Arizona
Taking stock 2025: How Arizona swimming and diving is looking under Ben Loorz
The offseason is here, with all of Arizona’s sports done for 2024-25 season and the 2025-26 campaigns still a little ways away.
Which makes this a great time to step back and see how all of the Wildcats’ programs are doing and how they’ve handled the move from the Pac-12 to the Big 12
Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at each of the UA’s men’s and women’s athletic programs to see what shape they’re in and what prospects they have for the near future. We’ll break down each team and evaluate how it is performing under its current coaching staff, looking at the state of the program before he/she arrived and comparing it to now while also evaluating how that program fits into its new conference.
Next up: Ben Loorz’s swimming and diving team
How it looked before
Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois hired Loorz as swimming and diving head coach in May 2024 after a 7-year run by Augie Busch. Loorz took over a legacy program that had fallen off under Busch’s reign. Arizona was once a top 10 program in both men’s and women’s swimming and diving, but sunk towards the middle of the Pac-12 over the last decade plus.
Loorz arrived in Tucson from UNLV, where he guided the Rebels to a total of five conference championships in eight seasons. Given Arizona’s recent history, and Loorz’s lack of experience at the Power 5 level, it was expected that Loorz would need some time and support to get Arizona back to being nationally competitive.
Where things stand now
In Loorz’s first season, the Arizona men’s team achieved a national ranking, earned several All-American honorable mentions and finished runner-up at Big 12 Championships. The men placed 29th at NCAA Championships, a decent result that also left significant room for improvement.
The women’s team followed a similar trajectory in year one under Loorz, also producing multiple All-American honorable mentions, a runner-up finish at Big 12 Championships and a 29th place finish at NCAA Championships.
The top end talent on both the men’s and women’s teams kept Arizona competitive throughout the season, but the program’s lack of depth kept the Wildcats from securing more points at NCAAs. For Arizona to again compete in the upper echelon of the sport, it will need to send far more swimmers to NCAAs.
Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Arizona went down a notch in competition by moving to the Big 12 from the Pac-12, where schools like Stanford, Cal and USC take swimming and diving seriously. Arizona’s biggest competition in the Big 12 is, ASU, which has become a swimming powerhouse over the past decade. The Sun Devils swept the men’s and women’s Big 12 Championships this year and are heads and shoulders ahead of the rest of the conference.
Arizona’s runner-up finishes at conference championships were a positive step for the program, which had fallen towards the bottom of the Pac-12 under Busch. In the big picture, however, Arizona could have a harder time building relevancy competing in a conference that doesn’t value swimming and diving.
One big question
Will Arizona take the leap? There’s no getting around the fact that the Arizona swimming and diving teams are competing at a disadvantage compared to several years ago. Arizona was once one of the destinations for college swimmers but was usurped by rival ASU in the 2010s. Whereas the Sun Devils are regularly competing for national championships (at least on the men’s side), Arizona is looking to regain its place among the sport’s powers.
Loorz’s programs showed some real progress in his first year, with several swimmers and divers earning All-American honorable mentions. The expectations will be higher in Year 2 as Loorz has now had a full calendar year to bring in recruits and transfers, and develop returning swimmers. If the Arizona men’s and women’s teams can reach the top 25 at NCAAs, next season will be considered a step in the right direction.
Another week, another loss for the Arizona Cardinals, as they took a brutal defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners won 41-22, with Arizona dominated in all phases for the second straight week against a divisional opponent.
With the 19-point loss to San Francisco, the Cardinals drop to 3-7, and their playoff hopes are almost completely gone. It was another extremely frustrating performance, and another example of Arizona getting overmatched by a team it was supposed to contend with for the division.
While losses are becoming commonplace for the Cardinals, each game presents its own set of takeaways, and the defeat to San Francisco is no different. Even if most of them are negative, we still learned a lot about the Cardinals on Sunday.
With that, here are three takeaways from the latest Arizona loss.
Just like last week’s matchup with the Seahawks, the Cardinals found themselves down early. They didn’t appear ready once 2:05 p.m. rolled around at State Farm Stadium.
On the opening kickoff, Skyy Moore returned Chad Ryland’s kick 98 yards to the 1-yard line, and one play later, Christian McCaffrey punched it in to give the 49ers a 7-0 lead.
Arizona’s offense didn’t respond, and the Niners scored a touchdown on their next drive, making it 13-0 with 9:51 left in the first quarter. Barely five minutes in, the Cardinals were down two scores — marking the second straight game they trailed by two touchdowns before the first quarter was halfway through.
The Cardinals did get on the board on the ensuing series, but they never truly made a game out of it after falling behind 13-0 so early. At halftime, San Francisco led 25-10, and by the end of the third quarter, it was 35-10.
That’s the second straight week an opponent scored 35-plus before the fourth quarter began, as Arizona’s defense simply couldn’t keep up. From the very beginning, the Cardinals were outplayed. The Niners were ready for action, while Arizona looked like it was sleepwalking through the first three quarters.
RECAP: 49ers Dominate Week 11 as Cardinals Exposed Again
The Cardinals set a new franchise record for penalties and penalty yards, making it painfully clear that they hurt themselves throughout Sunday’s contest.
Jonathan Gannon’s team committed 17 penalties for 130 yards, while the 49ers were called for just one flag for 15 yards — an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Arizona, meanwhile, was flagged for those all afternoon.
