Feb. 23, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - San Diego State set three school records in Wednesday's three events and took the team lead after day one of the 2011 Mountain West Conference Swimming & Diving Championships being contested in Oklahoma City this week. The Aztecs (99 pts.) have a slim two-point lead over New Mexico (97 pts.) after the first session of this year's championship meet. (See below for complete team score list.)
SDSU began the meet by setting a school record during a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Leona Jennings, Katelyn Weddle, Kim Bierwith and Emilee Jennings went 1:40.39 to break the previous program best by .20 seconds. The race itself was highly competitive as less than one second separated the first and fifth-place times.
In the 800 free relay, the San Diego State team of Kelly Marquenie, Stephanie Koch, Meghan Zimmer and Melanie Garibaldi went 7:11.69 to win by over three seconds. Their time was not only a school record, it was the 17th-fastest in the nation this season and the second-best ever in conference history.
The marks for both relays were NCAA B Cut times that provisionally qualify for next month's NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.
In the three-meter springboard competition, junior Kristen Meier became the first Aztec diver to capture gold at the conference meet as she tallied a school record 334.15 points. Her point total also ranks fourth all-time for an MWC diver.
In addition to Meier, freshman Anna Steiner also scored points with a ninth-place finish after recording a personal-best 286.45 points in the finals. Her point total qualifies her to compete in next month's Zone E regional meet in Minneapolis.
The 2011 MWC Championships continue on Thursday with prelims in the 1-meter springboard and the 500 freestyle scheduled to being at 10:00 a.m. (CT). Other events being contested tomorrow include the 200 individual medley, 500 freestyle and 400 medley relay.
Fans can visit 2011 MWC Swimming & Diving Championship Central to follow the action with a schedule of events, psych sheets and real-time results and scoring by clicking here.
TEAM SCORESSan Diego State..99New Mexico.......97Brigham Young....78UNLV.............74TCU..............72Utah.............68Colorado State...58Wyoming..........57Air Force........42