Dec. 2, 2001
AUSTIN, Texas - Two more school records fell Sunday as Arizona State's ninth-ranked women's swimming and diving team completed the Texas Invitational in fourth-place at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
Less than 24 hours after she claimed the ASU record in the 400-yard individual medley, ?gnes Kov?cs destroyed the standard in the 200y breaststroke by winning the event in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:07.98. Kov?cs, a freshman from Budapest, Hungary, who is the reigning Olympic and World Champion in the 200-meter breast, became only the second Sun Devil ever to swim sub-2:11.00 in the 200y breast, while bettering Beata Kaszuba's previous record of 2:09.71 (set in 1995) by almost two full seconds.
The second school record to fall Sunday, and the seventh to fall in the last three days, came in the meet's final event, as ASU's 400y freestyle relay team of freshman Florencia Szigeti, freshman Kari Wilcox, senior Sarah Baham and junior Claire Hedenskog placed sixth in 3:22.03. Earning an NCAA 'B' (consideration) qualifying time, the Sun Devils eclipsed an ASU record of 3:22.74 that had stood since 1998.
Competing among a field of 14 teams that included seven of the nation's top-10, ASU accumulated 464 points to place fourth, just behind No. 4 Arizona at 492. National No. 5 and meet host Texas won with 719 points, with No. 1 Stanford settling for second at 598.
While not improving upon her own school record of 1:58.22 in the 200y butterfly, Baham did pick up an NCAA automatic qualifying time with her fourth-place 1:58.84 effort.
Other top efforts included that of senior Riley Mants, who while overshadowed by Kov?cs, placed sixth in the 200y breast with an NCAA consideration standard of 2:16.66, and that of Hedenskog, who placed eighth in the 100y freestyle with a consideration time of 50.71, after swimming a personal best of 50.32 during prelims.
Sophomore Miranda Shald was the Sun Devils' top finisher in 200y backstroke with a 2:04.42 effort that placed 20th. Finals of the 1650y free were scheduled for Sunday, but results were not provided.
The Sun Devils now have a healthy competitive layoff, as their next meet is not until December 29, when they host Pac-10 foe Washington at noon at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe.
Texas Invitational -- Final Women's Team Scores:
1. Texas 719, 2. Stanford 598, 3. Arizona 492, 4. Arizona State 464, 5. California 419.5, 6. USC 395, 7. Auburn 384.5, 8. Wisconsin 373, 9. TCU 85, 10. UCLA 60, 11. Rice 16, 12. Nebraska 12, 13. Hawaii 3, 14. SMU 1.