No. 13/22 Sun Devil Swimming Falls at Home to USC
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Strong showings from Léon Marchand, Grant House and Emma Nordin weren't enough to propel ASU to victory on Saturday, as both Sun Devil squads were served their first losses of the regular season against No. 17/23 USC.
The No. 22 Women's team were defeated by the No. 17 Trojans, 208-90, and the No. 13 Men's team -- racing in their first event of the regular season -- were bested by the No. 23 Trojans, 155.5-138.5
On an afternoon where both teams were edged, there was still plenty to like from what the Sun Devils displayed.
Léon Marchand, the Sun Devils' decorated freshman, dazzled in his debut, winning all three of his events that he raced in -- the 200 yard IM, the 200 yard butterfly and the 200 yard backstroke. In the IM, Marchand clocked in at a final time of 1:43.69, a near five seconds faster than the race's runner-up.
The former Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jack Dolan added a win in the 100-yard backstroke. Grant House and Carter Swift -- two of the Sun Devils' steady, veteran leaders -- were terrific, as well.
House won the 100 and 200 yard free, edging out Swift in the former of the two events by a half-second. The two redshirt seniors were also part of the Sun Devils' 400 free relay team that narrowly beat USC in the final race of the day.
Redshirt sophomore Alex Colson, one of the top swimmers in the butterfly event in school history, added a win in the 100 fly at :47.78. Finishing just behind him in that event were two teammates, Cody Bybee and Evan Carlson, as the Sun Devils had the top-three finishers in that race.
The women's team, a day removed from a big win over UCLA, received big boosts from Nordin, Erica Laning and Lindsay Looney.
Nordin won the 1000 free for the third consecutive meet, dating back to match-ups with Washington State and UCLA.
Looney won the 200 fly and Laning added a second-place finish behind Nordin in the 1000 free.
Both of Bob Bowman's Sun Devil teams will have some time to reset before their next competition, the N.C. State Invite in Greensboro, North Carolina, in late November.