The Arizona swimming and diving and indoor track and field programs competed at Big 12 Championships over the weekend, with several athletes from both sports earning podium finishes.
Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams placed runner-up at the conference championships in Greensboro, N.C. ASU won both competitions.
The Arizona women closed strong, with freshman Kayman Neal winning the 200 backstroke and securing an automatic qualification for NCAAs.
The women’s 200 medley relay won the
the conference title behind strong swims from Lila Lillie, Eleni Gewalt, Patricija Kondraskaite and Julia Wozniak.
Both the men’s and women’s 400 free relays took silver.
“The 400 freestyle relays were both improvements on our seeds for NCAAs, putting us solidly inside the top 25 for both men and women,” said head coach Ben Loorz said. “We will look to move those into scoring range over the next few weeks.”
The men had several individual standout performances, including Duncan Henderson’s program record in the 100 back. Henderson went on to take silver in the event.
Arizona men’s divers cleaned up, with Luke Hernandez winning the 3-meter and Gage DuBois and Hernandez going one-two in the platform event. DuBois, a senior, finally won a conference title after finishing on the podium the last two seasons.
“What an incredible night for Gage,” said head dive coach Dwight Dumais. “After so many close calls in his pursuit of an individual Conference title, to finally capture one — in the final event of his Conference Championship career — makes the moment even more special. He has put in the work year after year and deserves this moment.”
Arizona will send a healthy number of swimmers and divers from both teams to NCAA Championships in Atlanta later this month. Women’s NCAA Championships run from March 18-21 and Men’s NCAA Championships take place March 25-28.
Track and Field
Arizona competed at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Lubbock, Texas on Friday and Saturday, where the men finished eighth and the women finished 11th.
Three Wildcats won Big 12 individual titles.
Bryson Nielsen took home the men’s 1,000m with a time of 2:22.07. Tyler Michelini won the men’s shot put with a throw of 19.16m. In the women’s shot put, Tapenisa Havea won the event with a throw of 16.78m.
Mason Lawyer took second in the 60m dash after setting a school record time in the prelims with a time of 6.49. The time stands as the No. 1 mark in the NCAA this season.
Arizona track and field is in its first season under head coach Andrew Dubs.
