Feb. 14, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State swimming and diving teams closed out the regular season Saturday afternoon with a dual meet against Arizona at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The No. 15 Sun Devil men fell to the No. 8 Wildcats 169.50-128.50 while the No. 21 ASU women were on the short side of a 170-130 scoreline against the No. 7 Wildcats. Senior All-American Ahmed Hussein and junior All-American Florencia Szigeti won each event they entered on the day for the Sun Devils while in the diving pool sophomore All-American Joona Puhakka and junior All-American Trisha Tumlinson swept the diving events.
Hussein won both backstroke events, clocking a 55.32 in the 100 and a 2:02.13 in the 200. The other individual winner for the men in the swimming pool was sophomore All-American David Kolozar, who touched the wall first in the 400 freestyle (3:55.84). The Hungarian also placed second in the 200 butterfly (1:58.22) and third in the 200 IM (2:05.63).
Senior All-American Nick Brunelli was barely edged out of a first-place finish in an electrifying 100 freestyle race (49.62) as UA's Lyndon Ferns, owner of the fastest time in the NCAA this year, touched the wall three-hundredths of a second faster. Brunelli also finished third in the 200 free (1:51.33).
The men's divers turned in fine performances on the afternoon, finishing 1-2 on the 1-meter and 1-3 on the 3-meter. Puhakka won the 1m with a score of 377.85 with teammate Thomas McCrummen in second with a 307.95. On the 3m Puhakka took home top honors with a score of 379.13 while Gordon Blukis finished third (282.53).
For the women, Szigeti continued her strong season by winning both the 50 freestyle (26.49) and the 100 freestyle (56.67). Junior All-American ?gnes Kov?cs also won two events, dominating the field in the 200 breaststroke (2:28.72) and also touching the wall first in the 200 IM (2:15.82). She finished second in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.35).
Sophomore Erin Baldinger recorded a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle (26.58) and senior All-American Petra Banovic earned second-place finishes in the 200 free (2:02.33) and the 400 free (4:19.78). Sophomore All-American Kathryn Hennessy finished runner-up in the 800 free after touching the wall in 8:53.18.
The 400 freestyle relay of Szigeti, Banovic, Florence Mauro and Abra Armour grabbed first in the final event of the day, clocking a 3:50.30.
The women's divers were led by Tumlinson, who took top honors on the 1m (273.45) and the 3m (288.30). Senior Jessica Stenson finished second on the 3m (263.48).
Up next for the Sun Devils are the Pac-10 Championships. The women's swimming Championships are February 25-28 at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif. The men's and women's diving Championships are February 26-28 at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash. The men's swimming Championships are March 3-6 at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif.