Women's golf takes 3rd at Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational

Arizona took third place yesterday at the Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational women's golf tournament, finishing at 18-over-par 882.

Wildcat Erica Blasberg continued her successful freshman campaign as she took third place individually with a three-day score of 2-under-par 214.

Tennessee, powered by individual medalist Violeta Retamoza and top-15 finishes from three of its other four golfers, won the team title with a team score of 871 (+7). The Volunteers completed play seven strokes ahead of second-place Texas, which shot 878 (+14) in the 54-hole tournament. Duke and Auburn rounded out the top five teams as they finished one shot behind Arizona in a tie for fourth place.

Blasberg claimed her third consecutive top-three finish by placing third with a 54-hole score of 214. She shot even-par 72 yesterday to extend her streak of rounds at par or better to five.

Senior Anne Lee provided a solid performance, tying for 10th place at 5-over-par 221. Lee, from Northridge, Calif., closed the tournament with a round of even-par 72 one day after setting a career-best with her second-round 70.

Sophomore Mar Garcia was the third Wildcat to claim a top-20 finish as she shared 20th place with three other golfers at 8-over-par 224. Garcia matched her opening-round score by shooting 1-over 73. Miriam and Julia Kraschinski closed action in 40th and 47th places, respectively. Miriam used a final-round 76 to bring her three-day score to 229 (+13), while Julia shot 79 yesterday to finish at 231 (+15). Freshman Katie Christy, making her collegiate debut, took 72nd place while competing as an individual.

The Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational concludes Arizona's fall season. The Wildcats will be back in action on Feb. 10 when they head to Palos Verdes, Calif., for the TRW Regional Challenge.

Juan Veloz junior swimmer

Women's swimming opens with victory

The Arizona men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened their official season Saturday in completely different fashions.

The Wildcat women justified their No. 9 rank by defeating Wisconsin 94-90.

Senior All-American Beth Botsford claimed victory in the 200y backstroke (2:00.34). Also, junior Emily Mason won the 200y fly.

On the other hand, the Wildcat men, who have been decimated by injuries as of late, fell to defending SEC champion Auburn, Wisconsin and the Mexican National Team. The men were only able to score 24 total points. One of the lone bright spots was junior Juan Veloz, who won the 200y butterfly in the time of 1:48.29. Junior All-American Greg Owen finished third in the 200y breaststroke by touching the wall in 2:04.63.

The Arizona women's diving team excelled in both the one- and three-meter platforms. Senior Jennifer Hess won the three-meter event by accruing 300.50 points. Following right behind Hess in the rankings was junior All-American Claire Febvay (283.65 pts).

The most impressive squad of the day was the women's swimmers. Garnering second place in this event was freshman Lisa Pursley (2:05.76). In the first event of the afternoon, the Wildcat swimmers set the tone with a victory in the 400y medley relay (3:44.67). In addition to winning, the quartet of Botsford, Wagner, Pursley and senior April Beltran achieved an NCAA qualifying time.

The men's and women's teams return to action on Nov. 22nd and 23rd. Each squad begins Pacific 10 Conference competition, with the men taking on USC and the women will battle UCLA.

Cross country suffering growing pains

The UA men's and women's cross country teams continued to struggle with youth and inexperience at the 2002 Pac-10 Championships, hosted by UCLA over the weekend.

The men's team finished seventh with a team score of 176 points. The women's team finished ninth in a nine-team field with 242 points.

Stanford swept the men's and women's titles for the second year in a row.

The Arizona men were led by junior Mark Anderson for the fifth consecutive meet. Anderson finished 14th on the 8,000-meter course, clocking a time of 24:21. Junior Wade Juntunen was the next Wildcat finisher, in 38th place.

Freshman Adrienne Goeller led the UA women for the third consecutive meet with a 50th-place finish. She finished the 6,000-meter course in 22:44. Redshirt freshman Robin Tierney was the second Wildcat to cross the line, finishing 56th in 23:06.

The Wildcats have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Western Region Championships in Palo Alto, Calif. on Saturday, Nov. 16. This meet will determine who qualifies to compete at the NCAA Championships later in the month.