March 18, 2002
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The Wrap Up
The San Diego State swimming and diving team finished its 2001-02 campaign with a 10-3 dual-meet record and a seventh-place finish (362 points) at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Oklahoma City in February. Two Aztecs earned NCAA provisional marks in a season that produced eight school records and a host of top-five all-time best marks. Coming on the heels of a remarkable 2000-01 season in which the team set eight school records, the 2001-02 campaign saw the Aztecs take another huge step towards becoming one of the best in the Mountain West Conference.
Noting The 2002 MWC Championships
* SDSU set eight school records at the league championships with three of those coming in relay events. The Aztecs' school-best relay marks came in the 200-yard medley relay, 800 freestyle relay and 200 freestyle relay.
* Senior Heather DeFelice set three school records at the league meet. She swam the 50 freestyle in a program best 23.62 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.05. Her lead-off split time in the 400 freestyle relay gave her the school record of 52.10 in the 100 free. Her time in the 50 free surpassed the mark of 23.90 she set earlier in the season and the time in the 100 breast bested the mark of 1:04.43 she set at the 2001 MWC Championships. The 100 free time surpassed the mark of 52.20 logged by Barbi Blalock during the 1978-79 campaign.
* Junior Erin Kilpatrick was the only Aztec to medal at this year's league championships, picking up a pair of bronze medals. She finished third in the 400 individual medley, with a school-record time of 4:26.63. Her other top-three finish came in the 200 butterfly (2:05.49).
* Twelve Aztecs scored points as a member of a relay team or on an individual basis at the championship meet. That's an improvement over ten athletes at the 2001 league meet.
* Senior Meghan Casillan's lead-off split time in the 400 medley relay gave her the school record of 56.42 in the 100 backstroke. Her time surpassed sophomore Aletta Haff's mark of 56.44 set in the prelims of the 100 back at the MWC meet.
* Both Haff's (56.44) and Casillan's (56.42) times in the 100 back are NCAA provisional marks, making it the first time the program has had two NCAA qualifiers in a season. Casillan also set an NCAA provisional mark in the 200 back at the league meet (2:01.58). The last Aztec swimmer to set an NCAA provisional mark was Megan Storey in the 1,650 freestyle during the 2000-01 season.
Best Of The Best
The look of the Aztec record book got a dramatic facelift in 2001-02, along with eight school records the team also set 12 top-three and six top-five all-time bests.
For The Record
The Aztecs closed the regular season with 10 dual meet wins, the most since the program was reinstated in 1994. The previous best was seven wins in 1999-2000 when the team went 7-7. That season SDSU posted four consecutive dual-meet wins, the most since being reinstated. This season, SDSU posted four straight wins in dual competition between Dec. 8 and Jan. 18. The Aztecs also posted a three-meet win streak twice this year.
Aztec Honors
Two SDSU swimmers earned Mountain West Conference swimmer of the week honors this season. Sophomore Megan Storey was named the league's swimmer of the week on Dec. 13. The honor came following her two-win performance versus Northern Arizona. The award was her 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. Casillan has been honored twice in her collegiate career.
Cleaning Up
The Aztecs placed first in 81 events in 2001-02, with 12 of those wins coming in relay competition. Forty-nine of the 69 wins in individual events came by way of four athletes. Sophomore Megan Storey had 15 victories, seniors Meghan Casillan and Heather DeFelice 14 and 12, respectively, and junior Erin Kilpatrick, eight. SDSU's 81 first-place finishes were a marked improvement over the 2000-01 season when the team posted 35 victories.
The 1-2 Punch
The Aztecs recorded 33 1-2 sweeps this season. SDSU also recorded three 1-2-3 sweeps and one 1-2-3-4 sweeps this season.
Double Time
Senior Heather DeFelice was one of seven Aztecs to win two events in a meet this during the 2001-02 campaign, having performed the feat five times. Sophomore Megan Storey recorded her fifth double-victory outing of the year at Pepperdine. Junior Erin Kilpatrick did so three times and senior Meghan Casillan, twice. Senior Tara Johnson and sophomores Jennifer Graham and Hannah Ryan did so once. Casillan is the only Aztec to earn three wins in a meet doing so at USD on Nov. 10.