Feb. 29, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY - The San Diego State women's swimming and diving team remained in eighth place after the third day at the Mountain West Conference championships. Three Aztecs qualified for the finals in their respective events on Friday, as SDSU has now totaled 121 points through 13 events.
Katie Smith posted the Aztecs' best finish of the meet so far, placing sixth overall in the 100 backstroke with a mark of 57.72. Her time in the finals topped her previous personal-best (57.83), which she established in the prelims earlier in the day, and it also ranks her fourth on SDSU's all-time charts. Alexandra Rogers added a strong showing in the 100 back prelims, clocking in at a season-low 58.75 (18th place).
Ana Dowell advanced to the 100 butterfly finals after finishing 12th in the preliminary event with a personal-record 57.87. Dowell went on to place sixth in the B finals (57.96). Brooke Vessey also had a solid performance in the 100 fly prelims, swimming a season-best 58.39.
In the 100 breaststroke, Christine Graham touched the wall at 1:06.74 to place seventh in the B final. Graham advanced in the competition by finishing 11th in the prelims with a personal-best 1:06.11. That mark also ranks her among the top five in school history in the 100 breast.
Despite a handful of lifetime-best performances in the 200 freestyle prelims, the Aztecs were unable to get any individual qualifications for the finals. Brittany Daly led the Scarlet and Black with a season-low 1:54.67 (18th place). Kyla Power came in 27th place, clocking in with a personal-record 1:56.92, while Jamie Vessey rounded out SDSU's top three finishers with a season-best 1:58.05. Also notching lifetime-bests were Katie Leahy (1:58.87) and Rosalie Raymond (1:59.31).
In the 400 individual medley prelims, Jessica Morrill swam a personal and team season-best mark of 4:37.23.
The Aztecs closed out the day with an eighth-place performance in the 400 medley relay. The foursome of Smith, Graham, Dowell and Brooke Vessey etched their names in the SDSU record book with the fifth-best mark in school history (3:55.34).
The four-day meet will conclude on Saturday with the women's preliminaries beginning at 8:11 a.m. PT. The events that are scheduled for tomorrow include the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1,650 free, 400 free relay and platform diving.
Mountain West Conference Championships
OKCCC Aquatic Center -- Oklahoma City, Okla.
Feb. 29, 2008
Standings After Day Three
1. BYU (544)
2. UNLV (432)
3. Wyoming (393.5)
4. Utah (375)
5. Colorado State (237)
6. New Mexico (192)
7. TCU (173.5)
8. San Diego State (121)
9. Air Force (97)