Swim coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker cheers on her team during the Sun Devils’ home opener against GCU and Washington State on Saturday. (Photo by Kyle Newman)The ASU swim team hosted GCU and Washington State in its first home meet of the season Saturday.
Both the men and the women saw bright spots throughout the day at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
“You know, I think for early season, I thought we competed consistent across the board,” coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said.
The Sun Devil women’s team was impressive all day, beating both Washington State 170-88 and GCU 179-80.
ASU got off to a quick start when the women’s “A” team won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:44.97.
The women went on to place first in 11 of their following 13 events.
Senior Shannon Landgrebe set the tone for the Sun Devils all day by winning all three of her freestyle swims.
“Shannon really just took up where she left off from last season,” coach Tierney-Walker said. “She’s consistent in her racing and applies adjustments on the next race, and she just got better throughout the day.”
Landgrebe couldn’t have been happier of how she and her team raced in their home opener.
“I felt pretty good,” Landgrebe said. “The racing was a little rough, but knowing that I won, it was all good. I’m really proud of our team; it was our first full meet and we showed up.”
Although the men came up short, they were very competitive in their first meet of the season, and it came down to the final race against GCU.
“Our men fought very hard against a team that came prepared to race us, and I’m actually very proud of them,” Tierney-Walker said. “They did a nice job.”
Sophomore Alex Coci anchored the men’s team and appeared to be in mid-season form. Tierney-Walker was impressed with the way Coci performed.
“Alex Coci is only a sophomore, but he’s a seasoned veteran with all of the experience from the London Games,” Tierney-Walker said.
With just two races to go, the men were down in the points, but Coci stepped up and won the 200-yard individual medley to put the Sun Devils ahead.
“The coaches told me I had to win that race, and I was happy to do it,” Coci said.
Going into the final race, the Sun Devils were ahead, but GCU had a come-from-behind victory in the 400-yard free relay to seal the deal for the Lopes’ men, 133 to 128.
ASU holds its annual Gala Fundraiser this upcoming weekend, then travels to California the following weekend to take on UCLA, USC and UC-Santa Barbara.
Reach the reporter at ross.dunham@asu.edu
