CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA freshman Jerod Keene looks for an open man during the Icecats' series with Tennessee two weeks ago at Tucson Convention Center.

Icecats return to Madhouse tonight

The No. 11 Arizona Icecats return home this weekend to face No. 6 Weber State after taking two of three on their East Coast road trip last week.

The teams square off in a two-game set tonight and tomorrow at the Tucson Convention Center Arena. The puck drops for both games at 7:30 p.m.

The Icecats (5-1-1) split a home series last year with Weber State at the TCC. After falling in the first game of a two-game set last November by a 4-3 margin in overtime, the Icecats came back strong to take game two, 12-3.

Goaltender Rick Karasch posted a shutout in Sunday's 2-0 win over Navy, a day after the Midshipmen shut out the Icecats, 1-0. Karasch, who stopped 27 shots in the UA win, got the starting nod after a family death forced regular starter Bryan Aronchick to miss the game.

Arizona took the first game of the road trip, in Baltimore, by a 6-5 margin in overtime.

Cross Country hits NCAA regional championships

The UA men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Portland, Ore. tomorrow for the NCAA West Region Championships. The meet will be hosted by the University of Portland at Blue Lake Park.

The top two teams earn automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Waterloo, Iowa.

On the men's side, Stanford enters the weekend with the country's top ranking, Oregon is the second-ranked team from the West Region, coming in at No. 12. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo comes in at No. 15, followed by Washington at No. 20. Arizona State garnered the No. 25 ranking, while the Wildcat men come in at No. 27.

Stanford has dominated the women's competition all season, giving the Cardinal a much-deserved No. 1 ranking entering the region championships. Arizona State is the next squad in the rankings from the West Region, holding on to the No. 11 spot.

In the team's last outing, freshman Robert Cheseret led the way for the men with a third-place finish. He was closely followed by junior Jonah Maiyo, who finished fifth. Junior Beth Hoge was the first to cross the finish line for the women, claiming 28th place.

Swim, Dive opens Pac-10 season today against USC

The No. 7 Arizona women's swim and dive team and the No. 14 Arizona men's team will take on visiting Southern California this afternoon at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center at 2 p.m. The Wildcat women then will compete again tomorrow against UCLA at 1 p.m., in the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.

The No. 5 USC men's team finished the 2002-03 season with a 5-3 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the Pac-10 Conference after a fifth-place finish at NCAAs. The Trojans started off their 2003-04 season with a 102-65 loss to Texas on Oct. 24, and another loss (193-160) on Oct. 25.

The USC women, also ranked fifth, finished the 2002-03 season 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-10 with a third-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships. The Trojan women began their 2003-04 season on Oct. 24 with an 84-83 loss to Texas, but came back the next day to beat the Longhorns, 169-165.

The UCLA women come to Tucson with the nation's No. 11 ranking.

Sophomore Lyndon Ferns placed first in three events - the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:39.83, the 50 freestyle in a time of 20.26, and the 100 freestyle in a time of 44.50.

Sophomore Tyler DeBerry took first in the 1000 and 500 freestyle events. He also finished seventh in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 400 freestyle relay.

Senior Juan Veloz had a successful day in the pool by finishing first in the 200 butterfly and third in the 200 backstroke.

Senior Jessica Wagner stood out for the women's team against the Badgers, swimming her way to first place in both the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:01.78 and the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:15.51.