Nov. 29, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
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SDSU Swimmers and Divers Head to the Centennial State This Weekend; Face Colo. College, McMurry of Texas, Air Force & CSU
The San Diego State swimming and diving team heads to the Rocky Mountains to compete in a pair of tri-meets this weekend. At 4 p.m. MST Friday, the Aztecs will travel to Colorado College to compete against the host Tigers and McMurry of Texas. On Saturday at 1 p.m. MST, SDSU will face Mountain West Conference foes Air Force and Colorado State. Both meets will be in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Last Meet With the Aztecs
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State swimming and diving team got out to a fast start, winning the 200-yard medley relay and its next four individual events en route to a 189-111 triumph over New Mexico on Nov. 15 at Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center. Despite competing for the third time in five days, the Aztecs (1-3, 1-3 Mountain West Conference) won 10 individual and two relay events, and had 11 athletes set season-best marks.
Sophomores Diana MacManus and Lindsay Hnyda, and juniors Stella Karoly and Kimberlee Frith set the tone for SDSU, teaming up for a victory in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 50.62 seconds in the first event of the meet. The Aztecs would go on to win the 1,000 freestyle, 200 free, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke before the Lobos got their first win in the 200 butterfly.
Freshman Kendal Twilling paced SDSU with three victories in the three races she competed in. She set season-best times in the 100 breast (1:08.77), 200 breast (2:25.92) and 200 individual medley (2:11.09).
The Aztecs also received a pair of first-place finishes from Frith and MacManus. Frith set a season team-best time in the 100 free (53.29) after winning the 200 free in 1:55.27 earlier in the day, while MacManus continued her dominance in the 100 back, clocking a 59.13.
Karoly won the 100 fly (1:00:00), while senior Samantha Peters (50 free, 24.73) and freshman Rosalie Raymond (1,000 free, 10:33.45) recorded season-best times in their respective races.
In the meet's final race, the quartet of Peters, senior Emily Schmied, Karoly and Frith won the 400 free relay (3:35.97) in SDSU's fastest time of the season, edging out New Mexico's relay team by 0.13 seconds (3:36.10).
Notes on SDSU's Opponents This Weekend
The Aztecs will be meeting Colorado College and McMurry of Texas for the first time since SDSU records versus opponents have been kept (1999-2000).
*SDSU and Air Force are meeting for the seventh time since the 1999-2000 season, with the Aztecs owning a 5-1 advantage, including a 186-113 win last season in San Diego.
In last season's victory, SDSU rebounded from a shaky start to win 11 of the final 14 events. Current senior Emily Schmied took first in the 100 (59.97) and 200 fly (2:09.81), and 200 individual medley (2:11.60). Other current Aztecs who picked up individual wins include Lindsay Hnyda in the 200 breast (2:27.88), Kathleen Heuring in the three-meter diving event (210.08) and Joelle Felton in the one-meter (212.70).
*Colorado State has won all five meetings since the 1999-00 season, including a 184-113 triumph last season in San Diego. However, the Aztecs were competing for the third time in four days last year.
In one-meter diving competition, Heuring and Felton both set career and personal season highs. Heuring placed second with a score of 250.87, while Felton finished fourth, just 0.37 points behind third-place finisher Amber Utesch of Colorado State.
Welcomed Additions
With 52.3 percent of the 2005-06 squad (11-of-21) being either freshmen or transfers, one might think it would take some time for the newcomers to contribute. Not for these newcomers. Transfer Kimberlee Frith leads the way with top times in the 50 (24.68), 100 (53.29) and the 200 free (1:55.27), while fellow transfer Diana MacManus has posted team top times in the 100 (58.20) and 200 back (2:06.74). Freshmen Rosalie Raymond (500 - 5:07.23 and 1,000 free - 10:33.45), Kendal Twilling (200 breast - 2:25.92 and 200 IM - 2:11.09) and Megan Flanagan (3-meter diving - 2:49.30) also have Aztec-best marks through the first five meets of the season.
The MacManus Effect
It hasn't taken sophomore Diana MacManus long to make her presence felt in the Mountain West. The Texas transfer has the third-fastest time in the 100 backstroke, clocking a 58.20. The time is also the fourth-fastest ever recorded by an Aztec. Her 200 back time of 2:06.74 is also fourth on the SDSU all-time list.
To put her dominance in the 100 back into perspective, one would have to look at her impressive record in the event. MacManus has compiled a 65-3 record against all her opponents (23-1 in MWC dual meets) this season, meaning she has beaten 95.6 percent of the opposition (95.8 percent in MWC).