Big 12 Championships, Day 4 Finals: Ilya Kharun Wins Third Event With 1:37.70 200 Fly
The star of the Big 12 Championships has been Arizona State junior Ilya Kharun, who now has three individual victories while setting himself up to challenge for national top-three finishes in each of his individual events. He previously won the 50 freestyle Wednesday and the 100 butterfly Thursday, and now Kharun has put together a dominant effort in his signature event, the 200 butterfly, as his Sun Devils continue to show off their elite credentials.
On the women’s side, ASU’s Deniz Ertan captured her second victory of the meet, but the team’s grip on individual women’s swimming wins was finally broken thanks to Cincinnati’s Joleigh Crye in the 100 breaststroke.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 27 1. Arizona State University 1118.5 2. University of Arizona 830.5 3. University of Houston 694.5 4. University of Cincinnati 535 5. University of Utah 482 6. University of Kansas 479.5 7. Texas Christian University 464 8. Iowa State University 360 9. Brigham Young University 327 10. West Virginia University 247
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 28 1. Arizona State University 1240.5 2. University of Arizona 991.5 3. University of Utah 921 4. Texas Christian University 579 5. Brigham Young University 544 6. University of Cincinnati 415 7. West Virginia University 405
Women’s 200 Butterfly
Arizona State’s Deniz Ertan has her second victory of the competition after pulling away from teammate Julia Ullmann down the stretch in the 200 fly. Ullmann, the 100 fly winner, had a slight lead at the 50-yard mark and remained in contact at the halfway point, but Ertan, two days removed from her win in the 500 free, had too much left down the stretch.
Ertan finished in 1:56.31, more than enough to earn a second event at the NCAA level, while Ullmann was second in 1:57.29. Ullmann will, however, be able to swim the 200 fly at the NCAA Championships by virtue of her automatic qualification for the meet in the 100 fly and her season best time of 1:55.80 from November (under the cut). Houston occupied the next two spots with Sydney Nethercutt (1:57.62) and Noor El Gendy (1:58.80).
Event 25 Women 200 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
NCAA D1: ! 1:49.16 2/23/2024 Alex Walsh
American: $ 1:49.37 10/20/2023Regan Smith
US Open: & 1:48.33 10/20/2023Reagan Smith
Big 12: * 1:49.95 3/18/2023 Emma Sticklen, Texas
Meet: # 1:51.66 3/1/2024 Kelly Pash, Texas
NCAA Qualify: A 1:57.11
NCCA Invit25: 1:55.82
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Ertan, Deniz SR ASU 1:57.46 1:56.31A 32
r:+0.70 25.94 55.62 (29.68)
1:25.65 (30.03) 1:56.31 (30.66)
2 Ullmann, Julia SO ASU 1:58.54 1:57.29 28
r:+0.66 25.88 55.93 (30.05)
1:26.38 (30.45) 1:57.29 (30.91)
3 Nethercutt, Sydney JR UH 1:58.25 1:57.62 27
r:+0.83 26.52 56.01 (29.49)
1:25.91 (29.90) 1:57.62 (31.71)
4 El Gendy, Noor SR UH 1:59.81 1:58.80 26
r:+0.71 26.76 56.69 (29.93)
1:27.59 (30.90) 1:58.80 (31.21)
5 Neilson, MJ SO ARIZ 2:00.88 1:59.52 25
r:+0.62 26.53 56.31 (29.78)
1:27.25 (30.94) 1:59.52 (32.27)
6 Mallers, Kendall FR ISU 2:00.11 2:00.15 24
r:+0.70 26.11 56.10 (29.99)
1:27.83 (31.73) 2:00.15 (32.32)
7 Kinsey, Emma JR ARIZ 1:59.37 2:00.51 23
r:+0.71 26.85 57.14 (30.29)
1:28.67 (31.53) 2:00.51 (31.84)
8 Beltran, Ariel SO ASU 2:00.82 2:01.13 22
r:+0.71 26.27 56.49 (30.22)
1:28.23 (31.74) 2:01.13 (32.90)
Men’s 200 Butterfly
In a shocking turn of events, Ilya Kharun was actually challenged on the way to a title in the 200 butterfly. Arizona’s Haakon Naughton, already the runnerup over 100 yards, took the lead over Kharun at the 100-yard mark by more than seven tenths, and he held that advantage through the third 50. But Naughton had nothing left coming home as the always-fast-finishing Kharun blasted a sensational 24.60 closing split to secure his third individual win of the meet.
