had a b-cut time in 100-yard back and took third place.
In the 200-yard breast, Marlies Ross finished first with an NCAA b-cut time of 2:14.94.
The Longhorns dominated most of the events on the women’s side. Rebecca Millard won both of her events winning the 50-yard free with a b-cut time of 22.83 and the 200-yard free and was on the Longhorns’ winning 200-yard medley relay team.
Bowman was still positive about how the Devil’s women’s team is progressing.
“The women are making progress every day, and they’re going to be where the men are but they’re probably a year or two behind,” Bowman said. “I’m very much looking forward to the Pac-12 championships coming up in about three weeks, and I think we’re going to see some really good swimming and we’re going to have some good performances at the NCAA’s from the women.”
Next: ASU Swimming: Stanford remains undefeated in Sun Devils loss
The ASU men’s team is sure to move up in the standings. Both the men and women’s team will face rival Arizona next Saturday afternoon in Tempe. Texas will also face Arizona this Saturday in their next meet.
All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.