FRESNO, Calif. – San Diego State swimming and diving posted a productive first day at the Chick-fil-A Invitational on Friday, posting 658 points to own a 375-point lead over third-place Fresno State while trailing 2017-18 national runner-up California by 126 points for first place.
One of SDSU's brightest spots of the day came on the diving board, with Delaney Gallagher winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Gallagher won the 1-meter competition by a hefty margin, logging a 282.25 -- 33.85 ahead of the second-place finisher in Air Force's Eve Fowler. Gallagher capped her day with a 278.55 to claim the 3-meter top spot.
The Aztecs' 200 yard medley relay team of Elli Ferrin, Klara Thormalm, Coutrney Vincent and Alma Thormalm finished second with a time of 1:43.34, less than two seconds behind first-place California. McKenna Meyer started individual competition off with a second-place finish of her own, posting a 4:57.83 in the 500 free.
Freshman Kristina Murphy was SDSU's top finisher in the 200 IM, recording a fifth-place time of 2:05.37. The Thormalm sisters then finished fourth and sixth in the 50 free, with Alma and Klara posting times of 23.36 and 23.69, respectively.
The Aztecs recorded another second-place relay time in the 200 free, with Peyton Wilson, Klara Thormalm, Cathy Cooper and Alma Thormalm collectively posting a time of 1:34.53.
In addition to being the Aztecs' top finisher in the 500 free, Meyer finished third in the 400 IM with a time of 4:21.88 to lead SDSU.
Courtney Vincent finished fourth in the 100 fly in a tight-knit race, recording a time of 55.65 -- less than a second behind California's second-place finisher Abbey Weitzeil.
Mia Ryan (1:51.57) and Meyer (1:51.63) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 200 free. The Aztecs then claimed the third, fourth, and fifth spots an event later in the 100 breast, with Klara Thormalm recording a 1:03.84 while Larisa Tam and Kristina Murphy tied at 1:03.88.
The final individual event of the day was led by Elli Ferrin, who finished the 100 back at 56.06 for third place, finishing just .26 behind first-place finisher California's Aislinn Light.
Swimming competition ended with another second-place finish in a relay event, with Mia Ryan, McKenna Meyer, Klara Thormalm, and Peyton Wilson posting a time of 7:31.49 in the 800 free relay.
SCORES
California - 784
San Diego State - 658
Fresno State - 283
Air Force - 248
Washington State - 233
San Jose State - 161
UP NEXT
The Chick-fil-A Invitational wraps up tomorrow, with action beginning at 10:00 a.m. Tomorrow's events include the 400 medley relay, 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 free relay.
Swim & Dive Stands Second at Chick-fil-A Invite
