Men’s Meet
U of A 172 – 126 USC
After falling short to the Trojans last year, the youth of the Wildcats lead the team to redeem themselves with a 172-126 win over USC. The Wildcats won 9 of 16 events, starting with a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard medley relay, to set the tone. The A-team of Chatham Dobbs, Andrew Sovero, Renny Richmond and Chad Idensohn touched in a time of 1:29.08, a second ahead of the Wildcats B-team.
Dobbs went on to win the 100-yard back (49.08), lowering his season best by 0.62 seconds, and posting the fastest time for the Wildcats so far this season. The freshman Wildcat also placed 3rd in the 100-yard free in a time of 46.13, behind USC’s Kyle Grissom (45.69) and teammate Parks Jones (45.63).
Freshman Mathias Oh improved both his season best times in the 100-yard and 200-yard fly, winning both events in times of 48.88 and 1:48.36 respectively. Another Wildcat freshman Grant Sanders, had a standout swim, winning the 400-yard IM two seconds ahead of the field at 3:59.60, also shedding two seconds off of his previous 2015-16 season record. Sophomore JP Beach won the 50-yard free in 20.60, touching out teammate Richmond, who finished in 20.70.
The Trojans had three double winners; distance freestyler Pawel Furtek and breaststroker Morten Klarskov and diver Collin Pollard. Furtek won the 1000-yard free (9:14.08), seven seconds ahead of Arizona’s Nick Hogsed (9:21.74), and the 500-yard free in 4:28.86. Klarskov won the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststrokes in times of 55.97 and 2:01.40 respectively. Pollard earned the team 18 points winning the 1m with 354.23 points and 3m 365.48 with .
The Wildcats took another victory in the final relay, with the A-team of Idensohn, Dobbs, Richmond and Beach winning in 1:21.90, ahead of USC A-team (1:22.69) and the Wildcats B-team (1:23.20).
Women’s Meet
USC 156 – 144 U of A
After defeating the Trojans last year, the Wildcats couldn’t keep up with the depth of Southern Cal. The Trojans had a lot of youth on their team, and the newcomers have played a critical part in the rebuilding of their team back to the trophy years.
The Wildcats started off the meet with the first win with Annie Ochitwa, Emma Schoettmer, Mackenzie Rumrill and Taylor Schick in the 200-yard medley relay (1:38.99), almost 3 seconds ahead of the conference foes; Anika Apostalon, Riley Scott, Hannah Weiss and Evan Swenson (1:41.11).
Freshman Elizabeth Stinson took the first victory of the day for the Trojans, winning the 1000-yard free in a time of 10:03.30. Upperclassman leader Chelsea Chenault went on to win the 200-yard free in 1:49.13, ahead of the Wildcats’s Bonnie Brandon (1:49.76) and freshman teammate Allie Wooden (1:50.42).
Apostalon, triple winner for the Trojans, went on to win both the 50-yard (22.78) and 100-yard (49.18) free events and joined her teammates; Swenson, Chenault and Wooden in a victory in the 200-yard free relay (1:31.05).
The Trojans Wooden, Chenault and Stinson went 1-2-3 in the 500-yard freestyle, in 4:52.51, 4:53.15 and 4:56.58 respectively; this was the turning point in the meet for the Trojans, and they never looked back on the Wildcats.
Other outstanding swims on the women’s side came from USC’s freshman Destiny Nelson, who won the 400-yard IM in 4:21.27, and teammate Madison Wright, who won the 200-yard fly in 1:59.99.
Trojan Riley Scott was victorious in the 200-yard breast (2:12.65), but came 2nd in the 100-yard breast (1:01.46) after being out touched by Wildcat Schoettmer, who won in 1:01.30.
I think USC men will be a COMPLETELY different team next semester. It seems none of their internationals (and Vissering ) are going to the beach and not classes this semester.
Sounds like a major NCAA violation for those freshmen to swim with Trojans (AKA the team) this fall while not taking any classes… Salo needs to stop overspent the scholarship money and someone in the PAC 12 needs to report this violation.