Torri Huske, Jack Alexy Triple Winners at California Triple Distance
Torri Huske and Jack Alexy were among the triple winners at Friday’s Triple Distance Meet between California and Stanford.
The two American Olympians were among seven individuals to sweep their distances in the special meet, which was not scored for teams and does not count in the school’s new conference of the ACC. The meet, from Cal’s release, “splits swimmers into event groups (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, sprint freestyle, distance free and individual medley) and requires swims at three different distances within the event: 50, 100 and 200 yards in the fly, breast, back and sprint free; 200, 500, 1,000 in the distance free; and 100, 200 and 400 in the IM.”
Huske ran the table in the women’s butterfly. She won the 50 in 23.31, then went 51.63 in the 100 and 1:56.39. The latter was a tight scrape, just holding on as Stanford teammate Lillie Nordmann charged within six tenths.
Alexy dominated the sprint free pod. He went 19.60 in the 50, .16 up on Singaporean Olympian Jonathan Tan, then 43.39 in the 100 to edge Tan by .26. Alexy’s margin was a single tenth over teammate Robin Hanson in the 200 free, but he won in 1:37.16. Alexy also went 19.64 off the front a 200 free relay.
One individual swept five of the six women’s groups. Cal’s Isabelle Stadden reigned in backstroke: 24.62 in the 50, 52.82 in the 100 and 1:55.71 in the 200. Levenia Sim of Stanford was second in all three. Stanford’s Lucy Thomas bested the four-person group in breaststroke ahead of teammate Lucy Bell. Stanford’s Aurora Roghair won the distance pod, and teammates Caroline Bricker and Emily Thompson went 1-2 in each medley.
Stanford’s Ron Polonsky was the other triple winner, starting with a 49.38 in the 100 IM.
The men’s butterfly was compelling, with Rafael Gu edging Stanford mate Andrei Minakov by narrow margins in the 50 (21.08 to 21.21) and 100 (46.77 to 46.95). Minakov went 1:45.08 to slip past Gabriel Jett in the 200 fly with Gu seventh.
Bjorn Seeliger won the 50 and 100 backstroke. Yamato Okadome won the 100 and 200 breast. Matthew Chai of Cal won the 500 and 1,000 after having finished third in the 200. Henry McFadden run that before a pair of runner-up finishes, .02 behind in the 1,000 and .20 in the 500.
The women’s sprints were divided up after Mckenna Stone and Anna Shaw tied for the 50 free title. Stanford’s Kayla Wilson won the 100 and 200 free.
The teams finished by cobbling together relays. Stanford went 1:38.41 in the women’s 200 medley with Sim, Thomas, Huske and Shaw, a race in which Cal’s A squad was disqualified. Stanford male 200 medley went 1:26.37 (Gu, Polonsky, Minakov, Tan) to edge Cal by .15 seconds.
Cal won both 200 free relays, the women (Stone, Ella Mazurek, Morgan Brophy, Leah Polonsky) going 1:32.58 and the men (Alexy, Matthew Robin Hanson, Lucca Battaglini) ripping a 1:19.35.
