Feb. 19, 2015
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - San Diego State remained in second place after the second day of the 2015 Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships, but trail defending champ Boise State by just seven points heading into day three of the four-day meet in San Antonio, Texas.
The Broncos ended Thursday's finals session with 275 points with the Aztecs just behind them at 268. Third place is occupied by Nevada with 216 points while UNLV is a distance fourth with a team score of 140.
SDSU began the evening by winning the 200 freestyle relay in 1:28.72, over 1.5 seconds faster than runner-up Boise State. The foursome of Chelsea Bailey, Anika Apostalon, Taylor Johnson and Whitney Weisz turned in a time that qualifies as an NCAA `A' Cut for next month's national championship meet.
Apostalon would end the night by capturing the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.82, another `A' Cut mark that qualifies her for direct entry in the NCAA Championships. Her winning time was just .06 second off the met, school and Mountain West record that she set art last year's conference championships.
The Aztec dominated the 50 free with Chelsea Bailey finishing second in 22.47 (an NCAA `B' Cut mark) and Taylor Johnson capturing fourth in 22.81. Both Bailey's and Johnson's times were personal bests and go into the SDSU record book as the second- and fourth-best times in program history.
SDSU also scored points in the consolation `B' Final with Whitney Weisz taking third (11th overall) in 23.26 and Sami Guttmacher finishing seventh (15th overall) in 23.57.
The Aztecs also had three divers score points on the three-meter board on Thursday. Freshman Alexandra Caplan captured fourth place with a finals score of 333.75. Isabelle Choquehuanca finished sixth in the championship finals round with a mark of 260.65 after scoring 305.85 in the prelims. Adding points for the Aztecs was freshman Makena Chamoures, who placed sixth in the consolation final (14th overall) at 227.30.
In the 200 individual medley, sophomore Frida Berggren was SDSU's top finisher as she place fourth in the championship final with a time of 1:59.63, the third-fastest mark in school history. In the consolation final, three Aztecs scored points with Natilee Ruiz finishing first (ninth overall) in 2:00.83, Shannon Herman placing fourth (12th overall) in 2:02.78 and Savannah Miller taking sixth (14th overall) in 2:03.32.
In the evening's other event Dana Michaels placed second in the B Final (10th overall) with a time of 4:51.42. That time enters the SDSU record book as the sixth-fastest ever.
Action continues at the conference championship meet on Friday (Feb. 20) with prelims in the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke getting underway at 11:00 a.m. CT (9:00 a.m. PT).
Live video of Friday's prelim is available by clicking here and live results can be accessed by clicking here. Friday evening's finals will start at 6:30 p.m. CT (4:30 p.m. PT) with live video available by clicking here.
TEAM STANDINGS Team Pts. 1. Boise State.......275 2. San Diego State...268 3. Nevada............216 4. UNLV..............140 5. Wyoming...........122.5 6. Air Force.........116 7. Colorado State.....94 8. Fresno State.......90.5 9. San Jose State.....8310. New Mexico.........68