Oct. 19, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.thesundevils.com) -- The Arizona State Swimming & Diving program officially opens the 2005-06 season this Friday when they travel to Honolulu to compete against the University of Hawai'i.
The 13-event dual meet will start with diving in the afternoon and the regular meet at 6 p.m. MST. The Sun Devils begin their season with a challenging meet against a Hawai'i squad that finished in the top-20 last season.
"This meet will be a good indicator of where we are in our training at this point," said eighth-year head coach Michael Chasson.
Last season, the ASU women's team finished in 12th place in the final rankings and they look to improve to be a top-10 team this season. Led by sophomore Caitlin Andrew, the Sun Devils feature several returning letterwinners, including All-Americans Andrew, Erin Baldinger, Amanda Gillespie, Kathryn Hennessy, Heidi Schmidt and Sandra Steffensen. Top newcomers to keep an eye on include Jen Beckberger (Sprint Free), Amy Konowalik (Breast/IM) and diver Erin Hobbs.
On the men's side, four-time NCAA diving champion Joona Puhakka looks to help ASU improve on its 20th place finish from last season. The Sun Devils have 13 letterwinners returning and 10 newcomers. Top swimmers returning for the men include sophomore Lucas Azevedo (Distance Free), senior David Kolozar (fly), junior Richie Crowder (Sprint Free), junior Leonardo Martins (Breast) and sophomore CJ Nuess (IM/Breast). Top newcomers include Sean Boyle (Mid Distance Free/Fly), junior Cheyne O'Gorman (Sprint Free/Fly), freshman Christopher Spriggs (Mid Distance Free) and freshman Marcus Titus (Breast/Sprint Free).
ASU's home opener is Friday, Oct. 28, against UC Santa Barbara at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center at 5 p.m. MST.