2024 Minnesota Invite: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2024 Minnesota Invite

It’s the second evening of finals on the 2024 Minnesota Invite, the place we’ll see finals of the five hundred freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, and 200 freestyle relays. It was a busy prelims session and because the session went on, the Cal Golden Bears obtained stronger and stronger, culminating in sweeping the highest eight spots within the males’s 50 freestyle.

We’re nonetheless ready on the finals warmth sheets to substantiate, however barring any scratches, Minnesota has the highest seed within the 500 freestyles due to Katie McCarthy (4:43.09) and Bar Soloveychik (4:18.65), whereas Cal has the highest seed within the different 4 particular person occasions.

Isabelle Stadden posted the quickest time within the girls’s 200 IM (1:56.99) earlier than touching second within the 50 freestyle prelims behind freshman Mary-Ambre Moluh (22.19). The lads’s morning was highlighted by an enormous finest time within the 200 IM by Gabriel Jett, who was on the again half of a 500 free/200 IM double. He posted a 1:41.89, main defending NCAA champion Destin Lasco (1:44.90) in his NCAA season debut (1:44.60). Bjorn Seeliger dropped a season-best 19.22 to qualify first within the 50 freestyle. He’ll be in lane 4 for the all-Golden Bear closing, round him two notable swims got here from freshman Nans Mazellier (2nd, 19.52) and sophomore Nikolas Antoniou (seventh, 19.78) who each certified for the ‘A’ closing by breaking 20 seconds for the primary time.

WOMEN’S 500 FREE – Ultimate

NCAA File: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 4:37.89
2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:41.19

Prime 8:

Maya Geringer (CAL), 4:40.98
Katie McCarthy (MINN), 4:41.57
Alexandra Bastone (HARV)/Eliot Kennedy (MINN), 4:41.69
(tie)
Ava Chavez (CAL), 4:45.48
Anja Kaljevic (MINN), 4:46.75
Erika Carlson (UNLV), 4:47.90
Kathryn Hazle (CAL), 4:50.16

Graduate switch Maya Geringer pulled away over the ultimate 100 yards to take the win within the girls’s 500 freestyle. She swam a season-best 4:40.98, getting below the 2024 NCAA cutline. She touched over a half-second forward of Minnesota sophomore Katie McCarthy, who clipped her lifetime finest with a 4:41.57. Beforehand, her finest stood at 4:41.82, which she swam on the 2024 Large Ten Championships.

There was a tie for third, as Eliot Kennedy pulled out a 27.59 cut up on the ultimate 50 yards to drag even with Harvard’s Alexandra Bastone and cease the clock together with her at 4:41.69. The time is a lifetime finest for each swimmers, as improves Bastone’s standing on the Harvard all-time prime ten. Kennedy’s earlier finest was a 4:44.15.

Ava Chavez was a late entry into this occasion and made the ‘A’ closing out of warmth one, lane eight. She added six-tenths from her prelims lifetime finest, however nonetheless took fifth, clocking 4:45.48.

MEN’S 500 FREE – Ultimate

NCAA File: 4:02.31, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 4:10.74
2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:14.90

Prime 8:

Gabriel Jett (CAL), 4:16.63
Keaton Jones (CAL), 4:16.76
Bar Soloveychik (MINN), 4:18.01
Joey Tepper (MINN), 4:19.16
Tyler Kopp (CAL), 4:19.45
Thackston McMullan (CAL), 4:19.98
Kieran Watson (DU), 4:21.46
Matthew Chai (CAL), 4:22.92

After prelims, it was Minnesota’s distance duo of Bar Soloveychik and Joey Tepper main the way in which with a 1-2 end. Tonight, Gabriel Jett and Keaton Jones from Cal took over as the highest pair with a 1-2 end of their very own. Jones, a 200 backstroke Olympic finalist this summer season, closed the hole to Jett on the ultimate 50, out-splitting his teammate 24.58 to 24.83, however he finally ran out of room to trace down the senior Jett.

Jett clocked a season-best 4:16.63 to win the occasion, with Jones ending .13 seconds behind in a season-best of his personal (4:16.76). Behind the highest two Golden Bears, Minnesota’s Soloveychik and Tepper completed third and fourth, swimming 4:18.01 and 4:19.16, respectively.

