STANFORD, Calif. – The nation's fastest 200 IMer in Léon Marchand certainly looked the part on Friday afternoon at Stanford, as the Sun Devils' highly-decorated freshman cruised to wins in the 200 IM and 200 back despite both the men's and women's team falling to the Cardinal.
The Cardinal got after it early and often, forcing the Sun Devils to play catch-up all afternoon, as the No. 6 men's team (0-2) was bested the No. 11 Cardinal 184-93; the women's squad (2-2) edged, 160-90, by the No. 4 Cardinal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cardinal grabbed victories in the first four events of the afternoon, before Erica Laning and Grant House tallied back-to-back Sun Devil wins in the women's and men's 200 free races.
The Cardinal then won five consecutive races, and seven of eight, to stack together a handful of points that was too much for the Sun Devils to bear.
DIVERS DEBUT
A pair of Sun Devil divers debuted against the Cardinal, becoming the first two in the Marc Briggs era. It's the first time the Sun Devils have participated in the diving portion of competition since spring 2020.
In the men's 1-meter dive, Zachory Lundgren, a transfer from the University of Hawaii, scored 297.23 and Thomas Wesche, a Grand Canyon transfer, tallied a 294.75.
In the 3-meter dive, Lundgren scored a 334.80 and Wesche a 314.10. In both events, the two Sun Devils placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
HIGHLIGHTING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
Along with Marchand, the Sun Devils turned in a handful of impressive individual performances. Jade Foelske finished second in both the 100 & 200 fly at 54.66 and 1:58.71, respectively.
Erica Laning won the women's 200 free, touching the wall at 1:47.58 and outstretching Stanford's 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist Brooke Forde, who finished at 1:47.71.
Grant House tallied wins in the 200 free (1:34.63) and the 400 free relay (2:53.84), joined alongside Carter Swift, Evan Carlson and Jack Dolan. With a pair of wins today, House and Marchand have now won multiple events in each of the first three meets of the season.
Alex Colson took home the 200 fly (1:46.76), marking his second win of the season and the first time in his college career that he's won the event.
Erin Milligan added second-place finishes in the 100 free (51.55), already the fourth time she's podiumed in an individual race in her freshman season.
Ethan Luc's 20.24 effort in the 50 free earned him a second-place finish, the first time the San Jose native has reached the podium this season.
UP NEXT
It's a quick turnaround for the Sun Devils, who'll head down the road to visit the No. 2/7 Cal Golden Bears tomorrow afternoon, with competition slated to begin at 1 p.m. MST.