Wildcat Men and Women Whack Sun Devils in Season Dual Meet Finale

TUCSON, AZ, February 12. ARIZONA’S No. 6 Arizona women’s swimming and diving team and the No. 8 men’s team defeated intrastate rival Arizona State Saturday for the final home meet of the season, per Wildcat and Sun Devil sources.

The women downed ASU 165-126 and the men cruised by the Sun Devils 172-118.

The women won a total of 10 events and posted one exhibition time that was good enough to take first-place. Beginning with the 200-yard medley relay, a team composed of junior Jenna Gresdal, junior Erin Sieper, sophomore Whitney Myers and freshman Courtney Cashion won with a time of 1:42.88. Senior Emily Mason took first-place in the 1000 freestyle (10:10.79) and in the 200 freestyle, freshman Lacey Nymeyer finished first (1:49.63) while senior Jessica Hayes was second (1:50.83) and junior Katie Willis finished third (1:52.98).

Gresdal won the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.60 and junior Marshi Smith finished third (56.34). Mason posted her second individual victory in the 200 butterfly (2:02.39) and Myers finished second (2:03.19). Cashion, Gresdal and junior Ryann Hackett took the top-three spots in the 50 freestyle as Cashion finished first (23.61), Gresdal was second (23.78) and Hackett was third (24.25). Nymeyer won the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.56 and classmate Cashion finished second (50.68) while Hayes came in third (52.00). Smith won the 200 backstroke (2:00.92) with Hayes and Gresdal finishing second and third.

Nymeyer swam exhibition in the 500 freestyle finishing with a time of 4:58.55, which was good enough to beat the winning time of 5:01.11. In the 200 individual medley, Mason finished second (2:04.95) and Myers was third (2:05.48). For the final swimming event of the afternoon, the 200 free relay team of Smith, Cashion, Hayes and Nymeyer won with a time of 1:34.14.

“This was a very good meet,” said head swimming coach Frank Busch. “The kids were really ready to compete and I really feel that we are in a good position going into the Pac-10 Championships.”

The Sun Devils were lead by bright, shining star senior Agnes Kovacs, who swam to three individual first-place finishes in her last dual meet as a Sun Devil. She won both breaststrokes and the 200 IM, at 1:02.25, 2:14.17 and 2:03.19, respectively. With a resume of Olympic and World championships, as well as multiple school records, she will be hard for Coach Michael Chasson to replace in the ASU program.

In the diving well for the Wildcats, senior Claire Febvay won the 1-meter competition with 281.25 points. Senior Daniela Bemme finished third in the competition (280.28 points) and senior Megan Chambers was fourth (263.93 points). Febvay finished second in the 3-meter competition (277.35 points) while Bemme, Chambers and sophomore Megan MacDonald took the third, fourth and fifth place positions.

ASU’s Trisha Tumilinson won the 3-M springboard over Febvay with 287.63 points.

“I really wanted the team to raise up to the occasion and dive up to the competition,” said head diving coach Michele Mitchell-Rocha. “Megan Chambers had the meet of her life today and I am really proud of the overall effort from the team.”

The men’s team won 11 total events and posted three exhibition times that were fast enough to take first-place. Freshman Gerhard Zandberg made his debut as a Wildcat in the 200 medley relay along with teammates junior Dave Rollins, junior Lyndon Ferns and freshman Jonas Persson who won with a time of 1:30.27.

“Gerhard is a little tired after this meet,” said Busch. “He hasn’t had any opportunities to swim competitively yet this season, but he is going to be a huge asset to this team.”

Freshman Matt Biel dominated the 1000 freestyle as he won the race with a time of 9:10.67. Junior Tyler DeBerry won the 200 freestyle (1:39.76) and sophomore Adam Ritter finished third (1:40.95). Junior Simon Burnett posted the fourth first-place finish for the men’s team by winning the 100 backstroke (49.44) while Zandberg finished second (50.79) and sophomore Nate Rothman came in third (51.56).

Freshman Ivan Barnes won the 100 breaststroke (56.44), as Rollins and senior Nate Stevens finished second and third. Ferns and Burnett took the top-two positions in the 50 freestyle. Ferns won with a time of 20.22 and Burnett finished second (20.83). Zandberg posted his first individual win in the 100y freestyle (46.42) with Rollins and Persson finishing second and third.

Freshman Nick Thoman won the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.33 and Burnett finished second (1:51.28). Rollins finished first in the 200 individual medley (1:51.39) and Ritter finished third (1:53.90). For the final event of the day, the 200 free relay team composed of Ferns, Burnett, Persson and senior Byron Jeffers won with a time of 1:24.34.

On the diving side for the men, junior John Collier won the 3-meter competition, beating the defending NCAA Champion Joona Puhakka with 368.47 points. Collier finished second to Puhakka on the 1-meter (367.35 to 353.10 points) and freshman Jeff Hagedon finished third on both boards.

“John had an outstanding day,” said Mitchell-Rocha. “Joona is an NCAA champion and beating him was a great way to end the regular season going into the Pac-10 Championships.

The women’s swimming team and both diving teams will travel to Seattle, Wash. February 23-27 to compete at the 2005 Pac-10 Championships. The men’s swimming team returns to action March 2-6 for the 2005 Pac-10 Championships in Long Beach, Calif.

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