With competition levels high at the Pac-12 championships in Federal Way, Wash., ASU placed sixth, crowned a champion and broke school records along the way.
On Friday, March 1, freshman diver Morgan Weller placed first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 334.35. It was 20 points higher than second place finisher USC redshirt sophomore Haley Ishimatsu.
“I’m very proud of Morgan,” diving coach Mark Bradshaw said. “The night before she had less than a stellar performance to her standard. She came back the next day on the one meter event and competed like a champion.”
Bradshaw said Weller won 1-meter because of her aggressive mindset, according to Bradshaw.
“That was very good for her, especially since she’s a freshman. I knew she could do it,” Bradshaw said.
Weller was ASU’s only champion on the week but the No. 25 Sun Devils still had success in other areas in the competition.
Junior Tristin Baxter finished second in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:02.86 in the final day of competition for ASU. This is her second time bringing home silver in the event after her performance last year.
Junior Alex Popa had a solid weekend for the Sun Devils, capturing bronze in the 200-yard backstroke just two days after she broke the ASU school record in the 200 IM.
Senior diver Harrison Jones placed second behind Stanford sophomore Kristian Ipsen in the 1-meter dive. Jones scored a 437.5, beating the previous Sun Devil record by 10 points.
Two days later, Jones captured a bronze in the platform dive, finishing behind Ipsen and UA freshman Rafael Quintero
In his first meet back since sustaining a thumb injury, junior Riley McCormick placed fifth in the 1-meter and a day later he took bronze in the 3-meter championship.
The 800 freestyle relay team of seniors Shannon Landgrebe, Cassie Morrice and Lizzy Luttrell and Baxter were able to post a NCAA standard time of 7:05.16, good for second all-time in ASU history.
Overall, the Sun Devils finished exactly where they did last year, sixth place in the conference while No. 4 Stanford was crowned Pac-12 champions.
The women finish their season in Indianapolis, Ind., at the NCAA championships from March 21 to March 23.
Reach the reporter at rdunham1@asu.edu