Kharun finished in 1:37.70, just off his season-best time of 1:37.56 from November but ahead of the Big 12 meet record posted by Texas’ Jack Conger in 2017. Only Luca Urlando of Georgia has surpassed that mark this season, and indeed, the reigning NCAA champion and 200-meter fly world champion is the only active collegian to ever go faster than Kharun did Friday.
Naughton claimed second place in 1:39.22, good for No. 5 in the country and easy qualification to the NCAA Championships, and the Wildcats secured a 2-3 finish as Joel Nace placed third in 1:43.41. Utah’s Evan VanBrocklin, previously the winner of the 200 IM, ended up fourth (1:43.94).
Event 26 Men 200 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
NCAA D1: ! 1:37.17 1/25/2025 Luca Urlando
American: $ 1:36.41 11/21/2025Luca Urlando
US Open: & 1:36.41 11/21/2025Luca Urlando
Big 12: * 1:37.35 3/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
Meet: # 1:39.17 2/25/2017 Jack Conger, Texas
NCAA Qualify: A 1:43.79
NCCA Invit25: 1:41.45
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Kharun, Ilya JR ASU 1:40.37 1:37.70# 32
r:+0.68 21.98 47.65 (25.67)
1:13.10 (25.45) 1:37.70 (24.60)
2 Naughton, Haakon SR ARIZ 1:43.29 1:39.22A 28
r:+0.63 22.04 46.88 (24.84)
1:12.37 (25.49) 1:39.22 (26.85)
3 Nace, Joel SO ARIZ 1:42.87 1:43.41A 27
r:+0.62 22.51 48.32 (25.81)
1:15.29 (26.97) 1:43.41 (28.12)
4 VanBrocklin, Evan SR UTAH 1:44.81 1:43.94 26
r:+0.64 23.31 49.96 (26.65)
1:17.05 (27.09) 1:43.94 (26.89)
5 Walter, Jakub JR UTAH 1:45.16 1:44.34 25
r:+0.75 23.47 50.10 (26.63)
1:17.23 (27.13) 1:44.34 (27.11)
6 Senc-Samardzic, Filip JR ASU 1:44.83 1:44.43 24
r:+0.68 22.67 48.86 (26.19)
1:16.23 (27.37) 1:44.43 (28.20)
7 Ballard, Jacob SR BYU 1:45.21 1:45.46 23
r:+0.64 23.10 49.40 (26.30)
1:17.08 (27.68) 1:45.46 (28.38)
8 Hristov, Viktor SO TCU 1:45.20 1:45.56 22
r:+0.69 22.54 48.79 (26.25)
1:16.37 (27.58) 1:45.56 (29.19)
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
For the first time all meet, a non-Arizona State swimmer was victorious in a women’s individual event. Joleigh Crye, who placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke at the 2025 NCAA Championships, came through for a wire-to-wire win in 58.02. Crye will go for another top-eight finish at the national level as she will enter with a seed time of 57.99, recorded in November and ranking No. 10 in the country.
Arizona’s Eleni Gewalt will likely make it to NCAAs after she placed second in 58.56 while Crye’s Cincinnati teammate Lindi Worrell will be on the bubble with her third-place time of 59.34.
