During the first half of the 2016-17 season, nothing has fazed ASU men’s swimming, scoring controversies included.
Heading into the final day of action on Saturday at the Art Adamson Invitational in College Station, Texas, the 11th-ranked Sun Devils occupied third, 30.5 points behind No.14 Texas A & M and 25 points behind No.17 LSU.
A strong finish catapulted ASU into first place by meet's end. They earned a 50-point victory over the host Aggies, 969.5-917.5 at the Mansfield Natatorium. The Tigers finished third with 912 points.
the men win the Art Adamson Invitational and the women finish 4th. Time to get back to Tempe and get back to work! pic.twitter.com/1TiFq9elPO
— ASU Swimming&Diving (@ASUSwimDive) November 20, 2016
Meanwhile, the women’s team improved from an eighth place finish in this event a year ago to come in fourth.
Both teams head into the much-needed holiday break feeling good about their performances.
"I'm very proud of both teams this weekend," head coach Bob Bowman said. "We are light years ahead of where we were last year in team culture and spirit and this is showing in our performances."
Senior Richard Bohus stole the show for the men's team.
On Thursday, he, along with junior Christian Lorenz, graduate senior Andrew Porter and freshman Cameron Craig claimed first in the 400-medley relay. The foursome’s time of 3:07.20 set a new school record. It was also half a second under the A-standard time needed for automatic entry into the NCAA Championships.
On Friday, Bohus stood out individually. With a time of 46.00, the 23-year-old Hungarian broke his own school record, by .11 hundredths of a second, in the 100-yard backstroke. The next day, Bohus broke fellow senior Barkley Perry’s school record in the 200-yard backstroke (1:41.34).
Craig, who garnered a second CollegeSwimming Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week award on Tuesday, finished first in two events. On day one, he swam the second-fastest 200-IM time in team history (1:45.24) and followed that up with the second fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle on Friday (1:34.57).
For the men, freestyle and relay events continued to be a strength. ASU’s B and C relay teams earned double-digit points in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the final event of the meet.
The Sun Devils’ occupied four of the seven spots in the 100-yard free A final, while freshman Ben Olzewiski and senior Tim Schade won their final heats in the 200-yard free.
In addition, the butterfliers continued their dominance of opponents. Porter and senior Tadas Duskinas finished second and third respectively in the 100-yard butterfly. Porter’s time (46.42) was just behind Duskinas’ record breaking time, set in 2015.
On the women’s side, sophomore Krista Kolkebeck touched the wall first in her 200 and 100-yard freestyle heats.
Final women's team scores:
— ASU Swimming&Diving (@ASUSwimDive) November 20, 2016
1. Texas A&M 1404.5
2. LSU 687
3. BSU 522.5
4. ASU 390
5. SMU 359
6. TCU 162#GoDevils
Freshman Bentley Hulshof came out of nowhere to claim an impressive victory in the C final of the 500-yard free, while senior Kat Simonovic picked second and third place finishes in the A finals of the 500- and 200-yard free respectively. In addition, the lady Sun Devils had consistent day-to-day relay swims, something they can build on as the season progresses.
With a lot of racing to digest, Bowman is pleased with the general direction both his teams are heading in.
"The men really stepped up today to win the team title, and our women are racing well and moving forward each meet," Bowman said. “We have a lot of things we can improve on, and I look forward to our holiday training block."
Up Next:
The ASU women wrap up 2016 on Dec. 16 when they host NAU at 2 p.m. The men don’t compete again until Jan. 20, when they host conference rival Stanford.
Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.
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