Feb. 26, 2012
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - In a meet that came down to the final event, San Diego State came up just short as it finished second to Boise State by Five points at the 2012 Mountain West Swimming and diving Championships in Oklahoma City.
The Broncos finished with a total of 747 points with San Diego State's final score standing at 742. UNLV was third with 551.5 points followed by Wyoming (470, TCU (374.5), New Mexico (285), Colorado State (276) and Air Force (192).
The Aztecs held a one-point lead (708-707) over the Broncos entering the meet's final race, the 400 freestyle relay. Boise State captured that event by threes seconds over the second-place Aztec quartet of Chelsea Bailey, Stephanie Koch, Leona Jennings and Mikaela Macklin, which set am SDSU school record with a time of 3:20.64.
SDSDU began the day by taking third, fourth and sixth in the 1650 freestyle. Kelly Marquenie took third in 16:33.50 with Melanie Garibaldi fourth (16:41.18) and Jessica Crider sixth (16:43.85). Leona Jennings finished second in the 200 backstroke in 1:56.42 while Katelyn Weddle was the runner-up in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.33).
Even with those results, SDSU found itself trailing by 22 points (664-642) heading into the penultimate event, the platform diving, but a strong performance from the Aztec diving corps moved San Diego State into a one point lead (708-707) with only the 400 free relay remaining.
Kristen Meier led the divers with a first-place finish on the platform, setting a school record with a score of 268.45. Anna Steiner's marl of 255.80 was good enough for second place is also the second-highest score in school history in the event. Rafaella Suarez (238.00) took fourth with teammate Aina Eill (221.25) finishing fifth. Suarez' and Eill's scores rank as the third and fourth-best I program history as well.
Their efforts set the stage for the final race with the winner claiming the conference title.
FINAL STEAM STANDINGS1. Boise State.......7472. San Diego State...7423. UNLV..............551.54. Wyoming...........4705. TCU...............374.56. New Mexico........2857. Colorado State....2768. Air Force.........192