Cats Fall At Home To The Cardinal

TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona’s second ranked men’s and seventh ranked women’s swimming and diving team fell today to Stanford University in a dual meet at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. The men were slightly edged by the Cardinal, 155-143, while the Stanford women proved strong with a 178-114 victory.

The UA men started things off nicely in the 400 medley relay, finishing 1-2 with the Wildcat “A” team, featuring Cory Chitwood, Kelley Wyman, AJ Tipton and Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, posting a 3:13.66 in the win.

In the women’s 1,000 freestyle, Alyssa Anderson outpaced Stanford’s Kelsey Ditto for the victory, posting a time of 9:48.42. UA’s Susana Helms was third in the event with a time of 10:08.90.

Arizona showed some serious backstroke power in the men’s 100 yard event with freshman Mitchell Friedemann leading the charges followed by Chitwood in second and Ivan Tolic in third place. Friedemann won with a time of 48.94.

In the men’s 100 breaststroke, Wyman led the Cats to a victory with a time of 54.88. He was followed by Carl Mickelson in second and Kevin Munsch in fourth.

UA’s Margo Geer and Stanford’s Kate Dwelley went head-to-head for the first time in collegiate waters as Dwelley got the better of the matchup, winning the 100 and 200 freestyle while Geer was runner-up in the 100 free and third in the 200 free.

Chitwood won the men’s 200 backstroke to go along with his runner-up finishes in the 100 back and 400 I.M. His time of 1:46.23 beat out teammate Michael Sheppard who was second in 1:46.54 in the 200 back.

Munsch guided UA to its second breaststroke win of the afternoon, posting a 1:59.24 while teammate Carl Mickelson claimed second with a time of 1:59.79.

Freshman Matt Barber showed some toughness for Arizona in the men’s 500 free, overcoming three SU challengers to finish runner up in the event in 4:33.80. Chad La Tourette placed first in 4:31.71.

Individual medley aficionado Austen Thompson claimed the 400 I.M. for the Wildcats as he raced down a few teammates to win the event in 3:55.10. Thompson proved to be stellar over the breaststroke leg to separate himself from the pack.

Samantha Pickens charted out two wins for Arizona off the diving boards, securing the victory off both the 1-meter and 3-meter heights for the UA women. Junior Ainsley Oliver was third off the 1-meter springboard.

The Arizona women’s 200 free relay team of Sarah Denninghoff, Grace Finnegan, Kait Flederbach and Aubrey Peacock swam past the Cardinal for the win in 1:33.38.

In the final event of the day, the Stanford 200 free relay team held off strong charges from UA’s “A” and “B” squads to eek out a win in 1:19.49. UA’s team of Wyman, Adam Small, Friedemann and Craig Jordens finished second in 1:19.98.

Tomorrow, Arizona hosts California in another dual meet format beginning at 1 p.m. MST. Traditional events with the 200 medley relay, 200 individual medley and 400 free relay will be swum.

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