Relay Teams Dominate Opening Day Of Minnesota Invite

Wednesday, November 29

Minneapolis, MN

TBD

California

Minnesota Invitational

Gabriel Jett's helped the Bears pull away in the 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday night at the Minnesota Invitational.

Photo by: Catharyn Hayne/KLC Fotos

11/29/2023 7:12 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving

Cal Records Two NCAA A-Cut Times

By: Cal Athletics

MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 4 California men's swimming & diving team had a terrific start to the Minnesota Invitational on Wednesday, winning both relays and recording a pair of NCAA A qualifying times.

In the opening event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay, the Golden Bears had the top two finishers. Cal's B lineup of Destin Lasco, Matthew Jensen, Dare Rose, and Colby Hatton finished with a time of 1:23.33 – which would have been good enough for an NCAA A cut time, and would have been the sixth-fastest time of the season in the NCAA.

However, in the very next heat, the quartet of Björn Seeliger, Liam Bell, Roman Jones, and Jack Alexy finished with a time of 1:22.87 – which matches N.C. State for the third fastest time in the nation this season. Jones and Alexy flew down the stretch to catch Cal's B lineup, which had the fastest time after the first two heats.

In the final event of the evening, the 800 freestyle relay, Cal once again had two of the top-three finishes. Cal's A relay finished with an NCAA A-cut time of 6:13.62. The lineup of Robin Hanson (1:33.50), Lasco (1:33.06), Aaron Shackell (1:34.17), and Gabriel Jett (1:32.89) pulled away in the second half of the race to defeat runner-up Arizona by almost two seconds. The Bears' time is good enough for the third-fastest time in the country this season.

Cal's B lineup of Keaton Jones (1:33.45), Colby Mefford (1:35.71), Trent Frandson (1:35.03), and Dylan Hawk (1:34.94) finished with a time of 6:19.13 – just outside of the NCAA B-cut.

The meet resumes Thursday at 8 a.m. PT with the prelims of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, and 50 free. Diving gets underway at 11 a.m. PT with the 3-meter dive. Day two wraps up with the finals, which begin at 4 p.m. PT.

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