Oct. 30, 2005
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - A busy weekend of action for the Arizona State University swimming and diving program came to a close Sunday at the Buchanan Natatorium on the campus of UNLV with the No. 17 Sun Devil women defeating the host Rebels, 134.5-107.5, while ASU's men, ranked No. 25, fell to UNLV by one point, 121-120. The win was the first of the dual season for the women (1-2) while the men absorbed their first defeat of the young campaign (1-1).
On the women's side, Sarah Fisher and Jen Beckberger paced the Sun Devils as each swimmer had a hand in a pair of victories. Beckberger anchored the victorious 400 medley relay (3:50.95) that also featured Caitlin Andrew, Heidi Schmidt and Laura Ulrich, before she claimed an individual win in the 50 freestyle in a time of 24.06. Fisher took gold in the two distance events, winning the 1,000 freestyle in 10:22.52 before taking the 500 freestyle in 5:04.73.
Other Sun Devil women that captured victories included Sandra Steffensen in the 200 freestyle (1:53.55); Erin Hobbs in the 1 meter dive (250.13); Sally Brown in the 200 butterfly (2:07.42) and Lindsey Brown in the 100 freestyle (51.75).
Four-time NCAA diving champion Joona Puhakka led the men as he easily captured first place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. In his first event of the day, Puhakka scored 359.25 to capture the 1-meter before closing out the day with a score of 400.13 in the 3-meter event. Sean Boyle won the 200 freestyle for ASU (1:42.86) while teammates CJ Nuess won the 400 individual medley (4:00.62), David Kolozar won the 200 butterfly (1:50.46) and Joey Clements capped the Sun Devil winner with his first-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:03.75).
The Sun Devils will have two weeks off from competition before returning to the pool. On No. 18, the women will play host to UCLA in a 2 p.m. Pac-10 dual at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center and then will join the men on Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. as the Sun Devils play host to USC.