By Jordan Parry, SDA Media Relations
TEMPE, Ariz. - The sun shone down on a beautiful day in Tempe, but unfortunately for the ASU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, they were not able to capture victories against their Pac-12 foe, USC. The women battled hard but came up short against the Trojans by a score of 167-128, while the men dropped their contest, 171-119.
For the Sun Devils, senior Tristin Baxter on the women’s side provided the most excitement, garnering two first-place finishes. Baxter took the 1000 Yard Freestyle in 10:01.91, exactly four seconds ahead of second-place Nikki Chang of USC. Baxter, a distance swimmer, followed that performance up with another first-place, this time in the 500 Yard Freestyle. She completed the event in 4:50.48.
Another senior women’s swimmer, Alex Popa, also took home a first-place result, hers in the 100 Yard Breaststroke. She finished with a time of 1:04.12. Junior Melanie Busch came close twice, but took home two second-place finishes in the 50 Yard Freestyle and the 200 Yard Backstroke.
On the men’s side, Alex Coci left the day with the lone Sun Devil victory. He swam the 100 Yard Fly in 48.24, good enough for first-place. Sophomore Thibaut Capitaine had results of second-place, swimming 56.54 in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, and third-place, swimming 2:06.73 in the 200 Yard Breakstroke. Also, junior Zac Dalby touched in at second-place in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.56.
In regards to diving, ASU’s Riley McCormick continues to prove he’s no slouch and is fully recovered from a lingering thumb injury, which plagued him all last year. McCormick took first in the men’s 1-meter dive with a score of 357.08, almost 15 points ahead of second-place. He then notched another first-place in the men's 3-meter dive with an outstanding score of 423.83. Second-place was nowhere close, receiving a score almost 100 points less, at 331.05.
In the women's 1-meter dive, the Sun Devils took the top two spots, thanks to Morgan Weller and Hailey Casper. Weller scored a 307.80, while Casper received a 301.50. Casper also took first in the 3-meter with a score of 322.50.
Both the men and women are back in the pool tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9, for a noon (MT) start. The men (0-4) will compete against Air Force, while the women (2-2) will square off against UCLA.