NCAA Div. I: ASU Sweeps UNLV, Northern Arizona

TEMPE, Ariz., Oct. 26. BOTH the Arizona State men's and women's swimming and diving teams came away victorious Friday afternoon at the first full dual meet of the season at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.

The men soundly beat UNLV 216-82 while the women won both of their duals, 228-70 over NAU and 189-108 over UNLV. The other women's dual of the day saw the Rebels beat the Lumberjacks 181-117.

On the swimming side, the men were led by freshman David Kolozar, senior All-American Christian Harcsas and junior All-American Nick Brunelli. Swimming in his first intercollegiate meet for the Sun Devils, Kolozar finished first in both the 200 fly (1:48.93) and the 200 free (1:43.68) and finished second in the 100 fly (50.54) by one-hundredth of a second. His time in the 200 free barely missed earning him a spot in the ASU all-time top-10. Kolozar finished fifth at this summer's European Championships in the 200-meter fly and was 1999 Junior European Champion in the same event.

Harcsas finished first in three races on the day, the 100 back (50.31), the 200 back (1:49.74) and the 200 IM (1:53.49). Brunelli touched the wall first in two events, the 50 free (20.47) and the 100 free (45.06), where he missed an NCAA "B" qualifying time by just over a tenth of a second.

Other swimming first-place finishers for the men include Derek Miller in the 1000 free (9:32.97), Russell MacDonald in the 100 breast (58.08) and Leonardo Martins in the 200 breast (2:06.22). The men's relays finished first in both the 200 medley (1:32.39) and the 400 free (3:08.58).

For the Sun Devil women swimmers, Claire Hedenskog and Petra Banovic led the way with two first-place finishes each and Ágnes Kovács came away with an NCAA "A" qualifying time. Hedenskog won both the 50 free (23.65) and the 100 free (51.08). Her 100 free time was under the NCAA "B" qualifying time for the event and her 50 time missed the "B" standard by under a tenth of a second.

Swimming as a Sun Devil for the first time, junior transfer Petra Banovic touched the wall first in both the 200 free (1:51.47) and the 200 fly (2:07.01).

In her marquee event, sophomore Pac-10 champion Kovács dominated the field in the 200 breast (2:13.76) and outdistanced her nearest competitor by almost nine seconds. Her time was good enough for an NCAA "A" qualifying time but is well off her school record of 2:07.64 she set last year at the NCAA championships where she finished second in that event.

Other swimming first-place finishers for the women include freshman Kathryn Hennessy in the 1000 free (10:15.42) and Josie Jedick in the 100 breast (1:05.46). The relays both recorded first-place finished in the 200 medley (1:45.92) and the 400 free (3:30.98).

"We have a very young team," says ASU head swimming coach Mike Chasson. "A couple of our All-American guys are sitting right now and we still have a long way to go as a team, but we did have some really good individual performances today. I think the women are a little further ahead than the guys."

The diving squad got solid performances on the one- and three-meter springboards, with five NCAA qualifying scores recorded and one school record. In his debut as a Sun Devil, freshman Joona Puhakka, a Finnish Olympian, recorded a 337.28 in the one-meter and a 387.90 in the three-meter. Both scores were NCAA qualifying efforts and his three-meter score bested the previous school record of 365.25 set by Mark Briggs. Puhakka won both events. Thomas McCrummen, 2001-2002 Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year, finished second in both events and recorded an NCAA qualifying score in the three-meter (318.23).

For the women divers, sophomore transfer Trisha Tumlinson finished first in both events. Her 268.88 in the one-meter and 293.10 in the three-meter are both good enough for NCAA qualifying standards. Jessica Stenson finished runner-up in the one-meter (239.18) and third in the three-meter (253.13).

"For this early in the year, this is pretty good," says ASU diving coach Mark Bradshaw. "We're were we should be at this point, but there are still some areas that need work. We have some minor injuries, but I thought we did well considering how early it is."

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