Nov. 17, 2003
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This Week
San Diego continues home conference action this week when it hosts both UNLV and Wyoming in a double dual meet on Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center Pool. The first event is schedule to get underway at noon.
Coaching Staff
San Diego State head coach Deena Schmidt is in her 10th 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 10th season. Jim Wynne is in his second season as the Aztec diving coach. In addition, former Aztec all-conference swimmer Erin Kilpatrick will serve as a student assistant coach.
Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center
San Diego State will hold its home meets this season at the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center. The facility opened in the summer of 2002 and is located at 6845 University Avenue. The Aztecs hold their daily practices at the City Heights Pool.
Last Week
SDSU recorded its first Mountain West Conference dual meet win of the season with a 200-100 victory over New Mexico at the Kroc Center. It was the Aztecs' opening home meet of the fall after an earlier scheduled meet vs. University of San Diego was postponed. San Diego State won nine of the 10 individual swimming events and both relays. SDSU had four swimmers win two events apiece: seniors Hannah Ryan and Megan Storey plus freshmen Caitlin Friedhoff and Adriana Quirke. During the meet, a total of 35 individual season-best times were recorded by Aztec swimmers in some 14 individual events.
Sweeping Up
At last weekend's meet vs. New Mexico, San Diego State swept a total of four events. The Aztecs finished 1-2-3 in the 100 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke. A total of nine different swimmers were involved in those top three finishes. The Aztec 200 free relay teams also went 1-2 in the final event of the meet.
Hannah Heats Up
Senior Hannah Ryan is quickly emerging as one of the Aztecs' top swimmers in her final season at SDSU. Last weekend in the meet vs. New Mexico, she won both the 200 and 500 freestyle events and finished second in the 50 free. She set personal career-best times in the 50 free (24.97) and 500 free (4:59.41), and was also a member of SDSU's first-place 200 free relay quartet. Her time in the 500 free improve her previous best by over four second and ranks as the fourth-fastest in the history of Aztec program.
Friedhoff Keeps Winning
Freshman standout Caitlin Friedhoff captured first in both the 50 and 100 freestyle races for the second met in a row. She swam a 24.95 in the free and 53.84 in the 100. In three dual meets this season, Friedhoff has won the 100 in all three competitions and has taken first in the 50 twice. She also swims the anchor leg for the team's freestyle and medley relay squads.
What A Storey
Megan Storey continues to be strong in the freestyle distance events, but has also shown her versatility by competing on the backstroke and butterfly as well. She got SDSU off to a good start last Saturday, capturing the 500 free (the second event of the meet vs. UNM) with a time of 10:23.10. Four races later, she took first in the 200 butterfly in 2:08.67.In addition, she finished second in the 200 backstroke (2:10.56)
Quirke Shows Quickness
Freshman Adriana Quirke has the best outing of her young Aztec career, winning both the 100 backstroke (59.53) and 200 backstroke (2:10.04) races last Saturday vs. UNM. Both times were her bests this far in the 2003-04 season. She also competed in both the 200 free and 200 IM relays.
The Other Winners
In addition to Ryan, Friedhoff, Storey and Quirke, three other members of the SDSU squad claimed victories in individual events last weekend. That threesome included Jennifer Graham in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.45), Jennifer Arrow in the 200 breaststroke (2:24.00), and Stella Karoly in the 100 butterfly (59.55).
Preseason Picks
San Diego State has been picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference this season by a poll of the league's coaches. The Aztecs were eighth at last season's MWC Championship meet. SDSU is currently 1-2 in conference dual meets this season, with the win over a New Mexico squad that was picked to finish fifth this season. Losses have come at the hands of Brigham Young and Utah, each of which received first-place votes. The complete preseason poll (as voted by the league's head coaches) is as follows:
Pl. Team (1st place votes) Pts. 1. Colorado State (4).......46 2. Brigham Young (3)........44 3. Utah (1).................36 4. UNLV.....................33 5. New Mexico...............25 6. Wyoming..................19 7. San Diego State..........12 8 .Air Force.................9
Looking Ahead
Following this coming weekend's action at home, the Aztecs will have two weeks to prepare for their next competition, a double dual conference meet against both Colorado State and Air Force on Saturday, Dec. 6. That meet will be held in Fort Collins, Colo., beginning at 1:00 p.m. (MST) that afternoon.