Home | Schedule/Results | Rosters | Coaches | Stats | News Releases | History | Camps

Dec. 22, 1997

No. 8 Women (7-0) and No. 14 Men (0-1) Swimmers Travel to San Diego State

THIS WEEK:
Jan. 7 at San Diego State, Terry Pool, San Diego, CA   2 p.m.
Cal women vs. San Diego State and UNLV, Cal men vs. UNLV

LAST WEEK: In the last competition for both the California men's and women's swim teams, the Golden Bears shined at the Speedo Cup, Dec. 4-6 in Long Beach, CA. The No. 8 ranked Cal women dominated the meet, scoring 1,233.5 points, 445 points ahead of second place Nevada (788). On the men's side, the No. 14 ranked Bears edge out No. 2 ranked Stanford, 1,177 to 1,080, for first place. A highlight for the Cal women was sophomore Elli Overton (Sydney, Australia). The Australian native recorded the fastest time in the nation this year in the 200 IM (2:01.03), topping the meet record of 2:01.69 set by Stanford's Summer Sanders in 1993. Junior transfer (Auburn) Dan Lindstrom (Borgholm, Sweden) led a 1-2-3 finish for Cal in the 100 free with a time of 44.30. Lindstrom also captured the 50 free (20.28). The Cal women have already set three dual meet school records this season. Freshman Hanna Jaltner (Vaxjo, Sweden) set a record in the 100 breast (1:03.22) Oct. 25 at Nevada, the Bears 400 medley relay (Overton, Jaltner, Minpraphal, Chiang) set a record (3:47.63) against Washington, Washington State and Oregon State and Marylyn Chiang (The Pas, Manitoba, Canada) set a record in the 100 back (54.07) Nov. 14 at Texas.

HEAD COACH TERI MCKEEVER: Teri McKeever is in her sixth season as Cal's head women's swim coach. McKeever has a 48-25 (.658) dual meet record with the Golden Bears and a 102-47 (.685) overall record (five years as women's coach at Fresno State). She has led Cal to a 15th place NCAA finish in 1993, a 21st place finish in 1994, a 28th place finish in 1995, a 17th place finish in 1996 and a ninth place finish in 1997. HEAD COACH NORT THORNTON: Nort Thornton is in his 24th season as Cal's head men's swim coach. Thornton has a 169-70 (.707) dual meet record with the Golden Bears. He has led Cal to 18 Top-10 NCAA finishes, two national titles (1979-80) and an impressive collection of 38 Olympians and 104 All-Americans. Thornton was named an assistant coach to the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in May of 1995.

NOTING SAN DIEGO STATE AND UNLV: The San Diego State Aztec women are 2-4 in dual meets this season and placed 18th at the Speedo Cup. They are led by sophomore Wendy O'Brien, who swam at Cal last season, and has bests of 24.42 in the 50 free, 53.21 in the 100 free and 1:57.66 in the 200 free. The Bears have a 3-0 career record versus the Aztecs, with Cal winning the last meeting, 94-54, Feb. 23, 1983 in Berkeley. The UNLV Running Rebels women's team is 2-3 and the men's team is 3-1. A top swimmer for the UNLV women is junior Janel Frei, who has a best of 2:07.30 in the 200 IM and 4:24.94 in the 400 IM. The UNLV men are led by junior Erik Scalise, with bests of 1:48.23 in the 200 IM and 3:49.75 in the 400 IM. The Cal men and women have never swam against UNLV.

NCAA QUALIFIERS: The Cal women have six swimmers who have automatically qualified or swam consideration times for the NCAAs so far this season. Chiang has automatically qualified for NCAAs in the 100 fly (54.25) and 100 back (54.07), and has consideration times in the 100 (50.68) and 200 free (1:51.13), the 200 back (1:58.71) and the 200 (2:01.91) and 400 IM (4:21.86). Overton has automatically qualified in the 200 IM (1:59.83), and has consideration times in the 200 free (1:50.45), 100 back (55.41), 200 breast (2:16.53), 100 (56.45) and 200 fly (2:00.31), and the 400 IM (4:22.38). Jaltner has consideration times in the 100 (1:03.22) and 200 breast (2:18.21). Sophomore Waen Minpraphal (Bangkok, Thailand) has consideration times in the 100 (55.50) and 200 fly (2:01.49), and freshman Haley Cope (Chico, CA) has a consideration time in the 100 back (56.18). The Cal men have five swimmers who have NCAA consideration times-Lindstrom in the 50 (20.28) and 100 free (44.30), and the 100 fly (47.77); sophomore Bart Kizierowski (Warsaw, Poland) in the 50 (20.36), 100 (44.68) and 200 free (1:39.24); senior Bart Sikora (Gdynia, Poland) in the 200 back (1:46.46); sophomore Lars Merseburg (Wurzburg, Germany) in the 100 free (44.94) and sophomore Ratapong Sirisanont (Bangkok, Thailand) in the 200 breast (2:01.71).