Stanford Completes Weekend Sweep of Arizona Schools, Men and Women

TUCSON, AZ, January 22. AFTER wins over Arizona State on Friday, the Stanford Cardinal moved down the road to Tucson and picked up wins for both its men and women over the Wildcats of the University of Arizona on Saturday, per UofA reports.

No. 5 Arizona men’s swimming and diving team fell to undefeated No. 1 Stanford 155-82 Saturday, dropping their overall record to 4-3 overall (1-2 Pac-10). The No. 4 women’s team posted their first loss of the season, falling to the No. 8 Cardinal 165-135.

While the men were not able to upset the top-ranked Cardinal, there were many notable efforts including the 400y medley relay team of freshmen Nick Thoman, Ivan Barnes, Albert Subirats and junior Byron Jeffers who finished second with a time of 3:20.78. Junior Tyler DeBerry finished second in the 1000y freestyle (9:22.36) and freshman Matt Biel was third (9:24.74). Sophomore Adam Ritter finished third in the 200y freestyle with a time of 1:39.90.

Junior Lyndon Ferns posted the only first-place finishes in the meet dominating the 50y freestyle (20.08) and the 100y freestyle (44.27). Thoman finished third in the 200y backstroke (1:49.22) and sophomore Nate Rothman was fourth (1:50.66). Thoman was also fourth in the 200y butterfly with a time of 1:53.98.

DeBerry finished third in the 500y freestyle with a time of 4:32.45 and Biel finished fourth (4:36.31). Barnes swam the 200y breaststroke in a time of 2:02.89 finishing second. In the final swimming event for the men, the 400y free relay team of Ferns, Ritter, freshman Jonas Persson and junior Simon Burnett finished second with a time of 3:02.34.

On he diving side for the men, junior John Collier finished first in both diving events for the third consecutive meet posting a score of 345.67 on the 1-meter board.

“John is getting really consistent with his scoring,” said head diving coach Michele Mitchell-Rocha. “They are quality scores that are good enough to make it to NCAAs in the spring.”

For the women’s swim team, the 400y medley relay team of junior Jenna Gresdal, junior Erin Sieper, sophomore Whitney Myers and freshman Lacey Nymeyer finished second with a time of 3:45.96. Senior Emily Mason placed third in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:58.09.

Nymeyer won the 200y freestyle with a time of 1:49.53 and Gresdal took first place in the 100y backstroke (54.56). Gresdal tallied another individual win in the 50y freestyle with a time of 23.71 and Nymeyer also won the 100y freestyle (50.73) while freshman Courtney Cashion finished third (51.52). Mason finished second in the 200y butterfly (2:02.46) and Myers finished third (2:03.63).

Senior Jessica Hayes dominated the 200y backstroke winning the race with a time of 1:59.55 and Gresdal placed second (2:00.27). Mason finished first in the 500y freestyle (4:49.85) where she is currently ranked No.1 in the nation with a time of 4:40.51. Junior Lisa Pursley finished second in the 100y butterfly (56.96) and Myers also finished second in the 200y individual medley (2:04.93). The 400y free relay team of Cashion, Hayes, Nymeyer and junior Marshi Smith finished first with a time of 3:24.53.

“This is a hard time of year for us to compete,” said head swimming coach Frank Busch.” Since we are already qualified for the NCAA Championships it’s hard to keep motivated. We hate losing but we’ll have to keep our heads up and prepare for our upcoming meets.”

In the diving well, senior Claire Febvay won the 3-meter competition with 277.58 points while classmate Daniela Bemme was fourth (242.63 points). On the 1-meter board, Bemme placed third with 250.05 points and Febvay was fourth (244.12 points).

“It’s always a battle with Stanford,” said Mitchell-Rocha. “We always split with them. It’s good to compete at this time of year against this level of competition because it prepares us for the NCAA Championships.”

The Wildcats will return to the water next week when they travel to Austin, Texas on Jan. 28-29. Competition will begin at 6 p.m. (CST) Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.

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