Nov. 22, 2014
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. - San Diego State held off a late surge from UCLA as it successfully defended its championship at the A3 Performance Invitational Saturday evening at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, Calif. The Aztecs ended the three-day meet, formerly known as the Arena Invitational, with 1166 points with UCLA finishing second at 1130. UC Santa Barbara was a distant third with 875 points.
Saturday evening's finals session began with the 200 backstroke where Natilee Ruiz placed second with a mark of 1:57.79. McKenna Garfein took seventh in the championship final in a time of 2:00.89, the 10th-fastest time ever for an Aztec swimmer.
In the 1650 freestyle, Dana Michaels was SDSU's top finisher as she captured third place in 16:54.14. Other point scorers in the event for the Aztecs included Caroline Mitchell (8th in 17:13.26), Cayla Jeter (9th in 17:14.42) and Cori Casper (23rd in 17:50.49).
San Diego State's lone individual win of the night came in the 100 freestyle where Anika Apostalon won with a time of 48.04. That mark established new meet and pool records by .20 second. Chelsea Baily (49.59) and Savannah Miller (50.79) finished third and sixth respectively in the championship final as well. In addition, Maddy Dalcamo (52.29) was fourth and Whitney Weisz (512.30) seventh in the consolation final. In the C final, Taylor Johnson placed third with a time of 51.66.
In the 200 breaststroke, SDSU scored points as Shannon Herman 92:20.18) and Laura Day (2:21.58) took third and fifth in the C final.
The 200 butterfly championship final saw Aztec freshman Summer Harrison capture sixth place in 2:00.69, a time that ranks as the third-fastest ever by an SDSU swimmer. Caroline Mitchell added points to the team total with an eighth-place finish in the consolation final with a mark of 2:12.19.
In the final event of the meet, San Diego State secured the Invitational title by winning the 400 freestyle relay. The foursome of Apostalon, Bailey, Miller and Weisz went 3:18.03 to break the pool record of 3:19.98 set by the Aztecs last season. The time was also the second-fastest in the event for an Aztec relay quartet.
San Diego State will next be in action when its hosts a triple dual swimming and diving meet against Air Force, Incarnate Word and UC San Diego on Dec. 29 at the Aztec Aquaplex.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS Team Pts 1. San Diego State...1166 2. UCLA..............1130 3. UC Santa Barbara...875 4. Hawai'i............655 5. San Jose State.....597 6. UC San Diego.......543 7. Cal Poly...........445 8. Fresno State.......419 9. Cal Baptist........38310. San Diego..........32911. Bakersfield........32612. Loyola Marymount...29813. USC................24814. UCSB Post Grad......8415. La Verne............41