Feb. 25, 2005
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Freshman swimmer Caitlin Andrew made school history Friday evening winning the Pac-10 title in the 100 butterfly and setting two school records while the Arizona State University women's swimming and diving team is in fifth place after the third day of competition at the Pac-10 Championships held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. The Sun Devils scored 616.50 points in 14 events contested through three days.
Andrew, competing in her first Pac-10 Championships, won the Pac-10 title in the 100 butterfly with a NCAA qualifying time of 52.64. Her time is a new ASU school record and she becomes the first Sun Devil women to win a Pac-10 title in the butterfly event. Andrew hit the water again in the 100 backstroke event, where she swam to a third-place finish touching the wall in a school-record setting time of 54.10. Her 100 backstroke time is also good for a NCAA qualification. Andrew was named Pac-10 Co-Swimmer of the Month for January.
Senior All-American Ágnes Kovács was just shy of a second Pac-10 title for her career in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:01.31 for a second-place finish. Her preliminary time of 1:00.96 is a season-best and NCAA qualifying time in that event. Junior Heidi Schmidt finished behind teammate Kovács, swimming to a third-place finish and a personal-best time of 1:02.10. Schmidt's 100 breaststroke time is a NCAA consideration time and puts her third on ASU's all-time top-ten list.
Several Sun Devil women hit the water in the 200 freestyle event, with senior All-American Florencia Szigeti leading the way finishing seventh overall with a NCAA qualifying time of 1:47.60. Junior Sally Brown (1:49.26), junior Sandra Steffensen (1:49.75), sophomore Amanda Gillespie (1:49.79) and freshman Ellis Schieman (1:50.09) swam NCAA consideration times in the 200 freestyle event.
Competing in the 400 IM for the Sun Devils, senior Cara DeVinny swam ASU's fastest time in that event touching the wall in 4:26.54. Rounding out the day of competition for the women in the swimming pool was the 400 medley relay team of Erin Baldinger, Kovács, Andrew and Szigeti. The Sun Devil relay team finished fourth overall with a NCAA consideration time of 3:40.01, which puts them second on ASU's all-time top-ten list in that event.
In the diving pool for the women, senior Trisha Tumlinson led the Sun Devil divers with a third-place finish in the 3-meter springboard event with a time of 473.30. Cassidy Farwell was also in action in the 3-meter event, scoring a personal-best 389.75. They will both be in action tomorrow, competing in the platform event, where Tumlinson looks to defend her crown.
The four-day short-course yards meet and diving concludes Saturday, February 26. Tomorrow's action includes the men's platform diving event, the 1650 freestyle, the 200 backstroke, the 100 freestyle, the 200 breaststroke, the 200 butterfly, the women's platform diving event and concludes with the 200 freestyle relay.
The men's swimming team heads to the Pac-10 championships Wednesday-Saturday, March 2-6 with competition being held in Long Beach, Calif.