Aug. 14, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. - The past two days of competition in Beijing have seen some ups and downs for the athletes and coaches with ties to Arizona State University with current and former Sun Devils competing in basketball, softball and swimming.
On Wednesday, Gal Nevo, representing Israel, competed in the heats of the 200 individual medley and turned in a time of 1:59.66 to win his heat and advance the semifinals at the 13th-ranked competitor in the event. Nevo then swam the semifinal on Thursday, placing seventh in his heat in 2:00.43, to finish his stay in Beijing in 13th place.
Also on Wednesday, the Netherlands softball team, along with former Sun Devil head coach Linda Wells, faced Canada and suffered a 9-2 defeat. One day later, the Dutch took on Japan and fell, 3-0. Standing 0-3 in the tournament thus far, the Dutch will look to rebound Friday as they are set to face Venezuela (0-3). In the eight-team tournament, the Netherlands is tied for seventh with only the Top 4 advancing to the medal rounds.
On the hardwood, Shawn Redhage and the Australian basketball team notched their first victory of the tournament, handing Iran a 106-68 defeat. Redhage played nearly 12 minutes and scored nine points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field and 1-for-2 shooting from the free throw line. He also added two rebounds and one steal for the Aussies, who will play Russia on Saturday in a meeting of 1-2 teams.
The final Sun Devil to compete on Thursday was Mohammed Madwa (Kuwait), who swam in the heats of the 50 freestyle. Madwa was fourth in his heat and 45th overall with a time of 22.83.
On Friday, two more Sun Devils will make their Olympic debuts as Jacquelyn Johnson (track & field) and Ante Cvitkovic (swimming) compete for the first time. Johnson (USA) will open the heptathlon with the 100m hurdles at 6 p.m. Arizona time Thursday night while Cvitkovic, who swims for Croatia, will compete in the 400 medley relay at 5:50 a.m. Arizona time on Friday.