Feb. 25, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - San Diego State swimmers and divers set school records in six events and solidified their hold on first place during day three of the 2011 Mountain West Conference Championship at the Oklahoma City Community College Aquatic Center. With one day remaining, the meet has seen a total of 13 school records set by SDSU athletes in the 15 events that have been contested thus far.
The Aztecs will enter Saturday's final session with 497 points and better than a 100-point lead over second-place Brigham Young (388) and Wyoming (347). (See below for complete team scores.)
Friday evening began with a fourth-place finish for the SDSU 200 freestyle relay team of Kim Bierwith, Stephanie Koch, Emilee Jennings and Shaida Solimani. The foursome improved on their own school record with a time of 1:31.63, an NCAA B Cut mark.
In the final of the 400 individual medley, sophomore Melanie Garibaldi took fourth place as she touched the wall in 4:17.68 to break the SDSU record by over four seconds. Lauren Parrett took fifth in the B final in 4:26.38 to add points to her team's total.
San Diego State's third school record of the day was turned in by Brooke Vessey, whose mark of 54.31 in the prelims of the 100 butterfly established a new Aztec standard. The senior finished sixth in the final with a time of 55.35. Mikaela Macklin's time of 55.69 (second in the B final, 10th overall) goes down as the third-fastest in the Aztec record book.
SDSU's best result of the session came in the final of the 200 freestyle where Aztec swimmers captured four of the top nine places. Included in that group was race winner Kelly Marquenie, whose winning time of 1:47.07 was another school record. Other Aztecs placing in the event included Meghan Zimmer (4th, 1:49.06), Stephanie Koch (5th, 1:49.15) and Jessica Crider (9th, 1:49.02). Crider's time goes into the SDSU record book as the fourth-best in school history.
As San Diego State's lone entrant in the 100 breaststroke finals, sophomore Katelyn Weddle came through with a second-place finish in 1:00.86, an NCAA B cut time.
The final swimming event of the evening, the 100 backstroke, was dominated by SDSU as it claimed four of the eight places in the A Final. That group was led by a Leona Jennings (3rd), Shaida Solimani (6th), Brooke Vessey (7th) and Kim Bierwith (8th).
Each of those four swimmers had times in the prelims that rank among the San Diego State all-time top 10. Jennings set an Aztec record with a 53.92 to break her own school standard. Solimani went 55.40, a time that ranks second while Vessey (55.73) and Bierwith (55.79) turned in marks that are the fourth and fifth-best. In addition, senior Allison Stuhr matched Bierwith's prelim time of 55.79 as she captured third in the B final.
The final women's diving event of the championships saw junior Kristen Meier capture third place in the platform with an Aztec record 229.05 as she added a bronze to the golds she won in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competitions.
SDSU's three other divers also scored points as well including Rafaela Suarez (5th-A final, 211.85), Anna Steiner (9th-B final, 213.95) and Aina Eill (12th-B final, 202.85). The scores posted by Suarez and Eill rank as the fifth and seventh-best respectively in the SDSU record listing.
The 2011 MWC Championships will conclude on Saturday (Feb. 26) with prelims in the 200 backstroke beginning at 10:00 a.m. (CT). Other events being contested tomorrow include the 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1650 freestyle and the 400 freestyle 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..497Brigham Young....388Wyoming..........347Utah.............333UNLV.............310TCU..............259Colorado State...232New Mexico.......219Air Force........100