Arizona Daily Wildcat
What the Arizona women's swimming and diving teams probably see as the battle of the century is about to take place. Arizona's biggest cross-state rivalry will heat up at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center tomorrow when the Wildcats rumble with Arizona State Ä and it is going to get ugly.
The eighth-ranked Wildcats are looking for a win and they are hungry.
"This is going to be a close meet," Arizona coach Frank Busch said. "The girls do not want to lose to their number one rivals."
With the UA coming off easy dual meets against New Mexico State and Loyola, one would wonder if Arizona might not be ready for the tough Sun Devils. But not Busch.
"Last weekend's meet was a fun meet for us. This weekend we are going to be all business," Busch said. "The girls are so pumped up and excited to be swimming against their top rivals that there is no way that the meet from last week will hurt them."
The Arizona diving team is just as excited. Junior Marni DeRyckere and sophomore Kate Moran are the ones that the competition should be keeping their eyes on this weekend. DeRyckere reached NCAA Zone Qualifying standards on both the one-meter and three-meter boards earlier this year. Moran finished third in the one-meter event.
ù ù ù
This weekend, the UA track and field team travels to Flagstaff for a triangular meet against Northern Arizona and Arizona State.
"This week is always one of those meets where there is a lot of excitement," Arizona coach Dave Murray said of the intra-state rivals.
Once a year, the schools compete at an indoor meet at NAU's Walkup Skydome, and at an outdoor meet in either Tucson or Tempe.
This season, the outdoor meet will be held at ASU April 22.
"There's an added incentive to perform well against in-state rivals," Murray added. "It's always a good meet."
Fortunately for the Wildcats, they did not have anyone suffer significant injuries at last weekend's U.S. Direct Invitational at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
ù ù ù
Same coach, same results.
Rick LaRose's debut as head coach for the women's golf team looked very familiar. The women's team resembled its male counterparts this week by hovering near the top of the UCLA Pioneer Classic for the first two rounds, only to cool off on the final round to finish fifth.
No. 1 Arizona State took the tournament, with host UCLA finishing fourth. ASU's Heather Bowie won the individual championship by six strokes.
The finish was disappointing for the 15th-ranked Wildcats. The team was hoping for a better finish in a deep tournament that featured some of the top squads in the nation, but it was a useful experience for the team.
ù ù ù
The Arizona's men's club lacrosse team is about to begin its 1995 season after weeks of hard work in practice.
The Laxcats' season opener will begin with a two-game road trip to central Arizona that includes Arizona State tomorrow and the Phoenix Lacrosse Club Sunday.
The Laxcats have the upper hand against ASU. Arizona head coach Mickey-Miles Felton has an impressive 70-6 overall record against Arizona State.
ù ù ù
The UA club rugby team will play its home opener this weekend.
Today, the Wildcats will compete against San Diego State at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, they will take on UC-San Diego at noon. Both games will take place at Estevan Park.