Despite receiving another record-setting performance from junior Joona Puhakka, the ASU men's swimming and diving team finished in 20th place over the weekend at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis.
In three seasons at ASU, Puhakka has captured four national titles on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards. He swept the 1-meter and 3-meter events at this year's NCAA Championships.
Puhakka said before the meet that he didn't feel pressure to lead the team but that he hoped to win both events.
"I don't pay attention to the goals other people set for me," said Puhakka, who became the first diver in school history to win a pair of national titles in the same meet. "It's a lot easier to win one board event, but to win both, it gets way harder."
Senior Emerson Ward, junior David Kolozar and sophomore Leo Martins also competed at the NCAA Champion-ships but did not place high enough to contribute points to the team total.
ASU's hopes to place higher were curtailed from the onset, since no relay teams qualified for the competition.
Seventh-year coach Mark Chasson loses Ward and eight other seniors in Jeff Barrett, Joey Clements, Bobby Crowder, Kyle Horton, Russell MacDonald, Thomas McCrummen, Evan Rahaeuser and Eric Souther.
The women's team loses eight seniors in Cara DeVinny, Sarah M. Fischer, Agnes Kovacs, Sandra Steffensen, Florencia Szigeti, Trisha Tumlinson, Kari Wilcox and Nicole Zukowski. Recruits can sign national letters of intent starting April 13.
"We have two girls together that might equal Agnes' scoring," Chasson said. "The idea behind getting good recruits is that they are going to be as good or better as the people who are leaving, but it's pretty hard to replace someone who is an Olympic gold medal winner."
The women's squad took 12th at the NCAA Champion-ships, which was held earlier this month in West Lafayette, Ind. Tumlinson finished fourth in the platform event.
Chasson said one of the biggest surprises at the NCAA Championships was the performance of freshman Caitlin Andrew, who took fourth in the 100-yard butterfly.
"Caitlin Andrew's improvement is a big highlight," Chasson said. "The girls had a good attitude coming together as a team. We scored 100 more points at the Pac-10s than we have in a long time."
Reach the reporter at mark.saxon@asu.edu.
