FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – On the final day of the 2017 Pac-12 Diving and Women's Swim championships, the Sun Devils continued to improve and impress as Mara Aiacoboae won the platform dive title and Silja Kansakoski set her second school record of the weekend.
In the final tally, Stanford earned the team title followed by Cal and USC rounding out the top three. Arizona finished fourth while UCLA finished fifth just ahead of the Sun Devils in sixth. Utah, Washington State, and Oregon State rounded out spots seven through nine.
With 709 points, ASU improved upon their 2016 Pac-12's tally by 236.5 points. The team also earned their highest point total and finish since 2013.
Diving now prepares for the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Flagstaff in just over a week (Mar. 6-8). Women's NCAA Championships take place in Indianapolis, Ind. Mar. 15-18.
The men's Pac-12 swim championships takes place in the same location in Federal Way next week, Mar. 1-4.
SWIMMING
Picking up where she left off on Friday, freshman Silja Kansakoski obliterated Agnes Kovacs' 15-year-old school record in the 200 breast, finishing second in 2:06.41.
"We ended the meet on a high note with Silja demolishing the ASU record set by Olympic champion Agnes Kovacs," said head swim coach Bob Bowman. "And Kendall Dawson had a fantastic 1650 to finish seventh in her first Pac-12 meet."
Andi Johnston, Bentley Hulshof, and Kendall Dawson made significant improvements on their 1650 PR's with nine, 22, and 27 second improvements, respectively, on the final day of conference competition. Dawson's 16:15.09 in the finals put her in second place on ASU's all-time records in the event.
Claire Fisch would go on to record a best time, finishing 12th in the 100 free in 49.20. Kat Simonovic, Alysha Bush, Ingibjorg Jonsdottir and Fisch's 400 free relay time was good for second on ASU's all time records list.
"Our senior captains Kat Simonovic and Alysha Bush both ended their Pac-12 careers with very strong swims in the 400 free relay. This group of seniors has been instrumental in the phenomenal improvement of our team this year. We will miss them but their contributions will be felt in our program for years to come."
DIVING
In the final dive event of the weekend, Mara Aiacoboae finished third in the platform prelims and would ultimately win the Pac-12 title in the event later in the evening. After finishing fourth and third in her first two seasons in the event, she ultimately broke through to win the conference championship.
"It's a big day for us diving-wise with Mara winning the women's platform championship, which summed up a good week for us overall," said head diving coach Mark Bradshaw. "Overall, it was a great experience with our women's team improving so much over the previous year and having two individual champions."
Aiacoboae became the first ASU women's diver since Elina Eggers in 2010 to win the platform event at the conference meet and only the fifth Sun Devil all time to win a Pac-12/10 championship in the event.
"Mara was strong and steady. She had one dive that didn't go her way but she had built such a great lead that it didn't really come into play. She came so close the past two years to winning it that she was pretty determined to not let anything get in her way."
In the final tally, Stanford earned the team title followed by Cal and USC rounding out the top three. Arizona finished fourth while UCLA finished fifth just ahead of the Sun Devils in sixth. Utah, Washington State, and Oregon State rounded out spots seven through nine.
With 709 points, ASU improved upon their 2016 Pac-12's tally by 236.5 points. The team also earned their highest point total and finish since 2013.
Diving now prepares for the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Flagstaff in just over a week (Mar. 6-8). Women's NCAA Championships take place in Indianapolis, Ind. Mar. 15-18.
The men's Pac-12 swim championships takes place in the same location in Federal Way next week, Mar. 1-4.
SWIMMING
Picking up where she left off on Friday, freshman Silja Kansakoski obliterated Agnes Kovacs' 15-year-old school record in the 200 breast, finishing second in 2:06.41.
"We ended the meet on a high note with Silja demolishing the ASU record set by Olympic champion Agnes Kovacs," said head swim coach Bob Bowman. "And Kendall Dawson had a fantastic 1650 to finish seventh in her first Pac-12 meet."
Andi Johnston, Bentley Hulshof, and Kendall Dawson made significant improvements on their 1650 PR's with nine, 22, and 27 second improvements, respectively, on the final day of conference competition. Dawson's 16:15.09 in the finals put her in second place on ASU's all-time records in the event.
Claire Fisch would go on to record a best time, finishing 12th in the 100 free in 49.20. Kat Simonovic, Alysha Bush, Ingibjorg Jonsdottir and Fisch's 400 free relay time was good for second on ASU's all time records list.
"Our senior captains Kat Simonovic and Alysha Bush both ended their Pac-12 careers with very strong swims in the 400 free relay. This group of seniors has been instrumental in the phenomenal improvement of our team this year. We will miss them but their contributions will be felt in our program for years to come."
DIVING
In the final dive event of the weekend, Mara Aiacoboae finished third in the platform prelims and would ultimately win the Pac-12 title in the event later in the evening. After finishing fourth and third in her first two seasons in the event, she ultimately broke through to win the conference championship.
"It's a big day for us diving-wise with Mara winning the women's platform championship, which summed up a good week for us overall," said head diving coach Mark Bradshaw. "Overall, it was a great experience with our women's team improving so much over the previous year and having two individual champions."
Aiacoboae became the first ASU women's diver since Elina Eggers in 2010 to win the platform event at the conference meet and only the fifth Sun Devil all time to win a Pac-12/10 championship in the event.
"Mara was strong and steady. She had one dive that didn't go her way but she had built such a great lead that it didn't really come into play. She came so close the past two years to winning it that she was pretty determined to not let anything get in her way."