Gymcats take undefeated record to the Farm tonight

The undefeated No. 6 Arizona Gymnastics team heads to Stanford, Calif. tonight to take on No. 14 Stanford in Burnham Pavilion at 8:30.

The Gymcats (4-0, 1-0 Pacific10 Conference) will be looking for their second win at Stanford (3-1, 0-1) since the 2002 Pac-10 Championships were held at the Farm.

Arizona is coming off a home win over defending national champion, No. 10 UCLA (196.725-194.625), which was ranked No. 5 at the time.

The win has helped the Gymcats move up in the rankings, as they have every week thus far. A preseason No. 17, the UA moved into the No. 11 spot before downing the Lady Bruins and moving into No. 6 in the nation - No. 1 in the South Central region.

Arizona is ranked second in the nation on vault with a team average of 49.287, including a team-high of 49.400 set against the Bruins. The Wildcats won every event against UCLA

UA junior Monica Bisordi comes rolling off a weekend where she took individual titles in both floor (9.900) and all-around (39.425).

Individually, the Wildcats also took event titles in the bars with junior Jamie Duce (9.875) and senior Andi McCabe on the vault (9.950). McCabe's high score also places her sixth in the nation for the event.

The Cardinal sport six All-Americans on the roster despite dropping their first meet to Arizona State, 195.825 to 195.500. Stanford won only the vault (48.575) at the dual meet in Tempe, conceding floor, beam and uneven bars to the Sun Devils.

This is the second of six Pac-10 meets for the Wildcats.

-Ross Hammonds

Softball opens up season with Phoenix College

After its painful loss to Pima Community College to end its fall season, the long wait for the Arizona softball team comes to an end tomorrow with Phoenix College coming to town.

The No. 3 Wildcats play the Lady Bears in an exhibition doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Hillenbrand Stadium.

Tomorrow's games are the first this season for interim co-head coach Larry Ray, an Arizona assistant from 1986 to 1995 who returned last year. Ray left the UA to build the Florida program, compiling a 169-106 record for Gators, and was 1998 SEC coach of the year.

PC is a national power in the NJCAA, finishing fifth in 2003, fourth in 2002 and as national champions in 2000 and 2001.

One of the most successful softball programs in the country, Arizona tied for third in the NCAA last year, was the runner up in 2002 and NCAA champion in 2001.

The Wildcats have gone 4-1 so far in the exhibition season, outscoring opponents 29-2 before losing 2-0 to PCC.

The Lady Bears have gone 7-6-3, including wins over Pima Community College and New Mexico.

- James Kelley

Track and field heads to Boise for season opener

The Wildcat track and field teams travel to Boise, Idaho to compete Saturday in the Western Indoor Classic, their first full meet of the season.

The men will face Boise State and Idaho State, as the women compete against Boise State, Idaho State, Cal State Los Angeles and Stanford.

The women will encounter their toughest competition in Stanford, who is among the top 10 in the nation. The pole vault also figures to be an intense event, as world record-holder Stacy Dragila and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Nick Hysong are scheduled to compete.

"This is our opening competition and we just want to get our feet wet and see where we stand on the national level," head coach Fred Harvey said.

The Dandy Dozen, a ranking of the top 12 athletes in every indoor event, has recognized five UA athletes in its first release of 2004. Sophomore Robert Cheseret was named fourth in the 5,000 meters, making him the highest-ranked track athlete in Arizona. Other Wildcats included in the report were junior Jonah Maiyo and senior Beth Hoge, who both made the list in the mile and 3,000 meters, respectively, and junior Sharifa Jones ranked 10th in the 60-meter hurdles.

In addition, the Dandy Dozen ranked sophomore Angel Perkins ninth in the 400 meters. She has also received praise from Coach Harvey, who called her "one of the top athletes on the team."

"As a team, we have the ability to attract a lot of people because nobody knows the potential and talent on the team," Perkins said

Achieving a women's national title will be challenging, with the absences of Yuliana Perez, two-time USA Outdoor triple jump champion, and Amy Linnen, the NCAA indoor collegiate pole vault record holder. Both girls are not competing with the team this semester as they train for the Olympic trials.

- Lindsey Frazier

Swim and dive travel to Berkeley this weekend

The Arizona men's swim and dive team will travel to Berkeley to take on the University of California Golden Bears today. The Wildcats will then battle against the men and women of Stanford. Both events are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

Head coach Frank Busch's Wildcats will see some tough competition at Cal, as the University of California men's swimming team is currently ranked fourth with a 2-0 overall record and the women are ranked eighth with a 4-0 record. Arizona won't catch a break against the Cardinal the following day either. The Stanford men's team is ranked third with a 3-0 overall record while the Cardinal women are ranked fourth coming off of a 144-107 win against Pacific last week.

Arizona's men and women are coming off two victories each during a meet on Jan. 9. The women's team defeated Missouri, 173.50 to 73.50, and Northern Arizona, 183.00 to 58.00. The men beat Purdue, 134.00 to 105.00, and Missouri, 167.00 to 66.00.

For the women, freshman diver Mary Yarrison broke the season high and her career high in the three-meter with a score of 295.21. Yarrison also won the one-meter dive with a score of 267.22.

On the men's side, sophomore John Collier broke season highs for both the one-meter and the three-meter dives with scores of 340.50 and 312.22 respectively.

In the pool for the women, Arizona showed its dominance by winning 12 of the 13 events. In the 200-yard freestyle, lead by sophomore Katie Willis a time of 1:50.98, the Wildcats finished in five of the top six positions. Senior Jessica Hayes paced the Wildcats with her time of 2:04.33 in the 200-individual medley, as they earned four of the five top times in the event.

For the men, the Wildcats earned the top-position in 10 of the 13 events. Senior Eric La Fleur won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.72, the second fasted time of the season.

-From Staff and Wire Reports