Cal freshman Thackston McMullan swam his second lifetime better of the day, breaking 4:20 for the primary time in his profession with a 4:19.98. McMullan got here to Minneapolis with a lifetime better of 4:25.45, which he swam final month. He clocked a 4:22.38 in prelims earlier than bettering that within the closing to complete sixth. General, he dropped 5.47 seconds within the occasion in the present day.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – Ultimate

NCAA File: 1:48.37, Kate Douglass (Virginia) – 2023
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 1:53.66
2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:57.03

Prime 8:

Leah Polonsky (CAL), 1:53.65 NCAA ‘A’
Isabelle Stadden (CAL), 1:58.32
Margaux McDonald (CAL), 1:58.48
Arielle Brotman (CAL), 1:59.40
Molly Urkiel (RUT), 2:00.21
Lizzy Cook dinner (CAL), 2:00.42
Shannon Meadway (RUT), 2:00.51
Stephanie Iannaccone (HARV), 2:00.68

As anticipated, graduate pupil Isabelle Stadden was in full management after the backstroke leg; she turned on the midway level in 51.79 after splitting 27.44 on the backstroke leg. However her teammate, senior Leah Polonsky, put in an enormous shift on the breaststroke whereas Stadden faltered. Polonsky cut up 31.92 to Stadden’s 35.95, giving the senior the lead heading into the ultimate 50 yards.

Polonsky didn’t look again, anchoring her race in a field-best 27.37 to win in 1:53.65 and get below the ‘A’ lower by a hundredth. She’s now the fourth-fastest swimmer within the NCAA this season.

Stadden held on for second in 1:58.32, off her prelims swim of 1:56.99. She touched .16 seconds forward of her teammate, graduate switch Margaux McDonald (1:58.48). The Golden Bears swept the highest 4 spots as Arielle Brotman joined her teammates sub-2:00. Rutgers’ Molly Urkiel continued to shed time, dropping one other .28 seconds off her finest with a 2:00.21 to deliver her whole time drop on the day to three.65 seconds.

MEN’S 200 IM – Ultimate

NCAA File: 1:36.34, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2023
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 1:41.03
2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:43.05

Prime 8:

Destin Lasco (CAL), 1:42.72
Sean Swift (CAL), 1:44.56
Carter Lancaster (CAL), 1:45.01
Daniel Nicusan (UNLV), 1:45.12
Ryan Slonac (MINN), 1:45.77
Kaiser Neverman (MINN), 1:46.49
Cooper Kiel (UNLV), 1:47.01
Michael Breitbart (UNLV), 1:47.97

The would-be prime seed Gabriel Jett, who simply received the five hundred freestyle, scratched out of this occasion after his large lifetime finest within the prelims. That left the way in which clear for defending NCAA champion Destin Lasco, who received the occasion handily with a 1:42.72, which leaves Jett’s 1:41.89 from prelims because the quickest time swum at this invite. Lasco led from begin to end, splitting 22.01/25.42/30.85/24.44 en path to his win.

It was a more in-depth race behind him, although Sean Swift broke away from the remainder of the sector (sans Lasco) through the breaststroke leg, splitting 29.80, and held on with a 25.75 freestyle cut up to take second in 1:44.56. Carter Lancaster clipped his lifetime finest by a hundredth of a second (1:45.01), giving Cal a 1-2-3 end as he touched simply .11 seconds forward of UNLV’s Daniel Nicusan.

Nicusan’s 1:45.12 is his second lifetime finest within the occasion in the present day; in prelims, he broke 1:46 for the primary time, swimming 1:45.99 to qualify for the ‘A’ closing. Within the closing, he bettered that point by .87 seconds. Ryan Slonac additionally turned in his second better of the day, clocking 1:45.77 to complete fifth.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – Ultimate

NCAA File: 20.37, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 21.63
2024 NCAA Cutline: 22.11

Prime 8:

Mary-Ambre Moluh (CAL), 21.68
Livi Wanner (MINN), 22.21
McKenna Stone (CAL), 22.24
Isabelle Stadden (CAL), 22.25
Morgan Brophy (CAL), 22.35
Ella Mazurek (CAL), 22.53
Hannah Cornish (MINN), 22.62
Femke Hoppenbrouwer (CAL), 22.95

In prelims, freshman Mary-Ambreh Moluh was 5 hundredths from her lifetime finest. She crushed that lifetime finest (22.14), through the closing, powering away from the sector for the win in 21.68. The swim is her first below the 22-second mark and the .46-second enchancment launches her onto the Cal all-time prime ten checklist. She’s now fifth in class historical past, knocking Natalie Coughlin out of the highest 10.

Minnesota freshman Livi Wanner swam a lifetime better of her personal, enhancing from the 22.40 she swam earlier this season to 22.21. She received a decent race for second, touching three-hundredths forward of McKenna Stone and four-hundredths forward of Isabelle Stadden, recent off a runner-up end within the 200 IM.

Hannah Cornish completed seventh (22.62) on her third 50 freestyle of the day, having received the swim-off for a spot within the ‘A’ closing.

