Feb. 26, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oka. - San Diego State swimmers added another pair of school records to their season resumé during the second day of the 2009 Mountain West Conference Swimming and Diving Championships being contested in Oklahoma City this week. One individual mark and one relay record were set as the Aztecs maintained their hold on sixth-place in the meet standings.
Elena Karpeeva, a junior from Omsk, Russia, set the new SDSU standard in the 200 individual medley when she swam a 2:01.49 to finish first in the B-final. Karpeeva actually broke the school mark earlier in the day when she went 2:03.25 in the prelims for the event. The old record had stood since the 1996-97 season when Courtney Hoblick turned in a time of 2:05.17.
Even more telling was the fact that two of Karpeeva's SDSU teammates also bettered the old record. Freshman Jeanette Engzell went 2:04.17 to take second in the B-final while fellow frosh Kelsy Diener clocked in a 2:04.67 to finish fourth.
The other San Diego State mark to fall on Thursday came in the 200 freestyle relay where the foursome of Brooke Vessey, Alex Peters, Alexis McCoy and Shaida Solimani finished in 1:34.49, breaking the three-year old mark of 1:36.51. It was the third SDSU relay record set by the Aztecs during the meet with Vessey involved in all three.
Elsewhere, Bojana Duric and Kyla Power finished sixth and eighth respectively in the B-final of the 500 freestyle, with each recording a time that will enter the SDSU record book among the top 10 best marks ever in that event. Duric went 4:59.42 for the fifth-fastest time in SDSU history while Power's mark of 5:00.81 goes down as the ninth-best.
Junior diver Caitlin Atkinson added to the Aztecs' point total on the day when she finished second in the B-final of the 1-meter event with a score of 250.15 points.
At the conclusion of Thursday's events, San Diego State finds itself with 129 points, tied for sixth place with TCU. The standings after day two are as follows:
Brigham Young.....263Wyoming...........262Utah..............196UNLV..............188Colorado State....151San Diego State...129TCU...............129New Mexico........124Air Force..........48The championships continue on Friday with prelims in the 400 individual medley beginning at 10:00 a.m. (CST). Friday's finals in addition to the 400 IM include the 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, platform diving and the 400 medley relay.
For the latest on the MWC Championships click here.