The Wildcats continued their losing streak against elite competition this past weekend when they were swept by the Texas Longhorns at the Lee and Joe Jamail Center in Austin, Texas. The men fell 186.5-155.5, while the women lost 189-156.
While both the men and women did defeat Southern Methodist University as part of the weekend’s dual meet, the losses to Texas put a damper on the weekend.
Head coach Frank Busch takes the blame.
“”As coaches, we don’t like to take our team some place and watch them perform poorly, and I certainly take full responsibility for that,”” Busch said. “”I think maybe we just underestimated what last weekend did, back-to-back days of hard racing, and then came back and threw a little bit at them this week before we left.””
The week before, Arizona fell to both Stanford and Cal, making this their third consecutive loss. Busch doesn’t sugarcoat the situation and saw that the Wildcats weren’t as physically prepared as the Longhorns.
“”We were OK the first day, not great, but OK,”” Busch said. “”In the second day, we had no gas. I think it’s just a matter of making sure we don’t put our kids in a place where they can’t respond to the competition. It’s just a little over-extended, and I certainly take full responsibility for that. “”
Despite the team losses, there have been some consistent individual wins over the past couple of weeks. Junior captain Alyssa Anderson won the 400-yard individual medley event in 4:12.24, topping her last season best of 4:12.89. Anderson also claimed the 200-yard individual medley, 500y freestyle and finished second in the 200y freestyle.
Like Busch, Anderson hints at the team’s exhaustion.
“”Obviously, it hurts to lose, but I’m not disappointed. Everyone raced hard, being tired and stuff like that, but I don’t think disappointed is the right word,”” Anderson said. “”I think everyone is looking forward to rest.””
Also on the women’s side, junior Hannah Ross beat out four Longhorns in the 200y backstroke with the time of 1:57.27. Ross then placed second in the 100y backstroke.
“”This past weekend I swam really well and it has given me a lot of confidence for what’s to come,”” Ross said.
Although she did well individually, Ross attributes the team’s loss to their recently heavy racing schedule.
“”It was good as an individual,”” Ross said. “”As a team, we’ve been through a lot of racing and we just took our hearts out there and did the best we can with so much racing going on in the past eight days. We raced four out of the last eight days.””
Continually putting their hearts in it to no avail could lead to heartache. Ross said she aims to stay positive and focus on the team as a whole.
“”Try to keep your head up high and go out there and individually try to put forth what you can and hopefully as a team it will collectively come together,”” Ross said.
Another standout, freshman Margo Geer, didn’t seem to be jeopardized by her foot injury. She was first in the 50y freestyle and was on the winning 200y medley relay team, along with freshman Sarah Denninghoff, sophomore Ellyn Baumgardner and senior Dana Christ. Geer also came in second in the women’s 100y free.
As for the men, junior captain Cory Chitwood won his NCAA title race, the 200y backstroke — he has yet to be defeated in the event this season.
Arizona had another win in the men’s 200y free relay with junior Adam Small, sophomore Kelley Wyman, freshman Mitchell Friedemann and senior Craig Jordens.
The men’s team did however win against Southern Methodist University, 233-111, who they took on in order to meet their dual season quota. Even though Arizona did get a win, their main competition and focus was the Longhorns, who, in the end, defended their No. 1 ranking.
