Oct. 24, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
This Week
San Diego State hosts its first meet of the season when Utah visits the Ray and Joan Kroc Communtiy Center at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26. The meet was originally slated for a 9:00 a.m. start, but has been moved ahead one hour.
UNLV Recap
San Diego State opened its 2002-03 season with a dual meet at UNLV last Saturday, falling to the Rebels by a score of 168-92. Although the Aztecs failed to capture a first place in any event, three swimmers turned in marks that surpassed their best times of a year ago. That foursome included:
Last 2001Swimmer Event Week BestHannah Ryan........200 Free....1:55.62....1:55.70Sarah Lattus.......100 Free......53.52......54.66Jill Karacozoff...200 Breast...2:24.79....2:33.71
Schmidt On The UNLV Meet
"We had some very good times for our opening meet of the year. I was particularly impressed with freshman Emliy Schmied along with junior Sarah Lattus. Schmied worked very hard and had good times in all of her vents. Lattus also turned in some excellent times in the 50 and 100 free, faster that she did at last year's conference meet. And Megan Storey is off to a better start than last season. Distance swimmers take a little more time to get going, and her times will improve as the season goes on. We have a lot of new faces this season and it's going to take some time and experience for them to develop. We should see consistent improvement all around as the year goes on."
Coaching Staff
San Diego State head coach Deena Schmidt is in her ninth season as head coach of the Aztec swimming and diving program. The former Olympian, who won a gold as a member of the 400 medley relay team at the 1972 Olympics, is a 1988 graduate of San Diego State. Schmidt is assisted by Greg Hutt, also in his ninth season.
Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center
San Diego State will hold its home meets this season at the newly completed Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center pool. The facility opened this past summer and is located at 6845 University Avenue. The Aztecs hold their daily practice sessions at the City Heights Pool.
Preseason Picks
San Diego State has been picked to finish sixth in the Mountain West Conference this season by a poll of the league's coaches. The Aztecs were seventh at last season's MWC Championship meet. The complete preseason poll is as follows:
Pl. Team (1st place votes) Pts. 1. BYU (6)..................47 2. Colorado State (1).......40 3. UNLV (1).................39 4. Utah.....................34 5. New Mexico...............19 6. SDSU.....................17 7. Air Force................16 8. Wyoming..................12
Youth Movement
Nine members of this year's SDSU swim team are true freshmen while four others are sophomores (including one transfer). Only two seniors appear on the 2002-03 roster: Vicky Donnelly and Erin Kilpatrick. The Aztecs lost seven swimmers from last year's roster including senior standouts Megan Casillan, Heather DeFelice and Tara Johnson. That trio all set school records during the 2001-2002 campaign: Casillan - 100 and 200 back, DeFelice - 50 and 100 Free, 100 Breast, Johnson - 200 and 400 medley relays. Casillan and DeFelice were also members of the 200 and 400 medley relay teams.
Record Holders
Six swimmers on the 2002-03 San Diego State team return as members of school record-setting relay teams from last season. Those athletes include:
200 Free Relay - Jennifer Graham, Hannah Ryan, Aletta Haff
800 Free Relay - Hannah Ryan, Jennifer Graham, Megan Storey, Erin Kilpatrick
200 Medley Relay - Jill Karacozoff
400 Medley Relay - Erin Kilpatrick
The Schedule
For the first time since joining the Mountain West Conference, the league will crown a regular-season champion in addition to the conference meet champ. As a result, the Aztecs will swim dual meets against every other MWC school this season. The conference dual meet schedule will be concluded by Nov. 23. SDSU will only host meets against Utah (this weekend) and Air Force (Nov. 16). All other league meets will be away including the contest against Brigham Young, which will take place at New Mexico on Nov. 7.
2001-2002 Season Review
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. 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. Current senior Erin Kilpatrick was the lone- Aztec to medal at the 2002 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). The Aztecs' 10 dual meet wins were the most since the program was reinstated in 1994. The previous best was seven wins in 1999-2000 when the team went 7-7. Junior 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. Storey recorded five double-victories during the dual meet season while Kilpatrick did so three times with juniors Jennifer Graham and Hannah Ryan doing so once apiece.
Looking Ahead
The Aztecs will travel across town to meet University of San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 2, beginning at noon.