Arizona Women Beat ASU; Wildcat and Sun Devil Men Tie

ARIZONA VS. ASU

• Results
• Saturday, February 4th
• Hosted by Arizona
• 25 yards
• Dual meet format

FINAL TEAM SCORES

• WOMEN- Arizona 180, Arizona State 118
• MEN- Arizona 147, Arizona State 147

The Arizona Wildcat women pulled off a victory over in-state and Pac-12 rival ASU at home on Saturday. The men’s meet, however, ended in a tie between the Wildcats and Sun Devils. Arizona had the lead heading into the final race, but ASU clinched a victory in the 400 free relay to secure the final tie.

Arizona’s Nick Thorne and ASU’s Cameron Craig were among the top performers for their respective teams on the men’s side. Thorne got the ball rolling with a 1:43.70 in the 100 back to outswim ASU’s Zachary Poti (1:44.06). He then dominated the 400 IM to help the Wildcats pick up the lead heading into the 400 free relay. His 3:49.18 in that race gave him a 5 second lead over ASU’s Joe Molinari (3:54.30).

Craig, on the other hand, picked up a pair of individual freestyle wins to help the Sun Devils. He was nearly 2 seconds ahead of the field in the 200 free, winning with a quick 1:35.59. Craig then stepped up to the plate in the 100 free, using his back half speed to out-touch teammate Richard Bohus (43.97) with his 43.93. He was even faster than that as the leadoff of the 400 free relay, posting a 43.34 from a flat start.

On the women’s side, Arizona’s Katrina Konopka pulled off a winning double to help the Wildcats earn their team victory. In the 50 free, she posted a quick 22.42 to out-touch Arizona State’s Alysha Bush (22.50) by hundredths. Konopka then completed the sprint sweep in the 100 free, as she powered to a 49.13 ahead of Bush’s 49.52.

You can check out video highlights from the meet here.

PRESS RELEASE – ARIZONA

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona swimming and diving ended its meet against Arizona State in a rare way. The women downed ASU on senior day, 180-118, swimming the last relay event with a comfortable lead. The men’s side came down the last event, the 400 free relay. Arizona State needed a 1-2 finish to win while the Cats needed a first-place finish or both teams in the top three to win. Arizona’s A team took second while ASU went 1-3, ending the meet in a 147-147 tie.

Sophomore Katrina Konopka led the day for the women being the only swimmer to win multiple events. Konopka won the 50 free with a time of 22.42, eight-hundredths of a second ahead of Arizona State. The sophomore later took first in the 100 free with 49.13, adding to Arizona’s lead. Konopka was also a member of both winning relay teams, coming in the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.

After this meet, Konopka still has yet to finish lower than second place in the 50 free this season. She has won six of the nine times swimming the event and her time of 22.42 was her second-fastest this season.

On senior day, Karolyn Loftus and Sally Hackett went 1-2 in the 1-meter with scores of 314.25 and 306.00, respectively, to close out their last dual meet.

Overall, the women had at least two swimmers in the top three in 14 of the 16 events, winning ten of those. The Cats went 1-2-3 in three events, including the 100 fly and 200 fly.

Arizona’s strongest showing came in the 200 fly as sophomore Mik Ranslem won (2:00.14) followed by junior Samantha Getzen (2:01.32) and Jenna Bauer (2:01.63). Arizona State’s first swimmer was over seven seconds behind Bauer, giving the Cats a commanding and comfortable race.

Other victors on the day include: Junior Tjasa Oder (1,000 free) // Sophomore Annie Ochitwa (100 back) // Junior Cameron McHugh (200 back) // Mackenzie Rumrill (100 fly)

For the men, junior Nick Thorne had a strong performance being the only male to win more than one event. Thorne earned his first victory in the 200 back with a season and personal-best time of 1:43.70. He later won the 400 IM with ease, touching in 3:49.18 and giving the Wildcats the lead going into the last event. These were Thorne’s first victories of the season and best finishes in both of the events.

Overall, the men won seven events and had multiple swimmers in the top three in ten.

Other individual winners include: Junior Chris Wieser (1,000 free) who had a season-best time // Sophomore Blair Bish (100 breast) // Junior Justin Wright (200 fly) who notched his third-consecutive win // Sophomore Chatham Dobbs (50 free)

Up Next: Arizona women’s swimming and diving heads to Federal Way, Washington for the Pac-12 Championships from Wednesday, Feb 22 through Saturday, Feb. 25. Men’s diving will compete at the same time as the women. Men’s swimming competes at the Pac-12 Championships from Wednesday, Mar. 1 through Saturday, Mar. 4.

Follow Arizona Swimming and Diving: For further coverage of Arizona swimming and diving, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow the team’s Twitter (@ArizonaSwimming) and Instagram (@ArizonaSwimDive) accounts.