Dec. 16, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Better than turtledoves, Arizona State's 19th-ranked women's swimming team picked up two wins while hosting No. 20 Northwestern and Washington at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Ariz., Saturday.
Although a malfunction with the timing system distorted results for the 200 medley relay, the winners of the three-way dual meet were mathematically determined through only 13-events. With the faulty event-results removed, ASU defeated Northwestern 139-109, and Washington 177-68. Also through 13 events, Northwestern topped Washington 171-74.
The pair of wins improved the Sun Devils to 3-2 overall on the season, while the victory over Washington brings ASU's Pac-10 record to 1-2.
Saturday's spotlight swimmer may have been Washington sophomore Kim Harada, who picked up an astounding three individual wins, but ASU spread the wealth to obtain its team triumphs.
Senior Lauren Morelli and freshman Miranda Shald got things rolling for the Sun Devils when they finished one-two in the 100 backstroke with times of 57.58 and 57.79, respectively.
Junior Riley Mants continued the momentum with a victory in the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.29. Then junior Sarah Baham shifted ASU into overdrive when she just missed adding another NCAA `A' Qualifying Time to her resume by finishing the 200 butterfly in 2:00.72.
Not to be forgotten, Morelli came back in the 200 back and held off Northwestern senior Tashy Bohm to turn in the swiftest time by just over five-tenths of a second: 2:02.40 to 2:02.91.
Ensuring that the Sun Devils' opponents would not mount a comeback, freshman Florence Mauro and junior Alicia Wheelock added another one-two punch for ASU. This time it was in the 100 fly, as Mauro's 56.77 was an instant better than Wheelock's 56.84.
Albeit in defeat, Washington's Harada was undeniably impressive. She started her day off by topping Northwestern's Erin Swenson (1:52.43) and ASU's Anna Ericson (1:53.46) with a time of 1:51.08 in the 200 free. Next, her 23.64 in the 50 free bested ASU's Claire Hedenskog, who turned in her second-best time of the year at 23.86, but settled for runner-up status. Finally, coming right back in the 100 free, Harada slipped past Baham's 52.03 with a time of 51.55.
Tired Sun Devils will benefit from a significant break for the holidays. ASU does not return to action until Jan. 5, 2001, when both the men and women hit the road to meet Tennessee.
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
THROUGH 13 EVENTS**
Arizona State 177, Washington 83
Arizona State 153, Northwestern 111
Northwestern 173, Washington 89
**Women's Team Scoring Note:
After further review, the timing system faltered for the first heat of the women's 200 medley relay. Thus, only 13 of the 14 women's races have accurate scoring.
While the final scores would obviously have differed with the medley relay included, the dual winners and losers would not have altered. We apologize for the error.
Swimming results appear in PDF format.
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Diving Results - Because Northwestern or Washington did not field a diving team, ASU divers were competitively judged, but results were not included in the team scoring.
Women's 1-Meter
1) Natalie Burgess 361.83
2) Trish Malatesta 253.5
3) Jessica Stenson 231.98
Women's 3-Meter
1) Trish Malatesta 271.58
2) Natalie Burgess 255.00
3) Jessica Stenson 201.53