Oregon State vs. Arizona State
- Results
- Hosted by Arizona State
- Saturday, January 7th
- 25 yards
- Dual meet format
FINAL TEAM SCORES:
- Arizona State – 164
- Oregon State – 89
Arizona State seniors Alysha Bush and Kat Simonovic each had a hand in three event wins to propel the Sun Devils in their Pac-12 showdown over Oregon State. Bush and Simonovic opened and closed the meet as members of winning Sun Devil relays, highlighted by Bush’s 22.69 anchor leg on the opening 200 medley relay. Simonovic swam the fly leg of the 200 medley relay (25.14), and returned two events later to win the 200 free going away (1:49.23). Teammate Claire Fisch was second in 1:50.82. Fisch would come back later to win the 50 free, touching out Bush, 23.19 to 23.29. Bush returned the favor in the 100 free later in the meet, topping Fisch, 50.34 to 50.71.
Other interesting note from the meet: sisters Chloe Isleta of Arizona State and Czsarina Isleta of Oregon State competed against each other in the women’s 400 IM. Chloe touched with the fastest time in 4:21.80, but as an exhibition swimmer after the Sun Devils had already clinched the meet. As the top Oregon State finisher, Czsarina ended up registering the win.
Press Release – Arizona State
TEMPE, Ariz. – On an unseasonably cool early afternoon in the East Valley, the Sun Devil women (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12), recently named the second most improved team in the nation, brought the heat and cruised to a 164-89 victory over Oregon State.
The win improves the Sun Devils to 9-0 all-time vs. the Beavers, all but one of which have been in Tempe (2015-16 was in Corvallis).
“We’ve had 10 really hard days of training since they came back from the holiday break,” said associate head coach Ryan Mallam. “They’re responding really well to the change in stimulus so we’re just going to keep the train rolling. Once we begin the championship season and they start resting a little bit, there are going to be some special swims.”
ASU started and finished strong with a pair of 1-2 touches in the 200 medley and 400 free relays and touched first in 11 of 12 individual events.
The Devils spread the wealth with nine different swimmers posting top finishes, Chloe Isleta (200 fly, 200 back) and Marlies Ross (200 breast, 400 IM) the only two to touch first in multiple events.
Notably, Isleta finished nearly 22 seconds ahead of sister and Oregon State senior Czsarina Isleta, in the 400 IM, in one of the most anticipated matchups of the afternoon.
Senior captains Alysha Bush (100 free) and Kat Simonovic (200 free) each won an event for ASU while five of the other winners are freshmen.
“The women’s team is definitely freshman-heavy and we’re going to bring more in next year so the change in culture is starting to come around. Big firepower is coming from the freshman class and we expected that. They’re just going to fly the flag for us.”
Despite the youth now characteristic of ASU’s roster, senior leadership also plays a significant role in the team’s growth.
“[Kat] is a team captain and she’s seen it all. With her experience, she tells [her younger teammates] what not to do and provides help. She lets them know the mistakes that could come without making mistakes so her leadership is valuable.”
ASU has two more weeks of training before one of the hardest tests of the season as the men and women welcome No. 1(women)/No. 4(men) Stanford (Friday, Jan. 20 – 2 pm) and No. 1(men)/No. 2(women) Cal (Saturday, Jan. 21 – 12 noon) to Tempe on back-to-back afternoons.
Saturday, Jan. 21 will serve as the teams’ Senior Day, marking the final time the 2017 Sun Devil senior class will swim at home.
All-Time Dual Meets vs. Oregon State (ASU leads series 9-0)
2006 – 158-47 ASU (Tempe)
2007 – 180-82 ASU (Tempe)
2008 – 209-78 ASU (Tempe)
2009 – 197-91 ASU (Tempe)
2010 – 154-129 ASU (Tempe)
2011 – 189-73 ASU (Tempe)
2014 – 190-70 ASU (Tempe)
2015 – 109-94 ASU (Corvallis)
2017 – 164-89 ASU (Tempe)
