Dec. 18, 2006
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - San Diego State swimmers recorded seven top-10 finishes as they concluded their third and final day at the UNLV Winter Invitational in Las Vegas. SDSU totaled 434.5 points over the three-day meet to capture fourth place in the 10-team event. UC Santa Barbara won the Invitational with 993 points followed by UNLV (839), TCU (723.5) and the Aztecs.
The day began with SDSU senior Emily Parker taking fifth in the 1,650 freestyle in of 17:37.59. Her time of 17:32.40 in the prelims earlier in the day was a season best for an Aztec in 2006. Teammate Brittany Daly was close behind Parker in the finals, taking eighth place with a mark of 17:44.37.
In the 200 backstroke, Katie Smith finished eighth with a time of 2:07.59 while Kimberlee Frith was sixth in the 100 freestyle in 52.68. Frith, who won the 100 freestyle on Sunday, swam a 52.54 in the prelims of the 200 free to establish the team's lowest time of the season in the event.
San Diego State's top individual placing of the day went to freshman Jessica Morrill, who captured third place in the 200 breaststroke with a season-best time of 2:21.63.
In the final event of the day, junior Ana Dowell placed sixth in the 200 butterfly in 2.11.82. Following her swim in the fly, Dowell led off the 400 free relay and along with teammates Katie Leahy, Kyla Power and Kimberlee Firth turned in a team season-best time of 3:37.86.
The Aztecs will now take a three-week break for the holidays before resuming competition at the annual UC Irvine Invitational schedule for the weekend of Jan. 6-7.
1. UC Santa Barbara........993 2. UNLV....................839 3. TCU.....................723.5 4. San Diego State.........434.5 5. New Mexico State........254 6. Cal State Bakersfield...223 7. New Orleans.............165 8. Seattle.................159 9. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps...5710. UC San Diego.............26