Jan. 15, 2003
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This Week
The #12-ranked Arizona State Men's Swimming and Diving team will send eight swimmers and one diver to compete in the 21st annual Dallas Morning News Swimming and Diving Classic hosted by Southern Methodist University at the Perkins Natatorium January 17th and 18th. Nick Brunelli, David Kolozar, Christian Harcsas, Bobby Zaabadich, Wiley Wallace, Leonardo Martins, Russell MacDonald, Ahmed Hussein and diver Joona Puhakka will represent the Sun Devils. The top-notch competition at the meet includes SMU, #4 California, #6 Florida, #7 Minnesota, and #13 Georgia. Events on both Friday and Saturday begin at 7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.
The Polls
The CSCAA released its fourth, and most recent, poll of the season on December 10. The ASU men fell one spot to 12th while the women moved up to 18th. For the complete poll, visit www.cscaa.org, or see the full version of this release.
About The Dallas Morning News Classic
The Dallas Morning News Classic annually invites the nation's top swimming and diving programs to compete and features only the fast races -- no long distances. Four of the teams in this year's men's field placed in the top 10 at the 2002 NCAA Championships and five out of the six were in the top 15. The competition allows a nine-man squad (eight swimmers and one diver per team) from each of the six teams for the two evening sessions. There are no preliminary heats, only consolation and championship finals. The meet will feature two diving events, the one-meter competition (Jan. 17) and the three-meter competition (Jan. 18). California is the defending champion.
Diving, Last Weekend At Speedo American Cup
Freshman men's diver Joona Puhakka saw his run at the Speedo American Cup come to an end in the quarterfinals, as he was outscored 386.34 to 362.04 in his matchup of the 3-meter springboard competition at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind. The 3-meter quarterfinal format called for divers to match up in head-to-head competition, with the winners of the four contests advancing to the semifinals. Sophomore women's diver Trisha Tumlinson barely missed qualifying for the final round of platform diving optionals. She finished the preliminary round with a score of 281.04, giving her the No. 3 seed going into the quarterfinals, where she registered a 244.50. That was good enough for fourth-place on her side of the bracket, but only the top three in each platform quarterfinal advanced to the final round on Sunday. The third place contestant in Tumlinson's quarterfinal advanced with a 246.39, 1.89 points ahead of the Sun Devil diver.
Bradshaw Holds Classic Record
ASU head diving coach Mark Bradshaw is the 3-meter diving record holder at the Dallas Morning News Classic. At the 1990 meet, Bradshaw scored the record of 427.65 while diving for the U.S. National Team.
ASU, Last Time In The Pool
Both the women's and men's squads recorded convincing wins over Missouri and Wyoming on January 4, in a double dual at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The men defeated Missouri 212-67 and Wyoming 212-75. The women bested Missouri 195-92 and Wyoming 232-68. For the men, in addition to Brant Bingham's two wins in the diving pool, Nick Brunelli and David Kolozar led the swimmers with two wins apiece. Brunelli touched the wall first in the 100 free and the 200 free, while Kolozar finished first in the 200 fly and the 500 free. The ASU women won 14 of the 16 events and multiple winners included Sandra Steffensen (200 free, 500 free), Claire Hedenskog (50 free, 100 free), Petra Banovic (100 fly, 200 fly), ?gnes Kov?cs (100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM), and Jessica Stenson (1m diving, 3m diving).
Sun Devils Nationally
Several swimmers have recorded times that are among the nation's best. For the men, Nick Brunelli is eighth in the 50 free (20.11), fourth in the 100 free (43.87), and his relay split of 1:36.55 in the 200 free would be good enough for second in the country. Bobby Zaabadich is fifth nationally in the 50 free (20.01), while Christian Harcsas is sixth in the 100 back (48.42) and third in the 200 back (1:43.82). The 200 free relay (1:20.03) is presently the second-fastest in the NCAA. For the women, ?gnes Kov?cs leads the way as she is second nationally in the 100 breast (59.92), first in the NCAA in the 200 breast (2:09.90), and third in the 200 IM (1:58.13). The 400 free relay (3:20.14) is fourth-fastest in the nation.
Steffensen Joins Women
Sandra Steffensen (Trelleborg, Sweden) is a sprint and middle distance freestyler who joined the team at the semester break and will look to have an impact before this season's NCAAs. Steffensen placed fourth at the 2002 Swedish Senior Nationals in the 400m free, and at the 2000 Senior Swedish Nationals she was third in the 400m free and second in the 800m free. She has been a member of three Swedish record-setting relay teams, and her 2001 400m relay team recorded the second best club time in the world. In her first competition as a Sun Devil in the dual meets against Missouri and Wyoming, Steffensen earned first-place in both the 200 free and 500 free. "Sandra is one of the best short-course meters swimmers in the world," says Sun Devil head swimming coach Mike Chasson. "She'll help us immediately at the NCAA level and help our freestyle relays across the board. She is a big addition to our team."
Up Next For The Sun Devils
The men's and women's squads will host California and Stanford the weekend after spring semester classes begin. On Friday, January 24, Cal visits the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center for a 2 p.m. start time. On Saturday, January 25, Stanford comes to town, with the women competing at noon and the men beginning at 2 p.m.