Ralph Daleiden, Eleni Gewalt Power Arizona Sweep of Minnesota
Ralph Daleiden and Eleni Gewalt came up big for Arizona on Saturday, leading it to a pair of cross-conference dual meet wins over Minnesota.
The Arizona men claimed a 162-147 victory at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. The women squeaked out a 156-144 decision over the Golden Gophers.
Gewalt’s contributions were clutch. The junior went 1:00.71 to win the 100 breaststroke, arresting a streak of three straight individual wins by Minnesota. Gewalt also won the 200 breast in 2:13.90. The Wildcats swept the top three in both events, with Kelsey Wasikowski and Carrie Kramer following in alternating order in the two events.
Gewalt was part of the Wildcats’ 400 medley relay that opened the meet with a win, teaming with Paige Armstrong, Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhangh and Alyssa Schwengel for a time of 3:36.89. Schwengel also anchored the winning 200 free relay to formally seal the win.
Arizona’s sprint contingent was central to the win. Lexi Duchsherer went 22.31 to win the 50 free ahead of teammate Julia Wozniak. Wozniak won the 100 free in a round 50.00 with Riley Botton third. Sheikhalizadehkhangh claimed the 100 butterfly. Duchsherer and Botton were on the 200 free relay.
Kayman Neal added a win in the 200 back for the Wildcats. Brooke Earley scored a win in 1-meter diving with a score of 303.15 points. Teammate Zara Ayazi was second, and Earley placed second on 3-meter to Minnesota’s Elna Widerstrom.
The Golden Gophers started the meet strongly. Eliot Kennedy led a podium sweep in the 1,000 free in 9:41.41, with Katie McCarthy second less than two seconds back. The Kaljevics swept the 200 free, Anja Kaljevic leading sister Mina Kaljevic by a second in 1:47.18. Ava Yablonski followed with a win in the 100 back and was second in the 200 back.
Kennedy and McCarthy went 1-2 in the 500 free, then McCarthy won the 400 individual medley ahead of Kennedy. Rachel Conley won the 200 fly.
Daleiden helmed the efforts on the men’s side with a pair of individual wins. The Luxembourg Olympian went 1:34.90 in the 200 free to get things started for the Wildcats, with teammate Lars Kuljus second. Daleiden won the 100 free in 43.29, then split 19.74 off the front of the 200 free relay to help the team of Hunter Ingram, Kuljus and Daniel Young win in 1:18.82, Young’s anchor split of 19.55 giving them the win by .06 seconds.
Haakon Naughton swept the butterfly events, winning a pair of duels with Minnesota’s Jacob Johnson. Naughton also swam on the Wildcats’ winning 400 medley relay. Young was the breaststroker in that group, then finished second to Tavner Wisdom’s 53.20 in the 100 breast.
The teams split the diving battles. Arizona’s Gage Dubois won on 1-meter with his score of 332.70 points. Second was Wang YuTong of Minnesota, who tallied 380.63 to win 3-meter in a 1-2 with Andrew Bennett.
The Golden Gophers kept it close in Tucson. They opened with a podium sweep in the 1,000 free, Luke Brennan winning in 9:07.06 with Bar Soloveychik and Joey Tepper within a second and a half. Soloveychik won the 500 free with Brennan third. Tepper claimed the 200 back and 400 IM. Casey Stowe’s 47.82 in the 100 made it a sweep of backstroke. Kaiser Neverman won the 50 free in 19.81 and finished second to Daleiden in the 100 free. Max Schuerer won the 200 breast in 1:59.10, one of four Gophers under two minutes.
