Oct. 6, 2011
AZTECS VISIT LAS VEGAS FOR CONFERENCE DUAL MEET
San Diego State will compete in its first Mountain West dual meet of the 2011-12 season when it visits Las Vegas on Saturday, Oct. 8, to take on conference opponent UNLV. The 16-event meet will get underway at 2:00 p.m. (PT) at the Buchanan Natatorium on the UNLV campus.
HEAD COACH Mike Shrader
San Diego State head coach Mike Shrader is in his fifth season with the Aztecs and has compiled a dual meet record of 51-13 (.797) during his tenure. Shrader was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year each of the past three seasons (co-coach in 2009). Including eight seasons as the head coach at Nevada, his career record stands at 140-25-1 (.846).
AZTEC CAPTURE PENTATHLON WIN VS. USD
In its opening meet of the season, SDSU defeated the University of San Diego, 56-37, in a pentathlon meet at USD on Sept. 23. Swimmers from both teams swam five events (100 free. fly, breast and back plus the 200 IM) with total times determining placings. The top six swimmers from each school counted toward the team point totals.
SDSU sophomore Mikaela Macklin was the individual pentathlon champion as her time of 6:05.70 edged teammate Leona Jennings by over eight seconds. Macklin won the freestyle, butterfly and individual medley races, was second in the breaststroke event and took fourth in the backstroke.
Aztec freshman Loreen Whitfield captured third place, four seconds behind Jennings. Other SDSU top 10 finishers included Jessica Crider (seventh), Berklie Oscarson (eighth) and Stephanie Koch (10th).
THE STREAK CONTINUES
San Diego State has a streak of 39 straight dual meet wins against non-conference opponents. The last loss to a non-MWC team was a defeat at North Texas on Nov. 17, 2006. In current head coach Mike Shrader's four seasons at SDSU, the Aztecs have not lost to a non-conference foe. SDSU has now won its last 23 dual meets dating back to the 2009-10 season. Its last loss came against Wyoming on Jan. 29, 2010, in Laramie.
AZTECS PICKED FIRST IN MW PRESEASON POLL
A voting panel comprised of the eight Mountain West head women's swimming & diving coaches chose defending league champion San Diego State as the favorite to win the 2012 MW championship title. The Aztecs collected six first-place votes and 48 total points. Newcomer Boise State was selected to finish second with 41 points and claimed the two remaining first-place votes.
2011-12 Preseason Coaches' PollPl Team (1st place votes) Pts 1. San Diego State (6)......48 2. Boise State (2)..........41 3. Wyoming..................39 4. UNLV.....................32 5. TCU......................24 6. Colorado State...........18 7. New Mexico...............15 8. Air Force.................7RANKED RECRUITING CLASS
San Diego State's 2011-12 recruiting class was ranked 17th in the nation by CollegeSwimming.com. Included in the group are six freshmen who earned NICSA Girls High School All-America honors in their respective events. That group is led by Chelsea Bailey (free, back), who was ranked as the No. 14 recruit in the nation by CollegeSwimming.com after earning All-America accolades in the 100 free and 100 back.
Dana Michaels (Shoreline, Wash.) won the 200 and 500 freestyle state championships in Washington while Emile Pleger (Yakima, Wash.) was that state's top-ranked swimmer in the 100 breast. Amanda Barrett (200 & 500 freestyle state champ) was the top-rated swimmer in Utah last year while Taylor Lakey (free, fly) was ranked third among prep swimmers in the state of Oregon. The sixth freshman, Loreen Whitfield (Clovis, Calif.), won eight individual section titles and holds the section record in the 100 fly.
Also in the class are an international transfer and a freshman diver. Gemma Johnson, a junior from the University of Sydney, has been ranked among the top 25 in Australia in the 50m free as well as the 50m and 100m fly. Diver Kelsingten Goodsite (Martin Luther King HS in Riverside HS) finished among the top 10 in the Southern Section CIF Championships two of the past three seasons.
It marks the third straight year that the Aztecs have landed a top 25 class after its 2009-10 group was rated fourth and last year's class was ranked 22nd. SDSU is the lone Mountain West Conference team to have its incoming class ranked among the top 25 nationally.