The Arizona men's swimming team heads to Long Beach, Calif. this weekend to participate in the 2002 Pac-10 Championships.

Arizona enters the meet ranked No. 9 in the nation and on the heels of a four-meet losing streak that includes losses to three Pac-10 teams. Nevertheless, the Wildcats feel confident entering the meet.

"Usually, we're resting, waiting for NCAAs," said freshman Aram Kevorkian. "This year, we have more guys ready to go than usual. As a team, we're looking strong; we should place really high."

A good portion of this confidence can be based on the performance of the Arizona men last weekend at the diving portion of the Championships. The Wildcats swept all three events, getting a head start on the rest of their competition before the swimming has even begun.

"We put Arizona way ahead going into the Pac-10 Championship," said diving coach Michelle Mitchell-Rocha. "That's what we had to do."

The school to beat in the Pac-10 continues to be Stanford. The Cardinal enter the championships undefeated in the last two years, and ranked No. 1 in the nation. In addition, Stanford has history weighing in heavily on their side: since 1981, Stanford has run off a streak of twenty straight Pac-10 championships.

Leading the way for Stanford will be backstrokers Peter Marshall and Markus Rogan, who own the nation's best times in the 100- and 200-yard events, respectively. Sophomore All-American Alex Lim will be swimming the backstroke for Cal, along with Arizona State's Ahmad Hussein and Arizona's own Kris Souther.

The 100-yard freestyle sprint will also be hotly contested, with Arizona senior Roland Schoeman and Cal freshman Duja Draganja meeting head-to-head for the first time since January.

Schoeman won that matchup, besting Draganja in the 100-yard freestyle, but Draganja has since surged ahead to reclaim the nation's top time in that event. Both swimmers have already qualified for the NCAAs in their events, so the competition will take on a strictly personal edge.

Both swimmers will also have to deal with Cal Olympian Anthony Ervin and Arizona State's All-American Nick Brunelli, who round out the nation's top four in the event.

Despite the stiff competition provided by five of the Top Ten teams in the nation, the Wildcats said they feel they have a chance to make a big impact before the national championships in Athens, Ga. at the end of the month.

"After Stanford, it's wide open," said Kevorkian. "We're ready to go."