Arizona Press Release
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.
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) // Senior Karolyn Loftus (1-meter) // 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) // Sophomore Blair Bish (100 breast) // Junior Justin Wright (100 fly) // Sophomore Dobbs (50 free)
