Oct. 24, 2009
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -
Oct. 24, 2009
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The San Diego State swimming and diving team got its 2009-2010 conference season underway with a triple dual meet the ended with wins over Air Force (218.5-77.5) and New Mexico (202-97) along with a loss to Colorado State (134-165) in Colorado Springs Saturday afternoon. The victory gives the Aztecs a 2-1 mark both overall and in MWC action.
SDSU captured first place in eight of the meet's 12 individual swimming events with a total of 11 all-time school top 10 times being recorded on the day. Among those event winners were senior Elena Karpeeva and freshman Stephanie Koch who each won a pair of races.
Karpeeva picked up first-place finishes in both the 200 breaststroke (2:22.72) and 200 individual medley (2:09.78). Her time in the 200 breast ranks as the eighth-best time ever for an Aztec. She also picked up a third-place in the 100 breast as she was making her Aztec debut in both distances in that race after not completing in the breaststroke last season. The senior from Omsk, Russia, had begun her day as a member of the third-place 200 medley relay quartet.
Koch, a first-year Aztec from Boone, Iowa, won the 100 and 200freestyle with times of 52.29 and 1:52.30 respectively. Both of those marks represented the fifth-best time in Aztec history. Koch also swam the opening leg of the 400 free relay that finished second by just .08 second in 3:32.24, a time that ranks sixth on the all-time Aztec performance chart.
San Diego State's four other first-place finishes were turned in by two seniors and two freshmen.
Senior Petra Radovic won the 500 freestyle in 5:07 .15 and also swam the second leg of that 400 relay race. SDSU's other senior winner was Nino Metsar, who took first in the 200 butterfly in 2:08.45, 10th-best time for an SDSU swimmer at that distance.
Freshman Melanie Garibaldi captured top spot in the 100 freestyle in 10:35.87 and also finished just behind Radovic in the 500 free at 5:07.66. Fellow frosh Katelyn Weddle took first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.64, the sixth-best time on the SDSU all-time list. She was also on the 200 medley relay team that finished second in the meet's opening race. That relay time of 1:45.34 ranks as the second-best time in that event for an Aztec quartet.
San Diego State will have next weekend off from competition as it prepares to host a quadruple dual meet on Friday, Nov. 6, at 2:00 p.m. (PT) at the Aztec Aquaplex. The Aztecs will welcome TCU, Idaho, San Diego and UC San Diego to its pool for that event.