March 20, 2014
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - San Diego State swimmers scored points in all three events in which they were entered and find themselves tied for 13th place with 23 points after the opening day of the 2014 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships being contested in Minneapolis this weekend. The Aztecs' point total is the best in school history as it marks the fourth straight year in which they have scored points at the national title met.
In the opening event of the meet, the 200 freestyle relay. The foursome of Anika Apostalon, Chelsea Bailey, Maddy Dalcamo and Whitney Weisz went 1:29.56 in the prelims to tie Indiana for 16th place and a berth in the consolation final. That force a swim-off against the Hoosiers to decide who would advance.
In that swim-off the Aztecs went 1:28.71, the second-fastest time in school history, to finish .88 second ahead of Indiana and move into the consolation final. In that consolation final they finished sixth (14th overall) in 1:29.33 to score six points.
In the 200 individual medley, senior Mikaela Macklin tied for 12th place in the prelims in 1:57.07 to break her own SDSU record by .22 second. She bettered that mark by going 1:56.95 in the B Final (consolation) to score five points for SDSU.
In the third event of an Aztec swimmer, freshman Anika Apostalon finished in a tie for eighth place in the prelims of the 50 freestyle with a tie of 22.01, forcing a swim-off against senior Ellen Lobb of Texas. In that swim-off, Apostalon with 21.89 to Lobb's 22.06 to move into the championship final. In the process the first-year Aztec became the first SDSU swimmer to advance to an A Final at the NCAA Championships. Her time of 22.00 placed her seventh overall and added 12 points to SDSU's team total.
Prior to this year's NCAA Championships, SDSU's highest final point total had been five points in 2010 when Katelyn Weddle finished 14th in the 100 breaststroke as the Aztecs placed 42nd.
Action continues at the 2014 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday (Mar. 21) with prelims getting underway at 11:00 a.m. (CT). Aztec swimmers will again be involved in three events including Macklin swimming the 400 individual medley and Apostalon competing in the 100 backstroke. In addition SDSU will have an entry in the 800 freestyle relay team. Friday's finals session begins at 7:00 pm. (CT).
TEAM STANDINGS1. Georgia..............1892. Stanford.............1363. California...........1264. Southern California..1035. Texas A&M.............86.56. Tennessee.............747. Arizona...............688. Florida...............579. Minnesota.............51.510. Wisconsin............4111. Texas................3612. Indiana..............3313. San Diego State......2313. Miami................1315. Virginia.............1816. Louisville...........1616. Virginia Tech........1618. NC State.............1418. Massachusetts........1420. Auburn...............1220. Notre Dame...........1220. Southern Methodist...1223. Michigan.............1124. UCLA..................825. Purdue................726. Southern Illinois.....626. Florida State.........628. Florida Gulf Coast....528. Arizona State.........530. North Carolina........431. Illinois State........232. Alabama...............1