By
Lindsey Manroel
Needing a dominant second-half performance in southern Texas, the Arizona women's swimming and diving team barely scraped past the University of Texas - 195.5 to 176.5 - in one of the best combined team efforts of the young season.
"In the beginning, there was a question if Texas was going to win, but our effort was the best that it has been this whole year," sophomore Beth Botsford said. "We are such an excited and passionate group of people and we keep getting stronger and stronger."
In an NCAA-format showdown at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center Friday and Saturday afternoon, No. 3 Arizona trailed the No. 10 Longhorns by eight points after the second session. The team suffered a disqualification in the 200-meter medley relay, an event the team expected to score in.
"They had some really fast swims," Botsford said. "It was knowing that that made us want to beat them even more. There were questions about the relay and then the personal desire that makes you want to do something even more when you are behind."
In one of the final meets of the spring season, sophomore Amanda Beard captured first place in three events including the 400 individual medley and the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
In the 1,650, junior Caroline Kilian notched a win for the Wildcats while Botsford finished first in both the 100 and 200 backstroke.
The diving team put on another dominant performance, which aided the women's victory. Freshman Claire Febvay led the way for the Wildcats and took first place on the platform and second in the three meter.
On the men's side, the No. 6 Wildcats could not overcome the dominant performance of the top-ranked Longhorns and the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies.
"I would definitely say that there wasn't a lack of effort," junior Roland Schoeman said. "Everyone gave forward their maximum effort. We may not have swam as best as we could, but everyone swam as hard as they could."
Senior Tyler Painter finished first in the 1,650 while sophomore Jeff Dash placed second in the 200 butterfly and Schoeman came in second in the 100 freestyle.
On the men's diving squad, senior Omar Ojeda came in second on the one meter and third on the platform.
With one meet left in the spring season, Arizona is primed to make a run. Despite the weekend outcome for the men, the team is optimistic.
"I think we are in a good place right now," head coach Frank Busch said. "Our emphasis is on the NCAA's. I feel really good about where they are and where they'll be at the end of the year."
-Lindsey Manroel
Sughed: Tennis teams drop weekend matches
The Arizona men's and women's tennis teams lost in weekend matches against UCLA and USC.
The men's team, playing at home at the Robson Tennis Center, lost 6-1 to No. 3 UCLA. Freshman Whi Kim earned the team's lone singles point. Kim, who competed as the team's No. 4 singles players, defeated the 47th-ranked collegiate player in the country, Erfan Djahangiri, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
Arizona returns to the court today to face Southern Cal as Saturday's match was canceled by a severe rain storm.
On the women's side, things didn't go much better in Los Angeles.
Arizona was defeated 5-2 by No. 12 USC, with senior Michelle Gough and freshman Debbie Larocque winning their singles matches.
Gough, the nation's No. 3 player, defeated Jewel Peterson 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
"I got off to a bit of a tough start but was able to turn it around," she said.
Larocque defeated Anita Loyola 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The Wildcats stayed in Southern California on Saturday to take on No. 9 UCLA. Their luck wasn't much different, as the Bruins easily defeated Arizona, 6-1. Freshman Perrine Pernin earned Arizona's lone point with a two-set victory.
-Caitlyn Dayhill
Sughed: Men's Golf Hosts Tournament
Arizona will look to rebound today, after finishing in 10th place following the first round of their spring season.
The No. 10 Wildcats are playing host to the PING-Arizona Intercollegiate Tournament, which is considered a prestigious gathering of nationally ranked teams. The tournament is being held at The Raven in Sabino Springs, which boasts a par-71, 6,900- yard course.
It is the first of five spring events that will be held prior to the Pacific 10 Conference Championships.
The Wildcats, who had an undeniably successful fall season, believe that they can compete for the top spot in the country.
The first round was one to be forgotten, however, as Freshman Andy Connel was the only Wildcat to shoot par (71). His individual results left him in a tie for 13th place at the end of the day.
No. 16 Southern California has the leading team score with 276 (-8).
Both the Arizona 'A' and 'B' squads were 21 shots behind with a team score of 297.
"We are very disappointed by the way that we came out playing," UA Junior Cody Beyer said. "We would like to get out to a good start tomorrow and hopefully make it respectable with a top five finish."
The competition has proven to be stiff, with four participating teams ranked in the top 25, and three of those teams cracking the top 10.
Other teams included in the field are: No. 4 South Carolina, No. 8 Brigham Young, California, Arkansas, New Mexico State, Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State, California- Irvine, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Mississippi, UTEP, Washington, Stanford, and UCLA.
The Wildcats will have extra incentive to take down Pac-10 rival USC, who won last year's invitational with a team score of 848. Arizona held a two-shot lead going into the final round of play, before sliding into second place with a team score of 852.
Freshman Andy Connel says "It's more important for us to take down some of the teams in front of us that are in our conference," UA freshman Andy Connel said. "It affects our seeding for the (Pac-10) championships, and we know we'll be seeing those teams again."
-Kyle Faraday
