Although the ASU swimming and diving teams had a tough 2009-10 season, the athletes were able excel in their individual events throughout the season.
The women ended their season 6-6 (2-5 Pac-10). The Sun Devils started off the season strong with a 194-102 win over Utah in October, but followed with a loss to BYU by a score of 151-92.
Then in a three-way dual meet in November, the Sun Devils beat Washington and UNLV. They then suffered two losses to UCLA (160-140) and USC (168-130).
The ASU women followed with a three-meet winning streak when they beat New Mexico (172-126), NAU (192-107) and Oregon State (159-124), but they ended their season on a losing streak after they dropped matches to Cal (157-135), Stanford (184.5-111.5) and rival UA (196-102).
The Sun Devils then concluded the season by placing sixth in the Pac-10 Championships and 22nd at the NCAA Championships with 29 points.
The men had a less successful season, finishing with a 2-7 record (0-4 Pac-10).
The Sun Devils started the season with four losses to Utah (187-113), BYU (154-88), UNLV (189-105) and USC (169-122). They had a brief moment of victory after beating both Carthage and Saint Louis in January, but the Sun Devils couldn’t keep the winning streak alive, dropping their remaining matches to Cal (152-127), Stanford (140-86) and UA (212-87).
The ASU men finished fifth in the Pac-10 Championships and scored 31 points to take 24th in the NCAA Championships.
The swimming team started off the season with a new coaching staff, as head swimming coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker came to ASU from Auburn, where she coached the Tigers to two national championships in 2006 and 2007.
Tierney-Walker brought new training methods and a philosophy to ASU that emphasized hard work. It was an adjustment for the team, but it embraced the changes, and her methods propelled the team toward individual successes throughout the season.
Sophomore Rebecca Ejdervik placed fourth overall in the 100-yard breaststroke at the NCAA Championships, with a career-best time of 59.90. She also won the 100-yard breaststroke at the Pac-10 Championships.
Sophomore Xavier Mohammed had a memorable performance against USC, where he totaled three wins against the Trojans in the 200-yard fly, 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard IM.
ASU senior Max Laney had an outstanding performance at his last dual meet in his Sun Devil career against the Wildcats. He placed first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:46.79 and finished second in the 200-yard IM.
The diving team was the strongest part of the team on both the men’s team and women’s side. The Sun Devils consistently performed at a high level, and individual divers earned multiple wins and medals throughout the season.
ASU diving coach Mark Bradshaw was able to recruit three Olympian divers to come to ASU, and their experience and skill level helped the team improve all season.
“Overall, everybody — all seven of my divers, the four men and the three women — got better as the season went along,” Bradshaw said. “I think we met all of our expectations and goals.”
Freshman Riley McCormick came from Canada to dive for ASU. This season, he went all the way to the NCAA Championships and earned a silver medal in the 10-meter platform with a score of 469.5.
Bradshaw said he was impressed with McCormick’s performance because it was his first time competing at the NCAA meet.
“Obviously, runner-up at the NCAA Championships is a pretty great achievement, especially for a freshman,” Bradshaw said. “I knew he could do that. He was very capable, and he dove consistently. Riley had a tremendous freshman season from start to finish this year.”
Freshman Constantin “Coco” Blaha came to ASU from Austria. He had to sit out of the meets in the first half of the season, but he made up for it in the second half. After his outstanding performance at Pac-10 Championships, he was named Pac-10 Diver of the Meet.
Blaha placed ninth overall on the 3-meter at the NCAA Championships.
“Constantin qualified on [the] 3-meter, which put him in the consolation final, and he dove great,” Bradshaw said. “He dove lights out. It was good to see that he got his confidence going.”
Sophomore Elina Eggers, originally from Sweden, placed fourth at the NCAA Championships on the 10-meter and earned All-American Honors. She also finished second on the 3-meter at the Zone E Championships.
The other members of the diving team also had excellent seasons. Despite struggling with a back injury all season, junior Brittany Jumer was able to compete well at the Pac-10 Championships and was only two spots away from qualifying for NCAAs. Junior Cameron Bradshaw had a successful season. He won first place on the 1-meter at the Wildcat Invitational and was runner-up at the Pac-10 Championships in the 3-meter.
The season may be over, but Bradshaw’s divers will continue competing throughout the summer to prepare for next season.
Reach the reporter at nicole.klauss@asu.edu