MEN’S 50 FREE – Ultimate

NCAA File: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 18.82
2024 NCAA Cutline: 19.13

Prime 8:

Evan Petty (CAL), 19.39
Nans Mazellier (CAL), 19.40
Roman Jones (CAL), 19.46
Bjorn Seeliger (CAL), 19.52
Nikolas Antoniou (CAL), 19.68
August Vetsch (CAL), 19.84
Colby Hatton (CAL), 19.97
Kai Crews (CAL), 20.30

Evan Petty and Nans Mazellier bettered the private bests they swam in prelims, clocking 19.39 and 19.40 to complete first and second within the males’s 50 freestyle. Petty’s 19.39 improves on the 19.53 that he swam in prelims; coming into the meet his lifetime finest was 19.73 from March 2023, so he’s lower .34 seconds off his finest in the present day.

Petty was sixth on the flip however charged on the second 25 yards, closing in 9.84 to get his hand on the wall first, a hundredth forward of Mazellier. Earlier than this morning, Mazellier–a global freshman–had by no means damaged 20 seconds. Now, he owns a lifetime better of 19.40 after breaking by way of the barrier with a 19.52 in prelims.

The highest three swimmers all posted lifetime bests as Roman Jones shaved four-hundredths from his finest to the touch third in 19.46. After posting the highest time of the morning, Bjorn Seeliger added time from his season-best of 19.22, ending fourth behind in 19.52. Behind Seeliger, Nikolas Antoniou improved on the very best he set in prelims with a 19.68. Like Mazellier, this morning was additionally his first time sub-20.

Girls’s 200 Free Relay — Timed Ultimate

NCAA File: 1:23.63, Virginia — 2024
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 1:28.42
2025 NCAA ‘B’ Reduce: 1:29.00

Prime 8:

Cal ‘A’ (West, Stadden, Moluh, Stone), 1:27.54 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce
Minnesota ‘A’ (Wanner, Thomas, Cornish, Kaljevic), 1:30.09
Harvard ‘A’ (Lu, Mostek, Wieclawek, McDonald), 1:30.98
UNLV ‘A’, 1:32.15
Denver ‘A’, 1:32.85
Rutgers ‘A’, 1:34.53

Cal’s ‘A’ relay of Mia West (22.58), Stadden (21.86), Moluh (21.35), and McKenna Stone (21.75) swam a 1:27.54, main from wire-to-wire to win the ladies’s 200 freestyle relay. The ‘A’ squad’s time earned Cal and NCAA ‘A’ lower and moved them into the highest 10 within the NCAA this season.

Cal was the one squad to hit both an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ lower as Minnesota’s ‘A’ relay of Wanner (22.64), Morgan Thomas (22.31), Cornish (22.60), and Mina Kaljevic (22.54) swam a 1:30.09 to complete second. They touched practically a second forward of Harvard’s ‘A’ workforce of Sydney Lu (22.86), Ana Mostek (22.45), Blythe Wieclawek (22.81), and Kaylee McDonald (22.86) took third in 1:30.98.

Males’s 200 Free Relay — Timed Ultimate

NCAA File: 1:13.35, Florida — 2023
2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 1:16.51
2025 NCAA ‘B’ Reduce: 1:17.13

Prime 8:

Cal ‘A’ (Petty, Mazellier, Battaglini, Jett), 1:16.75
Harvard ‘A’ (Wang, Greeley, Pilkinton, Gattnar), 1:18.12
Minnesota ‘A’ (Harabagiu, Neverman, Johnson, Abdelwahab), 1:18.77
UNLV ‘A’, 1:19.51
Denver ‘A’, 1:20.24

Cal solely used two of their eight 50 freestyle ‘A’ finalists on their prime 200 freestyle relay, however the quartet of Petty (19.55), Mazellier (19.15), Lucca Battaglini (18.85), and Jett (19.20) simply took the win with a 1:16.75. Battaglini received the ‘B’ closing within the particular person 50 freestyle in 19.42, which might’ve completed third within the ‘A’ closing; right here within the relay, he had the quickest cut up (18.85).

Harvard’s ‘A’ quartet completed second in 1:18.12. Defending Ivy League champion Sonny Wang led the quartet off in 19.67, simply .06 seconds from his lifetime finest 19.61, which he swam to win his title final season. David Greeley (19.52), Oliver Pilkinton (19.53), and Marre Gattnar (19.40) adopted up Wang’s lead-off swim.

Minnesota’s ‘A’ relay of Davide Harabagiu (20.11), Kaiser Neverman (19.23), Jacob Johnson (19.51), and Omar Abdelwahab (19.92) touched third in 1:18.77. In prelims of the 50 freestyle, Johnson, afreshman and 200 fly faculty document holder, broke 20 seconds for the primary time within the 50 freestyle.