Swimming & Diving

Feb. 3, 2011

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State swimming & diving team concludes its regular season this weekend with back-to-back home contests. On Friday, Feb. 4, the women will host Bowling Green at 5 p.m. for their senior night meet. The following day, Saturday, Feb. 5, the men will host Michigan at 2 p.m. for the seniors' final home contest of their career. Both meets will be contest at the Charles McCaffree Pool at IM West.

Last Year vs. Bowling Green
MSU did not face BGSU last year.

Last Year vs. Michigan
In 2009-10, the Spartans traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the final meet of the year against the Wolverines. Although MSU fell, 163.5-119.5, it put up a tough fight, winning three events as well as both diving events.

In Other Action
Aside from the two duals this weekend for the Spartans, the team will also send Jordan Jackson, to the 2011 USA Diving Winter National competition in Iowa City, Iowa at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center (CRWC) located on the campus of Iowa. Jackson qualified for the National competition by finishing 10th on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 246.45 during the preliminary rounds.

Action begins on Friday, Feb. 4 with the women's 3-meter springboards quarterfinals and the semifinals to immediately follow. Finals will be contested on Sunday, Feb. 6.

Senior Recognition
On Friday, MSU looks to honor three Spartan women who will end their career at home this weekend. Becca Ebner, Stephanie Fisher and Sarah Mory all will be recognized against Bowling Green.

The following day, the Spartans will honor their six graduating men against Michigan. Ricky Forrest, Tim Lilja, Kevin Puskaric, Brian Rockwell, Colby Ward and Ivan Zalessov will see their home careers come to a conclusion on Saturday.

Where We Rank
After several months of action this year, the Spartans have seen members rank both nationally and within the conference in multiple events. For the men, Jacob Jarzen, nationally, currently is seventh in the 100 butterfly (47.22), 13th in the 200 backstroke (1:44.20) and 17th in the 100 backstroke (47.82). Joining Jarzen amongst the nation's top-25 with two times is Kevin Puskaric. Puskaric ranks 14th in the 200 breaststroke (1:57.22) and 25th in the 100 breaststroke (54.50).

Also, MSU has three relay teams ranked in the top-50 nationally. The 800 free relay is 17th (6:34.94), the 400 medley relay is 35th (3:19.22) and the 200 medley relay 40th (1:30.70).

For the women, KJ Burkland leads the distance squad with her 23rd conference ranking in the 1650 freestyle (17:00.50), 30th ranking in the 1000 freestyle (10:18.60) and 38th in the 500 free (4:57.15). Becca Ebner is 23rd within the conference in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:02.73. Ebner is also 24th in the conference in the 100 butterfly (55.87).

For the divers, Ivan Zalessov, Sarah Clay, Sarah Mory, Jordan Jackson, Ashley Borgman and Brooke Sauchak have all qualified for the NCAA Regionals with provisional marks. Also, earlier this season Zalessov broke both the 1-and 3-meter board records with marks of 355.87 and 411.70, respectively.

Conference Kudos
Three members of the Michigan State swimming and diving team earned honors from the Big Ten Conference on Dec. 14. Cameron Bartlett was named the men's swimmer of the week, while Ivan Zalessov was tabbed the men's diver of the week and Sarah Clay was named the women's diver of the week.

Bartlett garnered his first weekly swimming laurel from the Big Ten after earning three first-place finishes to lead the men's team to a 181-107 victory over Ball State at McCaffree Pool.

Clay earned her first conference weekly diving laurel of the season after posting a pair of top-two finishes to lead the women's team to a 167-125 victory over Ball State.

Zalessov captured the 1-and 3-meter titles against the Cardinals, finishing with a pool-record score of 355.87 on the 1-meter board. The Okemos, Mich., native went on to sweep the diving events with a score of 391.50, in the 3-meter event, topping the next diver by 124.87 points.

Jacob Jarzen was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 23. The Jacksonville, Ill., native earned the honor for the first time in his career after placing first in three events at the Georgia Tech Invitational.

Community Activists
Members of the Michigan State swimming and diving team lent their support to the community by volunteering at the Lansing Salvation Army Store on Friday (Dec. 17). In conjunction with the Salvation Army and the Toys for Tots program, the Spartans helped sort toys and escort families who were picking up items for the holiday season.

Next Up
After having next weekend off, the Spartan women return to action for the Big Ten Championships on Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 16-19. The competition is hosted by Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. The men next hit the pool on Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 23-26 for the Big Ten Championships. Their meet will be hosted in Minneapolis, Minn., by Minnesota.

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