And that’s all about discipline. The Cardinals showed almost no composure once the 49ers took a big lead, and the penalties reflected that. It wasn’t just late in the game either — 11 of their 17 penalties came in the first half.
When Arizona was trying to stay competitive, it killed its own momentum with drive-stalling mistakes. While the scoreboard shows that San Francisco beat the Cardinals, you could argue they beat themselves just as badly.
Sunday marked the sixth time Arizona has totaled double-digit penalties during Gannon’s tenure, as coaching issues have continued to surface. While change is a hotly debated topic, the facts are the facts — and 17 penalties, a franchise record, says plenty about how this coaching staff is performing.
READ: Key Stats Expose How Cardinals Lost to the 49ers
This is a big-picture takeaway, but still an important one: Arizona’s divisional record is now 0-4, with sweeps by both Seattle and San Francisco.
This was supposed to be a team in the thick of the divisional race, but after Week 11, the Cardinals have been left behind while the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers fight for the NFC West crown.
And this is nothing new. If the standings hold, 2025 will be the eighth time in the last nine seasons that Arizona finishes either third or fourth in the division. The Cardinals haven’t won the NFC West since 2015, while all three of their rivals have made a Super Bowl in the last 12 years.
A win Sunday wouldn’t have vaulted them back into the race, but it would’ve shown they can at least compete within the division. Instead, they’re 0-4 — and there’s not much optimism they’ll avoid a sweep by the Rams. In a league where divisional games matter so much, Gannon’s team has repeatedly failed in the most important moments.
There’s plenty of frustration stemming from Arizona’s loss to San Francisco, but their continued inability to compete within the division might be the biggest takeaway of all.
Gannon is now 3-13 against the NFC West in his career, and if you include the 2021 playoff game against the Rams, he’s 3-14. That’s unacceptable for an NFL head coach, and if you take nothing else away from Sunday, that’s the statistic that should stick with you as the Cardinals decide whether to make changes moving forward.
PHOENIX — While the government shutdown has officially ended, many services are only now beginning to return to normal. Some 670,000 furloughed federal workers received back pay Friday, with payments continuing into next week. The FAA has also reduced flight restrictions at Sky Harbor and nearly 40 other airports as staffing stabilizes.
But for thousands of Arizonans relying on SNAP benefits, the disruption has already caused significant hardship. The USDA now says full benefits should be distributed by Monday at the latest, but for those still waiting, the delay has been devastating — including Phoenix mother Marzia Munari, known to ABC15 viewers from the Smart Shopper series.
From utilizing the food bank to learning new ways to save at the grocery store, Munari works hard to stretch every dollar.
“There’s no money, there’s no SNAP benefits. So what am I going to do to keep my family fed and safe?” Marzia Munari, of Phoenix, said.
Munari is the full-time caregiver for her 85-year-old mother and her 21-year-old daughter with Down syndrome. For her family, she says, SNAP is essential.
“Obviously, at that point you have to take money from where you already have budgeted out for other things, like utilities, car payment,” Munari said.
Now, she faces another challenge — she says she can’t afford to pay her power bill.
“Monday morning, they will shut it down, because I have to give them $250 by this weekend, Sunday night. And I don’t know what I’m going to do, you know? And the power is necessary because my daughter, Jessica, she has to have a CPAP machine at night to breathe. And I don’t know, without power, what’s going to happen, you know,” Munari said.
She describes the missing SNAP funds as the first domino to fall in her tightly controlled monthly budget.
“It’s been stressful and upsetting. And sometimes I think it’s shameful that this is happening,” Munari said.
ABC15 has spoken with Arizonans who have already received their November SNAP funds.
The Department of Economic Security provided the following statement to ABC15 this week:
“On November 12, 2025, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also referred to as Nutrition Assistance (NA), was made available through September 30, 2026. The Department of Economic Security (DES) is taking immediate action to issue any outstanding benefits and resume normal SNAP benefit operations.”
ABC15 continues to push DES for the number of Arizonans still waiting and a timeline for when all benefits will be restored.
“It is an emergency,” Munari said. “Kids in America, they’re going to go to bed hungry.”
Munari says the financial uncertainty has shaken her faith in what lies ahead.
“It makes me lose confidence in our future. You know, what is it going to be like if this is acceptable?” Munari said. “Future generation? That makes me very… I think about it a lot.”
For anyone struggling due to the SNAP benefit disruptions, ABC15 has compiled a list off resources and local businesses stepping up to help.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
GREELEY, CO (AZFamily) — Mantiqueira USA announced Friday it has entered an agreement to acquire Hickman’s Egg Ranch, an egg producer headquartered in Arizona.
Hickman’s has over five locations across Arizona. The company also has locations in California, Colorado, and Nevada.
The Arizona egg farm took a huge hit after losing most of its chickens to bird flu earlier this year. About six million birds were lost. Glenn Hickman, president and CEO of Hickman’s Egg Ranch, says it was the first time in 81 years that the company had been unable to fulfill 100% of customer demands.
Hickman said this new transition will bring opportunities to customers, employees and partners.
The acquisition marks MTQ USA’s formal entry into the U.S. market. The company is a spin-off from Mantiqueira Brasil.
“Expanding into the United States has long been a vision for our family, and taking this step through the acquisition of Hickman’s makes this moment especially meaningful,” said Leandro Pinto, founder of Mantiqueira. “Hickman’s is a respected leader with a legacy of quality and service.”
The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.
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