Feb. 28, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
This Week --
Days after a sixth-place finish for ASU at the women's conference championships last week, the Sun Devil men will challenge for a title at the men's Pacific-10 Conference Championships at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif., March 1-3.
The Polls --
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) releases national rankings on a bi-weekly basis. Currently ranked 13th, the ASU men have been ranked as high as 11th (11/16), but no lower than 14th (2/1). The Sun Devil women are presently 17th, having begun the season ranked 19th, and moving up to as high as 16th (11/16, 11/30).
Pac-10 Excellence --
Those lucky enough to attend the men's Pac-10 Championships will not only see the best the conference has to offer, but also some of the nation's best. Six conference schools make the national top-25 list, including four in the top-10: No. 3 Stanford, No. 5 California, No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 USC, No. 14 ASU and No. 25 Washington. In the past ten years, Stanford has demonstrated the talent of the conference with four national titles and four runner-up finishes. Overall, four Pac-10 men's schools (USC 9, Stanford 8, California 2, UCLA 1) have combined to win 20 of 64 national crowns.
Up Next --
For those women who qualify, the women's NCAA Championships are slated for March 15-17 at Long Island, N.Y. The men's NCAA Championships will be held at College Station, Texas, March 22-24. Before those swimming competitions, the NCAA Zone diving championships will be competed March 9-10 at Federal Way, Wash.
-- MOST RECENT MEN'S RESULTS --
Sun Devils Battle North Of The Border --
The Sun Devils may have been `playing with fire,' but it was their intrastate rivals who displayed the fire-power in the annual desert dual meet vs. Arizona. After taking first-place points in four of the first five events the 14th-ranked Sun Devils went winless against the No. 7 Wildcats and lost 179-121. Gavin Meadows (1:38.66), Anders Lyrbring (1:39.94) and Scott VonSchoff (1:40.69) went one-two-three, respectively, in the 200 free. Meadows' time was a personal-best and an NCAA `B' qualifier. Meanwhile, ASU's No. 17 women garnered first-place points only four times to fall to the No. 2 Wildcats 182-113. Of the first five events, Lauren Morelli's second-place 57.88 effort in the 100 back marked the only time ASU finished better than third. Helping to put points on the ASU side of the scoreboard was the one-two finish of Sarah Baham (2:20.38) and Alicia Wheelock (2:04.27) in the 200 fly.
-- STAND-OUT SUN DEVIL MEN'S SWIMMERS --
Otto Hinks --
Senior All-American Hinks, ASU's school record-holder in the 100 breast (54.46), swam 55.61 at the Texas Invitational, notching an NCAA `B' qualifying time and the 19th-fastest time in the nation this year.
Ahmed Hussein --
A mid-season arrival, Hussein -- who represented his Egypt at the 2000 Olympics -- has made an immediate impact on ASU swimming. Although his season-best in the 100 back (51.10) is only third on the ASU top-times list, Hussein's 1:46.59 in the 200 back is 16th in the nation this year, not to mention third on the ASU's all-time list.
Anders Lyrbring --
Often overshadowed by teammate Scott VonSchoff, junior All-American Lyrbring is among the nation's elite in the 200 free with a previously ranked season best 1:38.65.
Austin Paulsen --
Back competing since the semester break, Paulsen seems to be regaining the form that in 1999 put him second on ASU's all-time 400 IM list (3:50.65). Although yet to crack into the nation's top-times list this year, Paulsen's best of 3:56.44 is near the No. 25 time of 3:55.20. In addition to the 400 distance, Paulsen has ASU's fastest time of the year in the 200 IM (1:52.40).
Scott VonSchoff --
Scott VonSchoff's magical 2001 winning streak came to a close when the Bay Area schools visited Tempe, Jan. 19-20. In the six dual meets prior to facing Stanford and California, VonSchoff competed in a total of 12 individual races and six relays, and claimed first-place each and every time. However, in the opening relay vs. Stanford, VonSchoff anchored the 400 medley team to an NCAA `B' qualifying time of 3:18.74, but a third-place finish. The next day vs. Cal, the Sun Devils placed second in the 400 medley relay (3:19.73), and Eric Anthony (43.87) snapped VonSchoff's (44.59) individual streak with a win in the 100 free. VonSchoff did earn three wins over the weekend, meaning that in dual meets this season the freestyle specialist has placed first twice at 50 yards (20.97 vs. UCSB, 20.75 vs. UW), five times at 100 yards (45.26 vs. UNLV, 45.13 vs. USC, 45.19 vs. UT, 44.31 vs. AU, 45.00 vs. Stanford), four times at 200 yards (1:38.53 vs. UNLV, 1:39.20 vs. USC, 1:39.04 vs. UT, 1:37.98 vs. AU) and twice at 500 yards (4:37.90 vs. UCSB, 4:34.91 vs. UW). He's also paced one victorious 200 free (vs. UNLV) and seven victorious 400 free relay teams (vs. USC, UCSB, UW, UT, AU, Stanford, California), in addition to anchoring winning 200 (vs. UW) and 400 (vs. Arizona) medley relay teams. VonSchoff's winning ways have extended beyond the dual format this season. At the Texas Invitational, VonSchoff won the 200 free in a personal-record and NCAA `B' time of 1:36.75, the eighth-fastest collegiate time this year. His season best in the 100 (44.13) ranks 12th in the nation. At the UBC Colleges' Cup, VonSchoff established meet records in the 100-meter free (50.82), and 400m free relay (3:21.93, anchor), and the 400m medley relay (3:43.37, anchor).
Complete release available above in PDF format.