Freshman Jorie Caneta (left) keeps pace with Cal sophomore Celina Li in the 200-meter breaststroke, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2015, at Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex in Tempe. ASU senior Tory Houston (not pictured) won with a time of 2:16:81; Caneta finished second with a time of 2:17:52. (Krista Tillman/The State Press)In its last dual meet of the season, ASU swim and dive was not able to end its long drought against rival Arizona and beat the Wildcats for the first time in the 21st century.
The ASU men (3-9) and women (4-7) were defeated by scores of 174-117 and 176.5 and 118.5, respectively.
ASU's usual performers, the breaststrokers and divers, did not secure any first-place finishes between them.
Freshman David Hoffer, who was named Pac-12 Diver of the Month for January, finished last in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives with scores of 241.13 and 280.20, respectively.
ASU freshman breaststroke standout Jorie Caneta finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1.01.31, but her 2.17.31 in the 200 breaststroke was only good enough for fourth place.
However, sophomores Ingibjorg Jonsdottir and Kat Simonovic earned first-place finishes in their respective events. Jonsdottir finished with a 54.96 in the 100 backstroke and Simonovic finished with a 1.47.13 in the 200 freestyle.
Although ASU did not allow Arizona to have huge runs of first-place finishes, it failed to fill the second and third spots---the Wildcats finished with the top two spots in 12 out of 30 events. Even when ASU finished first, it couldn't follow up with second-place or third-place, largely negating the nine points gained for a first place finish.
Sophomore Barkley Perry and freshman Patrick Park recorded personal lifetime-bests in Tucson.
Perry clocked in at 1.44.02 in the 200 backstroke and Park notched a 1.45.97 in the 200 butterfly. Although Perry's time was good for first place, Park finished in second behind Arizona's Michael Meyer, who touched the pad in 1.45.84.
Another bright spot was sophomore Richard Bohus, who returned from a shoulder injury and anchored the final relay against Stanford two weeks ago. He finished first in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke with respective times of 44.34 and 48.33 against Arizona.
Bohus's two first-place finishes led the men's team, who had five total.
Looking ahead, ASU will be competing in the Pac-12 Championships Feb. 26-28 and March 4-7. Shortly after, the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships will take place from March 9-11. The season will end with the NCAA Champions, which last from March 26-28.
Though it is finished with dual meets, the most grueling part of the season is yet to come for ASU, whose stars will be looking to secure top finishes and perform well in the more individual-oriented end of the season.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3
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