Air Force Academy

Oct. 21, 2009

The Air Force men's and women's swimming and diving teams open up their 2009-10 home slate this weekend, Oct. 23-24. The men and women begin conference play Friday evening, as they host TCU at 5:00 p.m., while the women will also welcome Northern Colorado in the double dual. Meanwhile, the women are back in action Saturday at 1:00 p.m., as they host conference foes Colorado State, New Mexico and San Diego State in dual action.

Scouting the Falcon Men...
The Air Force men, who compete in their first dual meet of the season this week, opened the 2009-10 campaign last week at the Pacific Invitational, placing third overall. Posting the top finishes for the Falcons were junior Robert Dawson (50 free), freshman Jon Jones (200 free), senior Sean O'Keefe (1650 free) and junior Josh Hammervold (100 breast), who were all runner-ups in their respective events.

O'Keefe currently holds the second-fastest time in the MWC and the fourth-fastest time in the nation in the 1650 free. Meanwhile, other swimmers who rank among the nation's top 50 include Jones (second MWC, 48th NCAA) in the 200 free and Tom Hansen (second MWC, 23rd NCAA), J.H. Vivadelli (fourth MWC, 32nd NCAA), Corydon Butler (fifth MWC, 42nd NCAA) and Mark Hansen (sixth MWC, 46th NCAA) in the 400 IM.

Scouting the Falcon Women...
The Air Force women, who will have the first five dual meets of the year under their belts at the end of this weekend, also opened the 2009-10 season at the Pacific Invitational last weekend, finishing fourth in the overall standings. Leading the way for Air Force at the season-opening meet was freshman Haley Holcombe, who scored a pair of top-10 finishes, placing eighth in the 400 IM and 10th in the 100 butterfly. Also placing in the top 10 for the Falcons were junior Kaeli Kluesner, who took ninth place in the 400 IM, and freshman Rachel Roberts, who finished ninth in the 1650 free.

Scouting the Horned Frogs...
TCU, which will visit Colorado State Thursday evening for a women's only dual conference meet, opened its season at the North Texas Relays Oct. 10. The men took first place, ahead of SMU and Incarnate Word, while the women finished second behind SMU and ahead of North Texas, Tulane and Incarnate Word.

The TCU men return three all-conference performers this season, including sophomore Friedrich Grott, who earned all-conference recognition in three events (200 IM, 100 free, 200 free) last season. Meanwhile, the women return seven All-MWC performers from last season, led by Maria Paula Alvarez, the conference runner-up in the 1650 free.

Scouting the Bears...
The Northern Colorado women's swimming and diving team will open its season with Friday evening's dual versus Air Force and TCU.

Among the top returners for the Bears this season Is junior Tori Gutt, who advanced to the finals in the 200 breaststroke and consolation finals at last year's Conference USA Championship. Meanwhile, senior Sarah Cook and junior Kelly Schmeckpepper-Cook lead the UNC divers, placing in the championship finals of the 3-meter and 1-meter dive, respectively, at last season's conference meet.

Scouting the Rams...
The Colorado State women's swimming and diving team, which will host TCU in a conference meet Thursday evening, opened its season with a pair of invitational victories, winning the Denver Relays, hosted by the University of Denver, and the Rocky Mountain Invitational, hosted by Colorado School of Mines.

At the Denver Relays, the Rams won eight of 10 events in the competition to claim first place. Meanwhile, at the Rocky Mountain Invitational, the Rams set new pool records in the 200 medley relay, the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle events, the 200 backstroke, the 200 breaststroke and the 400 IM, as well as the 3-meter dive.

Scouting the Lobos...
The New Mexico women's swimming team will open its 2009-10 season this weekend in Saturday's meet versus Air Force, Colorado State and San Diego State.

The Lobos return three all-conference performers from the 2009-10 season. Sophomore Marissa Campbell earned All-MWC accolades in three events as a freshman, finishing in the top eight in the 100 back, 100 free and 50 free. Meanwhile, divers Sasha Evangulova and Aubrey Bush each earned all-conference recognition on the 1-meter springboard, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

Scouting the Aztecs...
The San Diego State women's swimming and diving team opened its season last weekend with a non-scoring relay meet versus defending national champion Cal. The Aztecs registered three victories in 10 events against the Golden Bears.

Among the top returners for San Diego State this season are school-record-holders Brooke Vessey (100 butterfly), Shaida Solimani (100 backstroke) and Elena Karpeeva (200 backstroke and 200 IM). In addition, the Aztecs add the nation's fourth-best recruiting class, which includes a pair of All-Americans--Petra Radovic and Emilee Jennings--who transferred to SDSU from Washington after the Huskies dropped their swimming program.

The Quest for 100...
Air Force men's head coach Rob Clayton will look to secure his 100th career dual victory this week against TCU. In his 12th season at the helm of the Falcons' program, Clayton currently holds a 99-52 career record.

Up Next...
The Air Force swimmers are off next week, while the divers head to Los Angeles, Calif., to take part in the USC Diving Invitational, Nov. 6-7. The men's swimmers return to action Nov. 19-21 at the annual Nike Cup in Long Beach, Calif., while the women will head to the Cougar Classic in Houston, Texas, Nov. 20-22.

Complete Release in PDF Format