TUCSON, ARIZ. — The Wildcats will travel to Tempe this weekend to compete against Arizona State University (No.4 Men's/No. 17 women's) in what may potentially be the most highly-attended collegiate dual meets in history.
The Cats will face ASU on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 12 p.m. MST in Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The programs have already competed against each other once this season at the All-Arizona Quad-Meet, where the Sun Devils emerged victorious over Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Grand Canyon University.
Kyle Sockwell, an ASU swim alum and founder of Sockwell swim club with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram, initiated a promotion campaign on social media with the goal of this meet breaking the all-time attendance record for a college dual meet. This record was most recently broken in Austin, Texas on Jan. 25, when Texas faced Texas A & M with an audience of 2,331 fans.
Since their meeting at the beginning of the season, both teams have put up top times and scores at invitationals and dual meets alike. The Cats most recently swept their dual meet against a top-25 Minnesota program.
Commendable Cats:
Olympians Ralph Daleiden and Tomas Lukminas have had incredible seasons at Arizona thus far. Daleiden and Lukminas hold the No. 19 and No. 20 times in the country, respectively, in the 200 Free. Both Daleiden and Lukminas are also important contributors to Arizona's top-25 relay teams.
Named Big 12 Swimmer of the Week after his dominant performance against Minnesota, junior Haakon Naughton holds some of Arizona's best times in the butterfly events (both this season and all-time). Naughton is currently 20th in the country for the 50 Fly (21.55) and 100 Fly (45.27) and ninth in the country with his 200 Fly (1:40.55).
5th year Daniel Young is currently third-best in the nation in the 50 Free, with a 24.10. Tavner Wisdom also has a sub-25 best time, ranking at No. 16 in this event with a 24.99.
Arizona's relay teams are also notable; the men's 800 Free Relay is the fifth-best in the country (6:13.31), just .13 second slower than ASU's time in the event. Additionally, the Wildcat men's 400 Free Relay holds the No. 10 time in the NCAA (2:48.65), and the men's 200 Free Relay is No. 24 (1:17.33).
On the women's side, junior Eleni Gewalt holds the ninth-best time in the country for the 50 BR with a 28.09. This season-best time for Gewalt is .28 seconds better than the top-25 ranked competitors from Arizona State.
In the 50 Fly, Arizona's Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhangh holds the No. 17 time in the country for the 50 Fly (24.48).
The Cats have also earned an NCAA "B" Cut and the 18th-best time in the country in the 200 Free Relay, with a 1:28.65, within one second of ASU's team (1:27.71).
Arizona's divers have also put up amazing performances and scores throughout the season. Senior Brooke Earley and junior Gage DuBois have been especially exceptional, both earning Big 12 Diver of the Week multiple times this season (DuBois-4, Earley-2). In Arizona's win against ranked Minnesota, DuBois earned podium finishes, including one first-place victory, in both diving events and, in the men's 1m, scored 24 points higher than the second-place competitor from Minnesota (332.70).
At this same meet, Earley also secured a first-place finish in the 1m (303.15) and second in the 3m (310.73). This was Earley's season-best dual meet performance in the 1m. Earlier this season, Earley was a finalist at USA Diving Winter Nationals in the 3m event.
Sun Devils to Watch:
ASU's Ilya Kharun has had an exceptional season as a Sun Devil. Kharun's 18.51 50 Free is second in the nation. In the 100 Free, ASU's Jonny Kulow ranks at No. 4 with a 40.97 and Kharun follows closely with a 41.03. Kharun also holds the nation's best time in the 50 Fly at 19.63, the third-best time in the 100 Fly (43.85) and the second-best time in the 200 Fly (1:38.07). Kharun is No. 1 in the country in the 100 Individual Medley (46.91), followed closely behind by his teammate, French swimmer Lucien Vergnes, who ranks at No. 3 with a 47.99.
Vergnes is a also powerful backstroke force, holding the No. 12 time in the 50 Back (20.88) and the No.16 time in the 100 Back (45.32).
In the 1000 Free, ASU's Daniel Matheson and Jacob Pins hold the No. 10 and No. 22 time spots, respectively.
The men's 50 BR should be an exciting race, with ASU's best time (24.29 from Andy Dobrzanski) just .19 seconds slower than Young's 24.10 (No. 4 in the nation)
On the men's side, ASU's 200 Medley relay and 400 Freestyle relay teams hold the top times in the nation. Their 400 Freestyle relay and 200 Medley relay list at No. 2 (2:45.13), with the Sun Devils' 400 Free relay time (1:45.13) just three seconds faster than the Wildcats' top time (2:48.65).
On the women's side, Sun Devil Caroline Bentz has put up multiple top-25 times this season. Bentz holds the No. 10 time in the NCAA for the 50 Free (21.80) and the No. 22 time for the 100 Free (47.97). Bentz also ranks at No. 17 in the 200 Back (1:52.05).
The ASU women's squad has a few notable distance swimmers; in the 1650 Free, Alexa Reyna and Deniz Ertan hold the No. 10 and No. 13 times in the nation, respectively.
Two Sun Devils hold top times in the Women's 50 BR: Julia Ultmann (No. 9, 24.18) and Miriam Sheehan (No. 11, 24.29).
In the 100 IM, ASU's Charli Brown has secured the current No. 7 time in the nation (54.89).
