March 4, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State men's swimming team concluded the Pac-10 Championships in Federal Way Wash., on Saturday with a fifth place finish of 420 points, equaling its result from last season. Stanford extended its conference title streak to an incredible 19 meets with a total of 794 points.
Sun Devil freshman Attila Czene capped of a stellar three-day performance with a second place 1:44.49 showing in the 200-yard butterfly, breaking Andy Jameson's 13-year old school record (1:45.40) in the process. Czene broke a school and conference record in the 200 individual medley on Thursday with his blistering 1:44.08 performance. The native of Szeged, Hungary also joined teammates Simon MacDonald, Anders Lyrbring and Scott VonSchoff for Saturday's 400 freestyle relay, where 11th-ranked ASU finished fourth in a season best time of 2:57.42.
Other ASU highlights included Otto Hinks' 2:01.25, 10th place showing in 200 breaststroke competition, which set a new team high for the season and will garner NCAA Championship consideration for the junior. Senior Gregg Plank also notched a 10th place finish in 200 backstroke action, touching the wall in 1:49.08. Meanwhile junior Matt Barry, freshman Ed Bryan, sophomore Mike Dowling and junior Matt Carter scored points for Arizona State by finishing 11th through 14th in the 1650 freestyle.
The points accumulated by Sun Devil swimmers were combined with the 99 points scored by ASU at the Pac-10 Diving Championships held last weekend in Los Angeles to arrive at the 420 point total. Arizona State next hits the water at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis Mar. 23-25, while the Sun Devil divers are in Federal Way next weekend for the Zone E Championships, where NCAA births are on the line.