Dec. 17, 2006
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Another strong performance by the divers plus the team's initial first-place finish of the meet helped the San Diego State swimming and diving team solidify its grip on fourth place at the three-day UNLV Winter Invitational in Las Vegas.
After day two of the competition at UNLV's Buchanan Natatorium, SDSU has totaled of 328.5 points in the 10-team event. UC Santa Barbara maintained its lead with 734 points followed by UNLV (598) and TCU (492.5).
Aztec senior Kimberlee Frith captured first place in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:52.26, the best on the squad this season. Frith, the San Diego State record holder in the event, earned 20 points by winning the race.
SDSU's other top swimming performance of the day came in the 100 breaststroke where three Aztecs finished among the top nine. Katie Smith took fifth place with a season-best mark of 1:07.08. She was followed by teammates Christine Graham (6th in 1:08.18) and Jessica Morrill (9th in 1:00.59).
In the 100 butterfly, junior Ana Dowell was SDSU's top finisher, placing 10th with a time of 58.92. It was both her personal best as well as the top time by an Aztec this fall. Frith came in just over a fifth of a second behind Dowell, finishing 11th in 59.14 seconds.
Just as they did in the three-meter on Saturday, San Diego State's divers captured four of the top eight places in the one-meter board on Sunday. Freshman Caitlin Atkinson led SDSU with 241.85 points, good for second place. She was joined in the top eight by fellow Aztecs Megan Flanagan (4th - 225.00), Kathleen Heuring (7th - 214.55) and Kristen Maurer (8th - 212.50).
San Diego State will conclude it stay in Las Vegas with the final day of the UNLV Winter Invitational set for Monday, Dec. 18, with the prelims starting at 9:30 a.m. and the finals set for 5:30 p.m.
1. UC Santa Barbara........734 2. UNLV....................598 3. TCU.....................492.5 4. San Diego State.........328.5 5. CSU Bakersfield.........200 6. New Mexico State........139 7. New Orleans.............111 8. Seattle.................104 9. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps...5710. UC San Diego.............26