Wisconsin Opens Season With Win Over Arizona State

Photo Credit: Wisconsin Athletics

TEMPE, Arizona, October 4. THE Wisconsin women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams kicked off the 2014-2015 season last night by sweeping Arizona State in Tempe. The women picked up wins in 10 events while the men won eight to start out their seasons on a winning note.

Wisconsin Press Release

The Wisconsin swimming and diving program made an opening statement, defeating Arizona State 272-205 in its season-opening dual meet in Tempe, Arizona, on Friday.

The women’s team captured 10 total events and topped the Sun Devils 142-94, while the men won eight total events and edged ASU 130-110.

“I thought we did a pretty nice job today and the group did a good job competing,” head coach Whitney Hite said. “It was a good start for us. I think the key for us is that we’re better than we were last year pretty much across the board.”

Wisconsin dominated both of the women’s relays. The 200-yard medley relay of Ivy Martin, Anna Meinholz, Dana Grindall and Chase Kinney touched first in 1:41.71, while the 200-yard freestyle relay quartet of Martin, Annie Tamblyn, Aja Van Hout and Solveig Viren also won in impressive fashion and came in at 1:32.01.

Martin set the tone in the freestyle relay with a split time of 22.23, which would have been the second fastest time on the team last season. Martin, an All-American and member of the 2014-15 USA Swimming National Team, captured the Big Ten record in the 50-yard freestyle last season with a time of 21.58.

Kinney swept the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. The sophomore finished 23.12 to win the 50 free, then came back and won the 100 free as well in a time of 51.35.

In the 1000-yard freestyle, Jenny Holtzen recorded a new personal-best and the sixth-fastest time in program history at 10:00.00. Van Hout won all of her events, also posting times of 2:02.74 in the 200-yard individual medley and 4:56.23 in the 500-yard freestyle.

“The women did very well and we really looked good today,” Hite said. “Similar to the men’s side, you had your regulars, but you also had some such as Holtzen putting up some good times. Kinney has made a move toward being good. Ashley Peterson in the diving was really great. That was really good for us to be able to win an event there as well.”

Peterson placed first on the 3-meter board with a score of 317.85 and Shannon Sullivan third with a score of 217.50. On the 1-meter board, Peterson placed third with a score of 246.98 and Sullivan scored 215.93 to earn fourth place. For the men, Dan Cech captured third with a score of 233.55 and Max Reynolds came in fourth with 214.65 points on the 1-meter board. Cech also scored 273.38 points on the 3-meter board for third place.

Nick Caldwell kept the domination of freestyle events going on the men’s side, winning the 500-yard freestyle in 4:36.16 and the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:36.22. The men also won both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, as Brett Pinfold tied for first with a time of 20.89 in the 50 free and Cannon Clifton captured the 100 free with a time of 45.19.

The 200-yard medley relay squad of Pinfold, Nick Schafer, Drew teDuits and Clifton placed second with a time of 1:30.72. Clifton, Damon Zito, Ryan Stack and Ryan Barsanti of the 200-yard freestyle relay also placed second, coming in at 1:23.09.

“For the men, I was really pleased with having the same list of characters, but it was also nice to get some new faces in the mix,” Hite said.

Wisconsin looks to continue its success in the southwest tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (CT) when the Badgers take on Arizona at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.

Arizona State Press Release

The Arizona State men (0-1) and women’s (0-1) swim and dive teams entered the pool Friday afternoon at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center for the first leg of back-to-back home meets against Big Ten opponents. Squaring off against Wisconsin first, the ASU men suffered a close defeat, 130.5-111.5, while the women dropped their battle, 142-92.

The Sun Devils will set out looking to improve on the first meet of the season, as they host Minnesota on Saturday at noon PT for a second consecutive day of competition.

Despite tallies in the loss columns, both the ASU men and women’s teams have a lot to look forward to upcoming this season, and Friday’s meet was just the first stepping stone along the long-term journey to accomplishing the goals they have set out for them.

“These guys haven’t raced in a while,” ASU head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said after the meet. “We tried to execute like we’ve been working on. Let’s look at video tape, look at splits, and make adjustments for tomorrow.”

On the men’s side, the 200-medley relay, consisting of sophomore Barkley Perry, junior Thibaut Capitaine, sophomore Tadas Duskinas, and freshman Patrick Park, provided an immediate spark by finishing in first-place in the first event of the year, swimming a time of 1:30.33. To close the meet the way it began, the men’s 200 freestyle relay team of Park, Duskinas, junior Sean Kao, and Perry notched a second first-place finish in as many relays, combining for a time of 1:21.82.

“Winning the first two relays of the season is a huge momentum boost for these guys,” Tierney-Walker said.

All in all, Sun Devils won six individual events on the day. For the women, sophomore Kat Simonovic paced the field from start to finish in the 200 freestyle, taking first with a time of 1:49.79. Senior Hailey Casper also reminded everyone why she made the trip to the NCAA Championships last season, earning a score of 280.80 in the 1-meter dive en route to victory.

Staying with diving, freshman Heikki Makikallio put on a show, displaying why ASU won’t skip a beat off the board, even after losing Olympic diver Riley McCormick. Makikallio swept the men’s diving events for ASU, earning a score of 289.88 on the 3-meter dive, and 296.18 on the 1-meter event.

However, two Sun Devils who made exceptional impressions on the coaches came from men’s swimming. Besides swimming in both the winning relays, Duskinas and Park both earned victories in the 50 freestyle (20.89) and 200 butterfly (1:50.74), respectively.

“Pat Park and Tadas Duskinas were on both winning relays and won their individual events, so they were real bright spots,” Tierney-Walker said.

They weren’t the only ones.

“On the women’s side, Lori Kremer,” Tierney-Walker pronounced. “She went 2:03.89 in the 200 fly. This is her first meet back after a very serious injury last year, and that was a heck of a race for her.”

Results: Wisconsin vs. Arizona State

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use