Nov. 30, 2001
Results
AUSTIN, Texas - Becoming the fourth-fastest Sun Devil ever in the event, sophomore Nick Brunelli placed second in the 50-yard freestyle as Arizona State's fifth-ranked men's swimming and diving team took to the water in day one of the Texas Invitational at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas, Friday. Competing in a 13-team field that includes 10 of the nation's top-25 programs, the Sun Devil men finished the first day of competition in second place with 208.5 points. Host school and national No. 2 Texas is in first with 229 points.
After dipping below the 20-second mark for the first time of his Sun Devil career during event prelims (19.93), Brunelli saved his best for finals where he touched the wall in 19.81, behind Arizona's Roland Schoeman's first-place effort of 19.37. Brunelli was just one of three Sun Devils that made it into the finals of the 50y free. Senior Simon MacDonald tied for fifth in 20.30, while sophomore Mark Hill was eighth in 20.52.
All three played a hand in ASU's 200y free relay, along with junior Justin Mathias, placing second in 1:19.41. In the 400y medley relay, sophomore Ahmed Hussein turned in an opening split of 48.20 to pace the team of Russell MacDonald, Simon MacDonald and Brunelli toward a fifth-place finish in 3:16.18.
It was a busy night for Simon MacDonald, who also led ASU with a seventh-place finish in the 100y butterfly with an NCAA consideration time of 48.74.
The Sun Devils also got a strong showing from their diving contingent, where sophomore Gordon Blukis placed fourth (506.75) and freshman Thomas McCrummen (482.55) placed sixth.
Other event finals Friday were competed in the 500y free, where senior Gavin Meadows placed sixth in 4:24.52, and the 200y individual medley, where sophomore Adam Bugledich earned ASU's highest finish in 10th (1:50.61).
Competition continues tomorrow with prelims and finals of the 200 medley relay, 400 individual medley, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 800 freestyle relay.
Day One -- Team Scores:
1. Texas 229, 2. Arizona State 208.5, 3. Arizona 182, 4. California 173.5, 5. Wisconsin 149, 6. USC 128, 7. Auburn 123, 8. Michigan 74, 9. SMU 49, 10. Harvard 40, 11. Hawaii 16, 12. TCU 11, 13. Stanford 10.