Dec. 5, 2001
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This Week
The San Diego State women's swimming and diving team concludes the 2001 portion of its schedule on Saturday when it hosts Northern Arizona in its second and final home meet of the season. Saturday's contest gets underway at 10 a.m. and will be held at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. The Aztecs (3-2 dual) come off a strong showing last weekend in Las Vegas where they placed second in a seven-team field at the UNLV Winter Invitational.
The Format
Saturday's meet will be run on a normal dual-meet schedule. One heat of each event will be run with each heat featuring eight swimmers, four from each school. The meet will also feature a diving competition.
Directions
Take I-805 south, exit on East H Street, the Southwestern College campus is located at the corner of East H Street and Otay Lakes Road. The address of the school is 900 Otay Lakes Rd.
The SDSU-NAU Series
NAU leads the all-time series, 3-1, which includes a 160-138 win in Flagstaff last year. This is the first time the two teams will meet in San Diego for a dual meet, SDSU has come to Flagstaff twice and Phoenix twice (those meets held at Phoenix Swim Club). NAU shared a San Diego pool in December 1983 in a double-dual with UC San Diego
Recapping The UNLV Invite
Highlighting SDSU's competition at the UNLV Winter Invitational was senior Heather DeFelice's school record time of 23.90 in the 50 freestyle. The Aztecs set 15 other season-best times on the weekend, five of which came in relay competition. Senior Meghan Casillan scored first-place finishes in the 100 (58.03) and 200 backstroke (2:05.42) and a second-place clocking by Ericka Sjoholm in the 200 back gave the Aztecs their only 1-2 sweep of the weekend. DeFelice and sophomore Jennifer Graham finished second and third, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke. SDSU finished second in the seven-team field with 682 points. UNLV won the three-day event with 850.50 points.
Aztec Honors
Aztec senior Meghan Casillan was named the Mountain West Conference's swimmer of the week on Nov. 14. The honor came following her three-win performance at USD. This is her second career swimmer-of-the-week award.
Welcome To Sea Level
The Aztecs look forward to a home-pool advantage on Saturday after having a strong showing in their previous home meet 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.
On The List
Three Aztecs are listed among the Mountain West Conference's top-five times in several events this season. Sophomore Megan Storey is listed in two events. She owns the league's second-fastest time in the 1,650 freestyle (17:20.35) and fourth-best in the 1,000 free (10:22.35). Senior Meghan Casillan is listed third in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:06.92. Senior Heather DeFelice owns the league's fifth-best time of 1:06.08 in the 100 breaststroke. Six different Aztecs have recorded top-ten times on the MWC list this season.
Cleaning Up
The Aztecs have placed first in 34 events thus far this season. Nineteen of those wins have come by way of three athletes - seniors Meghan Casillan (9) and Heather DeFelice (4) and sophomore Megan Storey (7). SDSU has 15 1-2 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 this season.
Topping The Charts
Senior Heather DeFelice's school record in the 50 freestyle last weekend 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 last weekend. DeFelice teamed with Meghan Casillan, Jill Karacozoff and Tara Johnson to set 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 Invite and improved on those marks this past weekend. 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 last weekend as well, swimming the program's third-best time in the 200 backstroke (2:08.68) and fifth-fastest 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, last weekend.
Aztec Coaching Staff
SDSU head coach Deena Deardurff Schmidt is in her eighth season as head coach of the Aztec swimming and diving program. Schmidt is assisted by Greg Hutt, also in his eighth season.
Looking Ahead
After a break for the winter holiday, the Aztecs will compete Jan. 4-5 at the UC Irvine Invite. On Jan. 12, SDSU returns to Irvine for a double dual with UC Irvine and Fresno State.