March 8, 2002
Prelim Results
LONG BEACH, Calif. - A pair of fourth-place relay finishes led the way for Arizona State's men's swimming and diving team in the second day of the Pac-10 Championships at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif., Friday.
With only one day remaining, the Sun Devils remain in fifth place out of six teams. Stanford, ranked No. 1 in the nation, has a strong grasp of first place with 637 points, followed respectively by California (468.5 points), Arizona (398.5), USC (384), ASU (293) and Washington (98).
In the first event final of the day, ASU's 200-yard medley relay team of Ahmed Hussein, Russell MacDonald, Simon MacDonald and Nick Brunelli combined for the third-fastest time in school history at 1:28.15 to place fourth. Stanford continued its dominance in the relays by winning in 1:26.46.
Finally, in the last event final of the day, an 800y freestyle relay team of Brunelli, Gavin Meadows, Bo West and Anders Lyrbring took fourth in 6:32.45, well off USC's victorious 6:24.62 pace.
For the second straight day Meadows was ASU's leader in the individual events. One day after placing sixth in the 500y free, the senior from Leeds, England, captured fifth-place in the 200y free. Meadows swam 1:37.36 in both the prelims and finals, just off his season-best of 1:37.31. USC's Klete Keller was the Pac-10 title-winner in the event in 1:35.25.
Also finishing strong in the 200y free were Lyrbring and West. Placing second in the consolation final, Lyrbring accounted for a 10th-place finish overall with a time of 1:38.96, while West swam 1:40.19 to take 15th.
In the 100y backstroke, Hussein raced to his second-fastest time of the year at 48.16 to place sixth, while junior teammate Christian Harcsas took ninth overall by winning the consolation final in 48.77.
ASU's only other swimmer to make a championship final Friday was freshman Russell MacDonald, who placed seventh in the 100y breast in his inaugural conference championship meet. MacDonald swam his collegiate best at 56.16 in prelims before touching the wall in 56.43 in finals. Stanford's Michael Bruce was the event champion with a time of 53.79.
Other event finals contested Friday were the 100y butterfly and the 400y individual medley. In the 100y fly, senior Simon MacDonald (no relation to Russell), earned a personal-best 48.32 to lead ASU with a 12th-place finish. Sophomore Rich Jacobs was the team leader in the 400y IM, placing 15th in 3:56.06 after becoming the third-fastest ASU swimmer all-time in that event with a prelims effort of 3:54.29.
The Pac-10 Championships conclude Saturday, with event finals of the 1650y freestyle, 200y backstroke, 100y freestyle, 200y breaststroke, 200y butterfly and 400y freestyle relay.
The post-season doesn't end for ASU with the Pac-10 Championships. Next up are the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Stanford, Calif., March 14-16. Then, qualifying women's swimmers and divers will compete in the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas, March 21-23. The men's NCAA swimming and diving championships wrap up the 2001-02 season from Athens, Ga., March 28-30.