Oct. 25, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
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SDSU Swimmers To Compete In Pacific Invitational
The San Diego State swimming team head north this weekend to participate in the Pacific Tiger Invitational. The Invite will take place in Stockton, Calif., on Oct. 29-30, at Chris Kjeldsen pool. The diving squad will not compete this weekend.
Last Week With The Aztecs
The San Diego State women opened their 2005-06 swimming season by falling to UNLV, 167-128, Saturday afternoon at the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center. The meet was also the season opener for the Rebels, who have been picked to win the Mountain West Conference title. Over the course of the meet's 16 events, UNLV swept four events and finished one-two in five others.
For the Aztecs, a pair of freshmen turned in first-place finishes in their inaugural collegiate meet.
Freshman Diana MacManus notched SDSU's initial individual win of the season, taking first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.20. She also finished second in the 200 backstroke (2:06.74) and swam the opening leg on the 200 medley relay squad.
The other first-year Aztec to win her event was Kimberlee Frith, who finished first in the 100 freestyle in 53.82. Frith placed third in the 200 freestyle (155.44) and was the first swimmer on the 400 free relay team.
Among the veterans, senior Emily Schmied won the 200 butterfly in 2:09.48 while junior Stella Karoly was third in both the 100 (59.48) and 200 butterfly (2:09.61). Sophomore Katie Smith had a pair of third-place finishes as well in the 100 backstroke (1:00.17) and the 200 backstroke (2:10.27).
In diving, sophomore Kathleen Heuring finished first in the one-meter (223.80) and fourth in the three-meter (226.65) event.
The Aztecs don't return to the friendly confines of the RJKCC again until they host MWC foe New Mexico on Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. Besides the UNLV meet, it will be their only home meet in their first nine competitions.
Pacific Tiger Invitational History
The Aztecs have competed in the Pacific Tiger Invitational two times in recent memory. SDSU claimed third place at the 2001 meet, ending the two-day event with 516 points. Host Pacific won the meet, followed by Nevada. The Aztecs easily outdistanced city-rival USD for third place, as the Toreros finished with 362 points.
At the 2000 meet, SDSU finished fifth out of the five team Division I field, scoring 508 points. The Tigers once again took their own meet with 910 points, followed by Washington State (772.5), Nevada (707), Fresno State (656.5) and the Aztecs (508).
Do I Know You?
Don't be surprised if it takes awhile for the Aztec swimming and diving team to get to know one another. After all, half the team are either freshmen or transfers. The 2005-06 squad features eight freshmen and two college transfers.
The freshmen include Megan Flanagan (Oakdale, Minn.), Kimberlee Frith (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Sasha Goodman (Long Beach, Calif.), Diana MacManus (San Diego), Lizette Patterson (Saugus, Calif.), Emily Pool (San Diego), Rosalie Raymond (Las Vegas, Nev.), Kendall Twilling (Sacramento, Calif.), while twin sisters Rachel and Rebekah Rife (Clayton, Calif.) are both transfers from Sierra College.
Four freshmen - Frith, MacManus, Pool and Twilling - posted top SDSU times in six events on Saturday against UNLV. Those events were the 100 and 200 free (Frith), the 100 and 200 back (MacManus), the 100 breast (Pool) and the 200 breast (Twilling).
Kathleen Heuring also won both the one-meter and three-meter diving events, giving the Aztec underclassmen (freshmen and sophomore) eight best marks of the 14 individual events (57.1 percent).
SDSU Picked To Finish Eighth In Mountain West
Head swimming and diving coaches from the Mountain West Conference have predicted San Diego State to finish eighth in the league in the 2005 season. UNLV was selected to win the MWC regular season championship with 59 points, garnering five of the nine first-place votes in the process. Following the Rebels in the poll was Utah (54) and BYU (53), who each received two first-place votes, MWC newcomer TCU (43) and Colorado State (41). Wyoming (29), New Mexico (23), the Aztecs (16) and Air Force (8) rounded out the voting.
SDSU, which returns 10 letterwinners from its 2004 squad, would like to improve on its eighth-place finish at the MWC championships a year ago.