Lara’s Blog

Lara would probably prefer that I don’t write about this two day meet at UT Austin.  The women came up short with Texas winning 186.5 to Arizona 162.5.  But I know that this team has been working hard to get ready for NCAA’s in March, and the dual meets are not about winning.  “What”,  you say, “why not?”  College swimming is all about the Team.  I notice that the coaches mix up the swimmers for the different relays.  Because you do not win a national championship with a couple of “stars”.  You win the national championship with depth.  And that’s what Arizona has.  The more women qualified for NC’s, the more depth the team has.  And the way to work this to your advantage is to have some of the girls swim the relays in pre-lims and get the relay teams qualified for finals.  Then in finals you hit the pool with your very best (and some, rested) swimmers.  Coach Frank Busch will put in one or two of the women in both pre-lims and finals and have the back up women in just pre-lims.  When Lara was a freshman and in the 400 free relay during her sophomore year, she was fast enough to get the team qualified for the finals in the evening, but did not swim in finals.  That way the star, who had other individual events, would not get overly tired and would be able to swim her best in finals in both individual and relay events.  Remember the Olympics?  Michael Phelps was swimming so many events, that he usually did not do the pre-lim swims in the relays, to conserve himself to swim well in all eight of his events in finals.  The difference is, in the Olympics, the prelim swimmers also get the medals.  In NC’s, no glory for the pre-lim swimmers except that it helps the team as a whole.  So go Team Arizona!
So briefly, here’s how some of the events went in Texas.  Arizona “A” won the 200 free relay with Jackson (22.68), Turner (22.52), Kelly (22.66) and Baughman (22.73).  Karlee Bispo of Texas won the 100 free in 49.59 and Lara Jackson came in second in 50.06, she did not like that time.
In the 100 fly, Kathleen Hersey won in 53.00 and Arizona’s Ana Agy came in second (54.38).  Lara swam the 100 fly, but I know she was disappointed with the result.  The Arizona women took second in the 400 medley relay with 3:41.32 to Texas in first with 3:39.03.
On Saturday the Arizona Women’s “A” and “B” 200 medley relays came in first and second.  Lara swam the fly for the “B” relay.  And Lara did win the 50 freestyle, the only individual win for Arizona for the second day of the meet.  Lara swam a 22.49, with Anna Turner (22.77) second and Texas’s Karlee Bispo third (22.94).
In the 400 free relay, Texas swam exhibition in 3:17.48.  So Arizona “A” won with Lara leading off (49.87), Justine Schluntz second leg, Lindsey Kelly third leg and Taylor Baughman anchor for a time of 3:18.97.  The Arizona “B” relay team of Vorster, Turner, Raatz and Darlington came in second with 3:22.74.
The Arizona women will compete next at home in Tucson against the Arizona State Sun Devils.  This will also be senior day as we begin our farewells for Lara’s final year swimming for the Wildcats.
Go Arizona!  Go Cats!

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Sometimes you win one and sometimes you lose one and that’s what happened this past weekend with Arizona Women’s Swimming and Diving Team.  “Arizona uses all-around effort to overwhelm California”.  “Jackson proved dominent in the women’s 50 and 100 free, winning both events and posting times of 22.40 and 50.02″.  Lara also enjoyed two wins in each of her relays.  The 200 medley relay started with DeGolia in the back with a 25.56 and Chandler in the breaststroke with a 28.07.  Jackson was in the third leg performing the fly in 23.72 and Turner finished strong with a 22.38 freestyle.  In the 400 free relay the order was Schluntz (50.41), Jackson (49.44), Turner (50.09 and Baughman (50.14).
Then on Saturday, January 24th, Stanford came to compete in a very tight meet coming down to the final relay to determine the winner.  The Arizona women got off to a good start in the 400 medley relay with first.  Agy started off in the back (54.59), followed by Chandler in the breaststroke (1:01.11).  Jackson flew in the fly (53.91) and Schluntz brought it home in the free (50.72).  The rest of the Arizona women had some great swims and here are some results:
Anderson, Helms and Joni Keith went one, two, three in the 1000 free.
Vorster second and Schluntz third in the 200 free.
Agy second, Forster third in the 100 back.
Chandler first, Embick third in 100 breast.
Anderson second, Stupp third in 200 fly.
Jackson (22.49), Turner (22.81), Kelly (22.93) went one, two, three in the 50 free.
Schluntz third, Baughman fourth in the 100 free.
Forster second, Agy third, Thompson fourth in the 200 back.
Stupp second, Chandler third, Embick fifth in the 200 breast.
Helms, Anderson and Vorster took one, two, three in the 500 free.
Agy went third and Dana Christ fifth in the 100 fly.
Forster second, Stupp third and Thompson fourth in the 400 IM.
By the last relay, Arizona was ahead by a few points.  Jackson got off to a great start leading the 400 free relay with a 49.46.  Schluntz was second leg with 49.09.  Turner was the third leg with a 49.99 and Baughman was the awesome anchor with a 48.70.  However Stanford’s anchor was able to pull off a last leg of 47.82.  The final score of the meet was Stanford 150.5 to Arizona 147.5.  The girls did swim well and Coach Frank Busch was proud of their effort.  Not bad for still being in the middle of their heavy workouts.  They do not taper until they leave for Washington for PAC-10’s at end of February.
Next weekend they travel to Austin, Texas to meet up against UT Austin and SMU.  Go Cats!

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This came out of Walnut Creek, California that Lara Jackson has been named the PAC-10 Swimmer of the Month for December, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today (January 8, 2009).  “Jackson had an impressive showing at the Texas Invitational and led the Wildcats to a first-place finish in Austin, Texas.  The El Paso, Texas native set a new American, NCAA and school record in the 50 free with a time of 21.33.  Jackson also set a new school record in the 100 butterfly with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 51.12. 
This marks the first monthly honor for Jackson and the third Women’s Swimmer of the Month all-time for Arizona.”
Pretty exciting news.  Way to go Lara!

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Arizona was back in the pool yesterday hosting a dual meet to Air Force, Northern Arizona University, Oregon State, and Colorado School of Mines with both the Men’s and Women’s teams emerging victorious.  Since this was a low pressure meet, Lara swam “off” events.  The first event, Lara swam the 50 yd breast leg of the 200 medley relay for Arizona ‘B’.  The team of Jenny Forster, Lara, Dana Christ and Lindey Kelly came in second with a time of 1:43.75 to the Arizona ‘A’ team of DeGolia, Chandler, Agy and Baughman (1:41.75).
Lara went on to win the 100 freestyle with a 50.80.  Lindsey Kelly (51.36) and Katherine Raatz (51.36) tied for second place.
Arizona’s Julie Stupp won the 200 IM with a 2:04.78.  Caitlin Iverson was fourth (2:07.12), Carley Beaudreau seventh ( 2:08.30), Susana Helms eighth ( 2:10.08) and Lara number eleven (2:11.36).
The meet ended with the 200 free relay with Arizona ‘A’ winning with a 1:33.30 with Lara leading off (23.13), followed by Anna Turner (23.02), Emma Darlington (23.16) and Jenny Forster (23.99).  Lara’s lead off time would have won the individual 50 free race.  Don’t forget, after the first leg, each of the remaining girls get to use a relay start which has an advantage over a still start required for the lead off.
So all in all, it was a good meet, especially considering that the team is in the middle of heavy killer work outs!  So way to go Cats!  Way to go Team!  We look forward to next week when the women host West Virginia on Thursday, January 8th.  I’ll keep you posted!

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