Women’s Swimming and Diving takes 12th at NCAAs
The Arizona women’s swimming and diving team closed its season over the weekend with a No. 12 finish at the NCAA Championships in Atlanta.
The Wildcats placed among the upper echelon of the 48 schools that competed. Georgia won the national championship, while Pac-12 Conference powers Stanford Univesrity and University of California, Berkely, placed No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Arizona’s top performances included a No. 5 finish in the 200-meter free relay and a school-record showing by Annie Ochitwa in the 100. Ochitwa was one of four freshmen to compete for the Wildcats.
The men’s team now heads to Atlanta for its turn at national glory. The men’s swimming and diving NCAA Championships begin Wednesday and run through Saturday.
Gymnastics places sixth overall at Pac-12 Championships
Arizona gymnastics finished in sixth place at the Pac-12 Championships in Seattle over the weekend.
The Wildcats finished with a team score of 195.575, trailing well behind champion UCLA’s 197.250.
The team posted a strong showing on the uneven bars, led by Dani Spencer, Krysten Howard and Seyinna Felix-Terrazas, who all scored 9.85.
On the beam, Maddy Cindric and Jessie Sisler were the high scorers with each scoring a 9.85.Sisler also scored a 9.85 on the floor routine to lead the team.
On the final event—the vault—Lauryn Mattson and Sisler both scored 9.80.
Arizona will next compete at the NCAA Regional Finals. The Wildcats find out their location on Monday during the NCAA Selection Show.
The show begins at 2 p.m. and can be streamed live on ncaa.com/live.
Arizona track and field begins outdoor season
The Arizona men’s and women’s track and field teams opened the outdoor portion of their seasons over the weekend, as the program hosted the Willie Williams Classic at the Roy P. Drachman Stadium.
Arizona competed against a number of local colleges, including Grand Canyon University and Pima Community College, as well as athletes from Oregon, Illinois and Vassar.
The Wildcats received standout performances from Aaron Castle and Viktor Gardenkranz in the men’s shot put. The pair placed first and second overall.
“I think the best overall performance for us this weekend overall was from the throwers,” said Arizona head coach Fred Harvey. “We need to see them stay excited and it was very satisfying for us.”
The Arizona men’s 4×400 relay team placed No. 1 with a time of 3:11.50.
On the women’s side, Traci Hicks took first place in the women’s 100-meter hurdle, while Nnenya Hailey finished second in the 800.
The track and field teams compete next in Los Angeles on Tuesday, when they will face UCLA and Washington State Univesrity at the Jim Bush Collegiate Invitational.
The event begins at 4 p.m. and will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
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