TEMPE, Ariz. – The Sun Devil swim and dive teams hosted the top-ranked Cal men and sixth-ranked Cal women in their final home dual of the season, honoring their senior class prior to the day's meet.
"We started out really lackluster and I had a talk with them at the first break," said head coach Bob Bowman. "We came back and rallied a little better after that, the women in particular were much more competitive. We have to learn how to put two days in a row back-to-back. A lot of it is mental and how you manage yourself. That's kind of the next step in our development as a team, to not just put together one good day but two."
Of note, newcomer Silja Kansakoski won the 100 breast (1:01.30), over a second faster than the second-place finisher from Cal. Marlies Ross and Kansakoski also led the pack, going 1-2 in the 200 breast, finishing three and four seconds ahead of Cal's first finisher, Celina Li.
"For the women, Marlies Ross was good and Silja Kansakoski was very, very good. I thought our female sprint relays on the end were good. Tadas [Duskinas] was good again today, probably the best one we had [on the men's side]."
In diving action, David Hoffer won the men's 1 mtr dive with a score of 377.85, while finishing second in the 3 mtr dive (411.15).
"Against Stanford, we stack up ok. Against Cal, we don't stack up yet but the good news is that they are the best team in the country; there aren't any teams better than them. It's a long journey to get to that level. They didn't get there overnight and we aren't going to get there overnight. Our meet against them this year was way better than the one last year, so that's what we have to look at to make sure we're improving year-to-year."
The Sun Devils travel to Tucson, Ariz. for their cross-state rivalry meet in two weeks (Saturday, Feb. 4).
"We're not in a bad place, we just have to keep going. I always want to be better than we are. I think there are plenty of things to work on and we have the foundation to do what we want to do in two weeks and at the end of the season."
Following the meet in Tucson, Pac-12 championships will be late February/early March, with NCAA's Mar. 22-25 in Indianapolis, Ind.
"We started out really lackluster and I had a talk with them at the first break," said head coach Bob Bowman. "We came back and rallied a little better after that, the women in particular were much more competitive. We have to learn how to put two days in a row back-to-back. A lot of it is mental and how you manage yourself. That's kind of the next step in our development as a team, to not just put together one good day but two."
Of note, newcomer Silja Kansakoski won the 100 breast (1:01.30), over a second faster than the second-place finisher from Cal. Marlies Ross and Kansakoski also led the pack, going 1-2 in the 200 breast, finishing three and four seconds ahead of Cal's first finisher, Celina Li.
"For the women, Marlies Ross was good and Silja Kansakoski was very, very good. I thought our female sprint relays on the end were good. Tadas [Duskinas] was good again today, probably the best one we had [on the men's side]."
In diving action, David Hoffer won the men's 1 mtr dive with a score of 377.85, while finishing second in the 3 mtr dive (411.15).
"Against Stanford, we stack up ok. Against Cal, we don't stack up yet but the good news is that they are the best team in the country; there aren't any teams better than them. It's a long journey to get to that level. They didn't get there overnight and we aren't going to get there overnight. Our meet against them this year was way better than the one last year, so that's what we have to look at to make sure we're improving year-to-year."
The Sun Devils travel to Tucson, Ariz. for their cross-state rivalry meet in two weeks (Saturday, Feb. 4).
"We're not in a bad place, we just have to keep going. I always want to be better than we are. I think there are plenty of things to work on and we have the foundation to do what we want to do in two weeks and at the end of the season."
Following the meet in Tucson, Pac-12 championships will be late February/early March, with NCAA's Mar. 22-25 in Indianapolis, Ind.