Despite a strong performance by the divers, both the men and women ASU swim and dive teams fell to UA on Saturday in Tucson.
The No. 6 UA men defeated ASU 166-126, while the No. 7 UA women defeated ASU 177-123.
Men’s diving highlighted the meet for the Sun Devils as ASU swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events. Sophomore Riley McCormick won both events and juniors Constantin Blaha and Cameron Bradshaw followed in second and third.
Even though the divers came away with wins, ASU dive coach Mark Bradshaw was not completely satisfied with the performance.
“We didn’t do that well overall,” Bradshaw said. “I would have expected better.”
Bradshaw does not feel that anything specific contributed to the disappointing performance, insisting it was just one of those days. Despite not being thrilled with the performance, he feels his team will be ready for the upcoming Pac-10 and Zone-E championships.
“We just have to keep continuing to work hard,” Bradshaw said. “We just didn’t compete that well, which is weird because it’s usually a strong point for the group.”
However, it was not all negative as Bradshaw was pleased with the efforts of McCormick and senior Brittany Jumer, who finished second in the women’s 3-meter springboard dive.
“Riley did a good job,” Bradshaw said. “Brittany Jumer did a good job considering she has been struggling with a back problem. I was really pleased [with her].”
While the men’s dive team swept the competition, the men’s swim team was nearly swept as UA won 11 of the 12 events.
The lone victory for the ASU men came courtesy of freshman Hayden Thomas, who won the 1,000 yard freestyle, an event the Sun Devils swept as freshman Tristin Baxter won the women’s race.
Baxter, who finished 10 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor, was happy with the team’s overall performance.
“I think we did really well overall as a team,” Baxter said. “I think we all came ready to race, ready to swim, and we all did pretty well.”
The Arizona State women also received victories from sophomore Shannon Landgrebe and junior Rebecca Ejdervik.
Landgrebe won the 200 free and Ejdervik won the 100 breast, where she is ranked sixth in the country.
Saturday’s meet was the final dual meet of the year, but the ASU swim and dive teams will now advance to the championship part of the season.
After taking next week off the dive team, along with the women’s swim team will compete in the Pac-10 Championships beginning Feb. 23.
The men’s swim team does not begin their Pac-10 Championships until March 2.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
