It is never easy to repeat as champions, but three members of the ASU dive team are up for the challenge.
Juniors Constantin Blaha and Elina Eggers will join sophomore Riley McCormick as all three attempt to repeat as Pac-10 champions at the 2011 Pac-10 Diving Championships in Seattle starting Wednesday.
“We’ve been working very hard,” Blaha said. “During winter training we did work very hard and it’s going to pay off, I’m sure.”
While the trio is very talented, winning back-to-back championships is a difficult task.
“It’s always tough to repeat,” ASU coach Mark Bradshaw said.
McCormick stole the show at last year’s championships when he won the 10-meter platform as a freshman, and his score of 476.8 set both an ASU and Pac-10 record in the event.
Despite recent injuries to his hand and thumb, McCormick is expected to be at full strength and ready to defend his title.
“He hasn’t had any issues with it since his return,” Bradshaw said. “He is ready to go [and] his last platform practice was really good.”
Eggers also won the 10-meter platform last year and finished second in the three-meter springboard.
Blaha, who was runner up in the 1-meter springboard in 2010, won the three-meter springboard event, finishing ahead of his teammate junior Cameron Bradshaw.
Despite the pressure and expectations, the divers feel they will be ready for the meet.
“I feel I am well prepared and going to be in good shape,” Blaha said.
Mark Bradshaw is also optimistic and anticipates good results from his team.
“I expect them to perform at the same level they are capable of,” Bradshaw said. “If they do what they are capable of doing our placing will work out very well for us.”
One of the most difficult parts of repeating as a champion is that you have no control over what your opponent does. Diving is unique in that it is one of the few sports where you have no control over your opponent, Bradshaw said.
Since this is a championship style meet, the format will be different than traditional dual meets. There are more divers in this event, which will cause the pace of the meet to slow down.
The pace can wear on a diver mentally, but everyone faces the same conditions so there is no excuse, Bradshaw said.
While the dive team will be busy trying to win Pac-10 championships, the women’s swim team will be attempting to do the same.
ASU junior Rebecca Ejdervik was the lone swimmer to win a Pac-10 championship last year. Ejdervik, who won the 100-yard breaststroke, is coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker’s only conference champion.
Her time this season is ranked No. 2 in the Pac-10 and No. 11 nationally.
The ASU women have had a promising year up to this point, but the conference championships are unique and will be full of top-notch competition.
The Pac-10 is one of the best swimming conferences in the country with four team ranked in the top 10, and a lot of talent will be displayed as four of the top 10 teams in the country will be at the meet.
ASU is hoping to come away with good results, but they will be competing against No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 Cal, No. 6 USC and No. 7 UA.
Two other ASU swimmers are ranked in their events. Cassie Morrice is ranked No. 4 in the Pac-10 and No. 20 nationally in the 500-meter freestyle, and Caroline Kuczynski is ranked No. 9 in the Pac-10 and No. 26 nationally in the 100-meter fly.
The Sun Devils’ 800-meter free relay team, 200-meter medley relay team and 400-meter medley relay team are also ranked in the top half of the Pac-10.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
