Dive hangs tough after day 1 of Zone E Champs

The Arizona men’s and women’s diving teams couldn’t make the splash it wanted in the first day of competition at the Zone E Regional Championships in Oklahoma City, but the meet is far from over.

Freshman Ben Grado and senior Matt Bisordi finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 3-meter springboards yesterday and will compete on the 1m springboards today.

“”Our guys did a good job today,”” said Arizona head dive coach

Michele Mitchell. “”They were just a little tight today and they made some mistakes and that cost them places in the final results, but six and seven isn’t a horrible place to be sitting.””

The women took to the 1m springboards yesterday, but didn’t fare as well as the men. Senior Holly Kast was the closest the Wildcats came to qualifying for the finals of the 1m springboards as she finished 0.1 points out of the final spot.

“”Holly dived pretty well but it didn’t show in the results,”” Mitchell said. “”That was the biggest disappointment of day. I hate to see a senior (finish) one spot out of a finals position.””

– Brian Kimball

9 track athletes aim for top status

With the indoor track and field season winding down, several members of the No. 16 Arizona men’s and No. 21 Arizona women’s teams look to make a big impact this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.

Arizona is sending five representatives from the men’s team and four from the women’s squad. These athletes will be competing against the best competition in the nation as, typically, only the top 15 to 20 competitors from each specific event are allowed to compete.

“”It’s unlike any other championship and the intensity level is a lot higher,”” said Arizona head coach Fred Harvey. “”There is no fluff, and if you don’t perform from the start, then you are going home.””

The men’s side features senior runner Bobby McCoy, senior jumper Daniel Marshall and freshman jumper Luis Rivera and throwers in junior Zack Lloyd and senior Jarred Sola in the competition. Having two athletes in a specific event greatly increases the chance of putting a lot of points on the board, Harvey said, and will be one of the keys to the men’s overall placement. Rivera is competing in both the triple jump and the long jump.

– Jeremy Hawkes

No. 4 w-swim aims for national title over break

The No. 4 Arizona women’s swim team resumes its season in a big way over Spring Break. The 18 members, the maximum number allowed, who qualified for the NCAA championships head to

Columbus, Ohio, and look to improve on last year’s second-place finish and hope to secure the program’s first national title.

“”The girls are really looking forward to it,”” said Arizona head swimming coach Frank Busch. “”We’ll just be taking it one session at a time and hopefully do times that are better than anything we’ve done so far this season.””

After winning their third straight Pacific 10 Conference title two weeks ago, the Wildcats expect to keep their hot streak going, especially considering the team wasn’t tapered – their bodies weren’t clean-shaven – when they won the Pac-10s.

“”There are so many great teams and athletes (at the NCAA championships),”” Busch said. “”They all approach this meet similarly, so there’s no margin for error. You have to really be on your game and be ready to go. I feel like whole team is on the same page and ready for this.””

– Brian Kimball

Men’s golf on the bubble

The Arizona men’s golf team could not be any more on the spot for what has become known as a “”bubble team.”” Currently the team sits at 61-61-1, right on the .500 mark which is the bare minimum qualification for earning a spot in the playoffs.

“”We are right in it,”” said UA assistant coach John Knauer. “”We are a bubble team, not in for sure yet, but definitely not out.””

The team will head to San Diego for the Barona Cup, held at

Barona Creek Golf Course, which starts Monday as part of a two-day tournament. If the Wildcats have any hopes of entering the postseason, they are going to need to pick up some crucial ground.

“”We need to be competing in the top three,”” said Knauer. “”Everyone’s been working hard in practice and we are all under the understanding that we need to play well.””

– Nick Sturiale

Women’s golf heads into big tournament

The No. 7 Wildcats women’s golf team will head off for Hawaii this weekend to participate in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, a tournament which could have a lot of significance for the team as it heads down the final stretch of the season.

“”We want to show everyone else that we can compete,”” said senior Alison Walshe.

The tournament will be held at the Kaneohe Klipper golf course in Honolulu, a three-day 54-hole event. Many of the top-ranked programs will be participating in this tournament including No. 1 Duke along with three other top-ten ranked Pac-10 schools in No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 USC and No. 4 ASU. The Wildcats currently have 503 points, just 36 behind No. 6 Auburn.

“”We just want to go out there and play against these top teams so they know that we can play,”” Walshe said.

– Nick Sturiale

Men’s tennis battles ASU

The No. 47 Arizona men’s tennis team doesn’t have a match this weekend, but it does face a major rival the following weekend. The Wildcats will battle No. 15 ASU at the Robson Tennis Center on

Saturday, March 22 at noon.

“”It’s a big rivalry, and it’s a good chance to beat a good team,”” said senior Bruno Alcala. “”But if we want to beat them we have to play our best throughout the whole match – not just in doubles and singles. We have to play straight through and harder than they do.””

Although the players have this important match to look forward to, they have a few days to regroup and give their bodies some rest.

“”I think it’s going to be really important for us to have this break because we are going to be able to get some rest, and that’s really important for big matches like ASU,”” said freshman Andres Carrasco. “”All the guys are leaving town for a few days, and my parents are coming (from Spain).””

– Kara Bauman

W-tennis faces two top opponents over break

Even though most students view spring break as the time to let loose and take their busy minds off of school, a different story presents itself to the No. 67 Arizona women’s tennis team. The Wildcats have matches and practices throughout the duration of their break.

Arizona faces No. 56 Oregon tomorrow at noon and No. 14 ASU the following Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m., and both matches are on the road.

“”The girls will have a few days off, but we’ll be back on the court on Wednesday afternoon,”” said assistant coach Brian Ramirez. “”Everyone has time to get away and relax if they’d like, and then we’ll get back to things with the normal schedule. Spring break will not interfere with our preparation for ASU, though.””

– Kara Bauman

Gymcats head to Denver; host senior meet over break

When the No. 17 Arizona gymnastics team heads to Colorado this weekend for a match-up with No. 13 Denver (13-4) it will be hoping for three things: no snow, unbiased judging and to clean up its act.

“”We need to not do stupid things like stepping out of bounds,”” said UA coach Bill Ryden. “”We can’t make mental errors like that. We need to be sharper.””

Last week in Kentucky the Gymcats (7-4, 3-3 Pacific-10 Conference) had to deal with questionable judging on the floor exercise, and Denver’s reputation for hometown scoring precedes it.

“”They are really good and are kind of known for home scoring,”” said junior Beamer Bergeson. “”So you just have to get over that and accept that.””

The week after Denver, the Gymcats will host their final home meet March 21 and will honor their four seniors after the meet.

“”Oh gosh, I’m already dreading it,”” said senior Bree Workman. “”I’ve already had to buy water-proof mascara.””

– Michael Fitzpatrick