Senior Ryan Glander swims during the men's 1000 yard freestyle at a home meet in Tempe against Air Force. (Photo by Arianna Grainey)SWIM
After the second day of weekend competition, the Sun Devil men's swim team captured its first win of the season against Air Force, while the women's team fell short with a loss to USC.
After a difficult 0-4 start to the season the ASU men's team was able to pull together Saturday, outscoring the Air Force team 158-142.
“It’s so exciting to see their level of excitement and motivation to attack races and win a meet,” Coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said. “We’re starting to really show some progress.”
This was a big weekend for the Sun Devils as it was their first time competing against PAC-12 competitors. And the swimmers did not back down from the challenge. Juniors Alex Coci and Zach Dalby, and freshmen Richard Bohus, and Barkley Perry have been working endlessly to improve and taking home wins today shows growth, Tierney-Walker said.
Youth played a large factor in the meet and some of the freshmen, especially on the women’s side, burned out and could not keep up the enthusiasm and intensity for the second day, Tierney Walker said.
“I think our young ones had a little bit of trouble coming back on the second day today,” Tierney-Walker said. “Racing this time of the year back-to-back days for freshmen can be a big challenge and we need to continue the learning curve.”
Youth did not inhibit everyone as Perry placed first in the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke. Perry said the mindset of the team today was to battle.
“We went out there and fought,” Perry said. “We didn’t go out there and wait to the end, we performed, came out and didn’t give up.”
DIVE
The Sun Devil dive squad continued its year with another impeccable performance by every diver, placing in the top three of every event today.
The divers, led by Coach Mark Bradshaw, continue to dominate their meets and have left no doubts as to the talent of each athlete. With senior Riley McCormick leading the team and placing first by a wide margin in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, the Sun Devils look stronger than they ever have before.
“I would certainly place, at this time in the year, the best diving I’ve seen with my group,” Bradshaw said.
Redshirt junior Hailey Casper and sophomore Morgan Weller have also competed incredibly, placing in either first or second in both events over the course of both days. Casper took first in the 3-meter, beating out Weller by only 1.65 points, while Weller won the 1-meter by over 19 points.
The scoreboard continues to shows dominance but scores are not as important as the overall performance of the athletes, Bradshaw said.
“I think we did very well result wise,” Bradshaw said. “But at this time of the year you need to look a little bit deeper because you won’t always get the result and you need to keep training.”
Reach the reporter at nolan.kwit@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @NolanKwit
