The ASU swim and dive team wrapped up its 2012-13 season last weekend after the men returned from the NCAA championships in Indianapolis, Ind. with an 18th place finish under their belt.
Considering none of the men from the swim team even qualified for the NCAA championships last year, their 2013 performance was a necessary advancement to becoming a staple in the top 25 for years to come.
The diving team under head coach Mark Bradshaw, though small in number (three women, two men), was a bright spot for the Sun Devils all year long.
“Very good for several reasons,” Bradshaw said. “There were a couple of events where we could’ve done a little bit better at, but we weren’t off by much.”
Freshman Morgan Weller was able to put a cherry on the top of her rookie season after bringing home ASU’s only gold medal of the year, finishing first in the 1-meter dive at the Pac-12 championships.
Without losing a single dual-meet all season long, senior diver Harrison Jones had himself an All-American season. Jones finished fifth in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events at the NCAA championships.
“It’s probably the best overall group I’ve had,” Bradshaw said. “Having three female divers and two male divers, we didn’t have many athletes, but what we were able to do point wise throughout the season was pretty darn good.
“To sum it up, it’s the most points we’ve scored at the NCAA championships on the men’s side since I’ve been here, and with the girls, it’s the most combined points we’ve scored total. So when you look at it that way, we did pretty good.”
They just might be even better next year. All three women divers are returning, and a healthy senior Riley McCormick should be back for the men’s dive team. The only diver that is leaving is the senior, Jones.
“Obviously, I would expect us to have an opportunity to do even better next year,” Bradshaw said.
The No. 25 Sun Devil women’s swim team finished 23rd, a step back from its 12th place achievement just a year ago.
Although the season didn’t turn out the way most of the women had hoped it would, the year wasn’t without success.
Senior Shannon Landgrebe capped off her career as a Sun Devil with a record-setting performance in the 50-yard freestyle at the NCAAs, beating her previous best time by .03 seconds.
Junior Tristin Baxter will carry some momentum going into next season with her times in both the Pac-12 championships and the NCAAs. Baxter swam a 16:02.86 in the 1650-freestyle at the Pac-12 championships to bring home a silver medal, her second one in two straight seasons.
As for the male swimmers, a few stood head and shoulders above the others. Overall as a team, the men from ASU improved greatly as the season progressed.
Following their record-setting meets at the Pac-12 championship, junior Alex Coci and freshman Thibaut Capitaine were the only two male swimmers to qualify for the NCAA championships for the Sun Devils.
At the NCAA championships, Coci broke his own record in the 100-yard butterfly that he set a week earlier at the Pac-12 meet, and Capitaine came .30 seconds short of breaking his own record in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Reach the reporter at ross.dunham@asu.edu or follow on twitter @Dunhaaam