Event 27 Women 100 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
NCAA D1: ! 55.73 3/22/2019 Lilly King
American: $ 55.73 3/22/2019 Lilly King
US Open: & 55.73 3/22/2019 Lilly King
Big 12: * 56.88 3/18/2022 Anna Elendt, Texas
Meet: # 57.27 3/1/2024 Lydia Jacoby, Texas
NCAA Qualify: A 1:00.30
NCCA Invit25: 59.57
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Crye, Joleigh SR CINC 58.62 58.02A 32
r:+0.73 12.41 26.99 (14.58)
42.27 (15.28) 58.02 (15.75)
2 Gewalt, Eleni SR ARIZ 59.13 58.56A 28
r:+0.69 14.15 27.47 (13.32)
44.25 (16.78) 58.56 (14.31)
3 Worrell, Lindi JR CINC 59.61 59.34A 27
r:+0.69 12.66 27.44 (14.78)
43.17 (15.73) 59.34 (16.17)
4 Entrekin, Evelyn JR UH 1:00.11 59.83A 26
r:+0.74 13.47 28.51 (15.04)
44.31 (15.80) 59.83 (15.52)
5 Swoboda, Grace SO ISU 1:00.24 1:00.18A 25
r:+0.76 13.07 28.17 (15.10)
44.22 (16.05) 1:00.18 (15.96)
6 Vasquez, Lucie SO ASU 1:00.48 1:00.23A 24
r:+0.69 12.80 28.27 (15.47)
43.90 (15.63) 1:00.23 (16.33)
7 McMahon, Ginger SR ASU 1:00.05 1:00.34 23
r:+0.69 13.06 28.57 (15.51)
43.96 (15.39) 1:00.34 (16.38)
8 Vadovicova, Nina JR TCU 1:00.15 1:00.44 22
r:+0.75 13.05 28.58 (15.53)
44.15 (15.57) 1:00.44 (16.29)
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
How about another 1-2-3 finish for Arizona State to continue the Sun Devils’ statement performance this week in Greensboro? In the men’s 100 breast, Andy Dobrzanski faced off with teammate Lucien Vergnes, overcoming an early deficit to put up a winning time of 51.32. Dobrzanski is already a top-10 swimmer in the country in the event by virtue of the 51.00 he posted in January.
Vergnes placed second in 51.65 with Sun Devils freshman Jonathan Itzhaki third in 52.18. ASU also had Brayden Taivassalo in fifth place (plus Jon Reiter seventh), with only Arizona’s Tavner Wisdom breaking up the top-four sweep.
Event 28 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
NCAA D1: ! 49.51 2/21/2025 Julian Smith
American: $ 49.51 2/21/2025 Julian Smith
US Open: & 49.51 2/21/2025 Julian Smith
Big 12: * 50.49 3/25/2022 Caspar Corbeau, Texas
Meet: # 50.96 2/25/2022 Caspar Corbeau, Texas
NCAA Qualify: A 52.58
NCCA Invit25: 51.58
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Dobrzanski, Andy SR ASU 52.02 51.32A 32
r:+0.67 11.03 23.94 (12.91)
37.62 (13.68) 51.32 (13.70)
2 Vergnes, Lucien SO ASU 51.90 51.65A 28
r:+0.62 10.87 23.96 (13.09)
37.67 (13.71) 51.65 (13.98)
3 Itzhaki, Jonathan FR ASU 52.87 52.18A 27
r:+0.67 11.01 24.25 (13.24)
38.00 (13.75) 52.18 (14.18)
4 Wisdom, Tavner JR ARIZ 52.17 52.51A 26
r:+0.65 11.59 24.74 (13.15)
38.49 (13.75) 52.51 (14.02)
5 Taivassalo, Brayden JR ASU 52.47 52.56A 25
r:+0.67 11.10 24.63 (13.53)
38.19 (13.56) 52.56 (14.37)
6 Etzold, Peter SO BYU 52.49 52.58A 24
r:+0.63 11.20 24.55 (13.35)
38.39 (13.84) 52.58 (14.19)
7 Reiter, Jon GS ASU 53.10 52.88 23
r:+0.63 10.86 24.35 (13.49)
38.32 (13.97) 52.88 (14.56)
8 Bonnett, Will SO BYU 52.88 53.09 22
r:+0.62 11.07 24.26 (13.19)
38.82 (14.56) 53.09 (14.27)
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Men’s Platform Diving
Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay
Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay
