Feb. 17, 2017
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The San Diego State swimming and diving team moved up into sole possession of second place at the end of the third day of 2017 Mountain West Championships being contested at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Included in the team's performance on Friday was a new school record in 100 butterfly, Aztec's first victory in an individual event and five times that entered the SDSU top 10 lists.
Boise State solidified its grip on first place with 972 points as it pulled away from the field by over 200 points. The Aztecs moved up from third to second place with 769 points and hold a small lead over third-place Nevada (748 points). Wyoming ended the day in the fourth spot with 669 points.
Friday evening, freshman McKenna Meyer gave San Diego State its first individual gold media of the four-day meet by capturing first place in the 400 individual medley in a time of 4:12.54, a mark that ranks as the third-fastest in program history.
Three other Aztecs score points in that race as finalists with Frida Berggren taking third place in 4:14.83 and Rachael Kelch finishing eighth in 4:21.12. Corinn Casper won the B Final (9th overall) in 4:19.89, a time that goes into the SDSU record book as the 8th-best ever.
In the 100 butterfly, junior Summer Harrison finished second in 52.68 and she broke her own school record in the event by .04 second. Teammate Samantha Guttmacher placed seventh in 54.74.
Other point scorers for SDSU in the 100 butterfly included Alma Thormalm (10th overall -- 54.58), Kate Santilena (14th overall -- 55.56) and Andrea VanderMey (16th overall -- 56.56). Thormalm's time ranks as the seventh fastest in program history while VanderMey's mark of 54.62 in the prelims ranks 8th.
The Aztecs sent three swimmers to the B Final in the 100 backstroke led by McKenna Garfein, who captured 12th place overall in 55.14. VanderMey was 15th in 55.80 while Santilena finished 16th (56.27). VanderMey earlier went 54.58 in the prelims of the 100 back to record the sixth-best time ever by an SDSU swimmer.
Freshman Morganne McKennan advanced to the final of the 100 breaststroke where her finals time of 1:03.06 gave her an eighth-place finish.
In the 200 freestyle, the duo of Peyton Wilson (1:49.63) and Kassidy Henson (1:52.74) captured 11th and 16th place overall respectively.
In the other event contested Friday evening, the Aztec 400 medley relay team of VanderMey, Caitlin Delany, Harrison and Thormalm went 3:39.89 to take fifth place in that race.
Action concludes at the 2017 Mountain West Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday, Feb. 18, with prelims in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke,200 butterfly and platform diving set to get underway at 9:00 a.m. PT. Finals in those five events along with the 400 freestyle relay will be held later that day starting at 4:30 p.m. PT. The finals for the 1650 freestyle will begin at 3:50 p.m.
Live streaming video of both the prelims and finals can be found by clicking here while live results may be accessed by clicking here.
2017 MW ChampionshipsBoise State.........972San Diego State.....769Nevada..............748Wyoming.............669Colorado State......540New Mexico..........433San Jose State......362.5UNLV................337Air Force...........334Fresno State........305.5