Men?s Swim and Dive Compete at Pac-10 Championships
This Week in the Pool ?-The No. 8 Arizona men’s swimming team will compete at the 2005 Pac-10 Championships on March. 2-5 at the Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, Calif. Preliminary action will begin at 11 a.m. (PST) and finals will start at 6 p.m.
A Look at the Wildcats ?- The men’s swimming and diving team is currently ranked No. 8 with a 6-4 overall record (2-3 Pac-10). The Wildcats feature some of the best swimmers in the nation, including 2004 Olympic competitors Lyndon Ferns, Simon Burnett and Gerhard Zandberg. Ferns won the gold medal in the 400-meter free relay for South Africa. Burnett, who competed for Britain, is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation for two individual events including the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle. He now holds the U.S. Open, NCAA and Pac-10 records in the 200-yard freestyle due to his performance at the Texas Invitational in December.
The Competition: The Wildcats will have their work cut out for them this week, taking on the best teams in the nation including Cal, who has recently taken the top-spot in the rankings posting a 9-0 overall record (4-0 Pac-10).
Rank School
1 Cal
3 3 Stanford
4 8 Arizona
9 USC
Arizona at Pac-10’s History ?- The Wildcats have finished in the top-five at the Pac-10 Championships every year since 1994. The men have never won a conference title and posted their last individual champion in 2002 as Olympic gold medalist Roland Schoeman and diver Omar Ojeda each tallied two titles.
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The past 10 years of Pac-10 Championships: 2003 5th place 392.5 points 2002 3rd place 616.5 points 2001 4th place 538 points 2000 4th place 468 points 1999 4th place 441 points 1998 5th place 417.5 points 1997 3rd place 575 points 1996 2nd place 603 points 1995 4th place 467 points 1994 5th place 404.5 points |
Diving- The men’s diving team competed with the women last week in Seattle, Wash. and will add their cumulative scores with the men’s swimming team score at the end of the championships this week. Junior John Collier finished fourth on the 3-meter board with 525.60 points and seventh with in the 1-meter with 274.90 points. Freshman Jeff Hagedon finished 15th in the 3-meter competition with 303.90 points and 13th in the 1-meter(191.40 points).
Women at the Pac-10 Championships ?- The women’s team completed competition at the Pac-10 Championships last week on February 26, in Seattle, Wash. as they finished second with 1,237 points, a total of four conference titles and posted a new meet record.
2005 Pac-10 Champions - Senior Emily Mason took the first Pac-10 title in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:41.21. Junior Jenna Gresdal, senior Jessica Hayes, junior Marshi Smith and freshman Courtney Cashion took the second title for the Wildcats in the 200-yard free relay, setting a new Pac-10 meet record with a time of 1:30.07. Cal set the previous record in 2002 with a time of 1:30.47. Smith is also the co-Pac-10 champion in the 100-yard backstroke as she tied with freshman Katie Arnold from UCLA with a time of 53.22. For the fourth and final conference title, the 400-yard free relay team composed of junior Ryann Hackett, Cashion, Gresdal and freshman Lacey Nymeyer won with a time of 3:18.01.
Who’s Qualified for NCAA’s - The women are currently returning seven swimmers to the NCAA Championships on March 17-19, and have 11 total swimmers qualified to compete. The divers will compete at the Zone ?'E’ Diving Championships next week to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
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Name Event(s) Courtney Cashion 200 free/ 100 free/ 50 free Jenna Gresdal * 50 free/ 100 free/ 100 back Ryann Hackett * 400 free relay Jessica Hayes * 200 free/ 100 back/ 200 back Emily Mason * 500 free/ 400 IM/ 200 fly Whitney Myers * 200 IM/ 100 fly/ 200 fly Lacey Nymeyer 50 free/ 200 free/ 100 free Lisa Pursley 100 fly/ 200 fly Erin Sieper * 100 breast/ 200 breast Marshi Smith * 50 free/ 100 back/ 200 back Emily Strouse 400 IM * Indicates athlete is a returning NCAA competitor and 2004 First Team All-American. |
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Individual Rankings (Top-Five) Women: Event Name Rank Time 50 Free Jenna Gresdal 4th 22.52 500 Free Emily Mason 1st 4:40.51 100 Back Jenna Gresdal 5th 53.68 100 Breast Erin Sieper 5th 1:01.16 200 Breast Erin Sieper 3rd 2:11.29 100 Fly Whitney Myers 2nd 52.89 200 Fly Emily Mason 2nd 1:55.40 200 IM Whitney Myers 4th 1:58.38 200 Free Relay 4th 1:30.55 400 Free Relay 4th 3:17.55 400 Medley Relay 5th 3:38.47 Men: 50 Free Simon Burnett 1st 19.28 Lyndon Ferns 3rd 19.45 100 Free Lyndon Ferns 4th 42.57 200 Free Simon Burnett 1st 1:32.22* 100 Fly Lyndon Ferns 1st 46.04 * U.S. Open/NCAA/Pac-10 Record |
Arizona’s Next Action ?- The men and women’s diving teams will travel to Oklahoma City, Okla. On March 10-12 to compete at the Zone ?'E’ Diving Championships in order to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
