The ASU swimming and diving team will jump back into the pool this weekend as it travels to the Bay Area to compete against Pac-10 competition.
Friday the Sun Devils will go up against California, and Saturday the Sun Devils will compete against Stanford.
The ASU women’s swimming team travels to California with a record of 6-3 (2-2 Pac-10), while the men’s team is 3-2 (0-1 Pac-10).
The Cal men’s team has a record of 2-0 and is ranked No. 3, and the Cal women’s team has a 2-0 record and is ranked No. 5.
ASU diving coach Mark Bradshaw is anticipating the diving team to be challenged this weekend by the No. 2-ranked Stanford men’s team and the No. 3-ranked women’s team.
The Stanford men’s team has a record of 3-0 (0-0 Pac-10), while the women’s team stands at 4-0 (0-0 Pac-10).
“Stanford Saturday should be a tremendous challenge for our male and female divers because they’ve got comparable talent,” Bradshaw said.
The ASU men’s diving team defeated the competition in its last meet against Carthage College and St. Louis University, and placed Sun Devils in the top three spots.
Sophomore Constantin Blaha excelled in the last meet, taking first in both diving events.
Expect to see sophomore Elina Eggers stand out, as she broke the ASU record for the 1-meter in a dual meet (339.90) against New Mexico State in December. The previous record was 326.35, set by Trisha Tumlinson in 2005.
The ASU women’s team is on a three-meet winning streak and is looking to pick up two more this weekend.
Several Sun Devils are hoping to repeat their performances from their win over Oregon State.
Freshman Paige Schultz clocked in at 1:50.37 in the 200-yard freestyle and earned first place. Freshman Shannon Landgrebe won first place in the 100-freestyle (51.65), and sophomore Penelope Yamauchi took the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:04.15.
Winter break update
The ASU swimming and diving team was busy working hard and picking up multiple wins over the winter break.
The women’s team beat Oregon State, New Mexico State and NAU to begin its current three-meet winning streak.
The Sun Devils beat New Mexico State 172-126 in the meet that saw Eggers break the school record for the 1-meter.
The Sun Devils beat the Lumberjacks 192-107.
Most recently, the women beat Oregon State 159-124.
The Sun Devil 400-medley relay team consisting of senior Jamie Martinez, Yamauchi, freshman Caroline Kuczynski and junior Katie Haron came in first place, beating the Beavers with a time of 3:47.88.
Martinez also swam the 500-yard freestyle for the first time this season and came in first place with a time of 5:06.17. Senior Ashley Evans clocked in at 2:05.64 in the 200-yard IM.
In December’s meet against Carthage College and St. Louis, the Sun Devils’ strongest swimming events were the freestyle races.
Junior Adrian Kirkpatrick won first place in the 150-yard freestyle with a time of 1:17.14. Sophomore Jesper Akesson took the win in the 50-yard freestyle (21.82) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.37). Junior Nolan Ruane won the 100-yard freestyle (46.99) and freshman Caleb Veazey won the 300-yard freestyle (2:44.88).
The Sun Devils swept the diving events, picking up the top three spots in all events.
In addition to Blaha’s stellar ASU debut, junior Cameron Bradshaw took second in both diving events and freshman Riley McCormick took third.
Sun Devil divers Bradshaw and Eggers were named Pac-10 Men’s and Women’s Divers of the Month for December.
The ASU diving staff also signed Canadian Hailey Casper to start competing for ASU in the fall.
Casper will bring a wealth of experience to the diving team. Casper won gold on the 1-meter at the 2009 Canadian Games.
Casper won a gold medal on the 1-meter and a silver medal on the 3-meter at the Speedo Junior National Championships.
Reach the reporter at nicole.klauss@asu.edu
