Oct. 3, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State University swimming and diving season got underway this afternoon with the annual Maroon and Gold Intrasquad scrimmage at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. With only the swimmers in action, fans were treated to 11 events with the Sun Devils split up into one maroon team and one gold team.
Men's captains Nick Brunelli (gold team) and Wiley Wallace (maroon team) selected the men's squads while women's captains Melissa Bartlett (maroon team) and Florence Mauro (gold team) picked the women's lineups.
David Kolozar (gold) and Petra Banovic (gold) got the new campaign underway with two wins apiece. Kolozar touched the wall first in both the 1000 freestyle (9:43.56) and the 200 butterfly (1:50.57), while Banovic got wins in the 200 freestyle (1:52.82)-an event in which she holds the school record-and the 200 fly (2:06.42).
ASU's stars from this past summer's Pan Am Games each earned one individual win apiece. Nick Brunelli, gold medalist in the 400m medley relay in the Dominican Republic, claimed first in the 200 IM this afternoon with a 1:54.43. He also clocked a 44.43 split in the 400 free relay to help his squad capture first in the final event of the day. Florencia Szigeti (maroon), a silver medalist this summer in the 100m freestyle while setting a South American record, claimed first-place in today's 100 freestyle with a time of 51.62.
Other first-place highlights on the day included ?gnes Kov?cs in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.55), Kari Wilcox in the 200 backstroke (2:08.48), Josh Gemmell in the 200 breaststroke (2:05.51) and newcomer Cara DeVinny in the 200 IM (2:08.05).
The Sun Devils will be back in action next week for the ASU Pentathlon at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, Friday, October 10, at 3 p.m. The diving squad does not compete until October 17, when they travel to Hawaii.