By
Lindsey Manroel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
No. 5 USC, No. 11 UCLA host Wildcats in Los Angeles this weekend
After coming off a big win in the season-opening meet against Florida State, the Arizona women's swimming team heads into Los Angeles with a more strenuous challenge.
Arizona, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, will face No. 5 USC this afternoon before taking on No. 11 UCLA tomorrow.
"I think that any time you travel, it makes things more difficult," UA head coach Frank Busch said. "I like challenging the team and seeing how they step up. We have a goal as a team to measure our effort as opposed to our wins and losses."
Arizona's effort was definitely present in its last encounter with these two teams a year ago. The Wildcats showed no difficulty in the water, defeating USC 148-93 and UCLA 186-122. However, with injuries and the 2000 Summer Olympics keeping a few Wildcats from suiting up, the women are facing a much more difficult match-up.
With sophomore Amanda Beard, who won a bronze in Sydney, out for the remaining portion of the first semester, and junior Emily Mastin and sophomore Julie Manitt both recovering from surgery, the team will be slightly weaker for the fall season.
"We're definitely missing a lot of girls and you definitely notice it," sophomore Beth Botsford said. "But at the same time, that's when everyone else needs to pull through and do what they would have done if they were here. Our team as a whole needs to step up. That's what we're going to do this weekend."
In place of Beard, Mastin and Mannit, Botsford came up huge against Florida State, taking home two first-place finishes for the Wildcats in both the 200-yard backstroke and 200 butterfly. She came up just four-tenths of a second short of an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships in March.
Botsford is the defending NCAA champion in the 200 backstroke.
Although UA will not be at full-strength this weekend, Busch acknowledges his team's ability to maintain its top national ranking.
"Without a doubt, this team is able to do well," Busch said. "It's just going to be whether or not we have enough bullets in our gun."
Although Arizona is riding on the confidence of being the top swim program in the country, Botsford said the team cannot rely on the success of the 1999-2000 season.
"While it's exciting that we're the team that everyone is trying to beat and it's us that everyone is after, it doesn't mean anything until March comes around," Botsford said. "It doesn't really guarantee anything. It's going to be up to us to keep things the way they are because nothing's set in stone."
