Swimming and Diving

SDSU Swimmers Break From Competition For Finals, Holidays

Dec. 17, 2001

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Looking Ahead
After a break for final exams and the winter holiday, the San Diego State women's swimming and diving team will compete Jan. 4-5 at the UC Irvine Invitational. On Jan. 12, SDSU returns to Irvine for a double dual with UC Irvine and Fresno State. The Aztecs enter their winter hiatus after a 185-111 dual-meet victory over Northern Arizona on Dec. 8 in San Diego. The win moved SDSU to 4-2 in dual action this year.

Recapping Northern Arizona
SDSU won 13-of-14 swimming events on its way to a 185-111 victory over Northern Arizona on Dec. 8. The Aztecs took top honors in all but the 200-yard backstroke and secured a sweep of the day's relay competition. SDSU completed a 1-2 sweep in the 200 medley relay with the team of Meghan Casillan, Jill Karacozoff, Tara Johnson and Heather DeFelice placing first with a time of 1:52.34. The quartet of Aletta Haff, Jennifer Arrow, Erin Kilpatrick and Sarah Lattus took second with a time of 1:54.40. The Aztecs also won the 200 freestyle relay, racing to a time of 1:41.53. The highlight of the day's individual events came in the form of a 1-2-3 SDSU finish in the 500 free. Megan Storey took the event's top place with a time of 5:06.03, followed by Hannah Ryan (5:12.03) and Erin Whalen (5:19.56). SDSU also scored a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 backstroke, with Meghan Casillan winning the event in 1:01.00 followed by Aletta Haff (1:01.34) and Ericka Sjoholm (1:02.62). Five Aztecs placed first in two events apiece Saturday. Coupled with her finish in the 500 free, Storey also placed first in the 1,000 free with a season-best 10:21.43. Erin Kilpatrick took top honors in the 200 free (1:56.25) and 200 individual medley (2:12.28). Jennifer Graham won the 100 and 200 breast with time of 1:07.25 and 2:25.90, respectively. Tara Johnson completed a sweep of the 100 (1:00.44) and 200 butterfly (2:09.87). Heather DeFelice won the 50 (25.12) and 100 free (54.10). SDSU had 1-2 sweeps in the 200 free, 100 free and 100 fly.

Welcome To Sea Level
The victory over NAU helped the Aztecs comlete a sweep of its home meets this season. On Nov. 3, SDSU swept a double dual with Mountain West Conference foes Air Force and New Mexico. The Aztecs won 12-of-14 swimming events on their way to wins over Air Force, 93-47, and New Mexico, 94-46.

Aztec Honors
Sophomore Megan Storey was named the Mountain West Conference's swimmer of the week on Dec. 13. The honor came following her two-win perfomance versus Northern Arizona. She placed first in the 500-yard freestyle (5:06.03) and set a season-best time of 10:21.43 in the 1,000 free. The honor was the second of her career and makes her the second Aztec to earn the weekly award this season. Senior Meghan Casillan was honored the week of Nov. 14 following a three-win performance at USD.

On The List
Four Aztecs are listed among the Mountain West Conference's top-five times in several events this season. Sophomore Megan Storey is listed in three events. She owns the league's third-fastest times in the 1,650 freestyle (17:01.34) and 500 free (5:01.18), along with the fourth-best in the 1,000 free (10:22.35). Senior Meghan Casillan is listed second in the 100 and 200 backstroke with a times of 58.03 and 2:05.42, respectively. Junior Erin Kilpatrick holds the conference's fifth-best swim in the 200 butterfly (2:08.72). Senior Heather DeFelice's school-record time of 23.90 is the fifth best by an MWC swimmer this season. Six different Aztecs have recorded top-10 times on the MWC list this season.

Cleaning Up
The Aztecs have placed first in 47 events thus far this season. Twenty-five of those wins have come by way of three athletes - seniors Meghan Casillan (10) and Heather DeFelice (6) and sophomore Megan Storey (9). SDSU has 21 1-2 sweeps, two 1-2-3 sweeps and one 1-2-3-4 sweep this season. The Aztecs have placed first in all but two relay events thus far in dual competition.

Topping The Charts
Senior Heather DeFelice's school record in the 50 freestyle set at the UNLV Invitational is one of several top-five program bests set by the Aztecs this season. DeFelice also set the school's fifth-fastest time in the 100 backstroke at the UNLV meet. DeFelice teamed with Meghan Casillan, Jill Karacozoff and Tara Johnson to swim the school's second-best time in the 200 medley relay in Las Vegas and teaming with Casillan, Johnson and Erin Kilpatrick to record the program's third-fastest time of 1:48.68 in that same event on Nov. 16. Sophomore Jennifer Graham, a transfer from Santa Rosa JC, moved into the Aztecs' top-five all-time bests in the 100 and 200 breaststroke after her performance at the Pacific Invitational and improved on those marks in Las Vegas. Graham swam the school's fourth-best time of 1:06.34 in the 100 and third-best in the 200 (2:23.55). Freshman Ericka Sjoholm jumped into the record books at the UNLV Invite as well, swimming the program's third-best time in the 200 backstroke (2:08.68) and fifth-fastest time in the 400 individual medley (4:37.67). Jennifer Arrow is another freshman to join the all-time list, having swam the 200 breaststroke in 2:25.85, fifth all-time for the program, on Dec. 1.