FRESNO, Calif. – The San Diego State swimming and diving team finished in second place in the 2021 Chick-Fil-A Invitational on Saturday morning at The Fresno State Aquatics Center, highlighted by a victory for Klara Thormalm in the 200 Breaststroke.
The Aztecs entered the final day of competition in second place, and 11 points ahead of UCLA. Powered by Thormalm's victory in the 200 Breaststroke, SDSU held off the Bruins by 9.5 points, 679.5-to-670.0. San Diego State's second place finish in the event is its fifth in the five times six teams have contested the title.
California won the event with a score of 1,481.5. After the Aztecs and UCLA, came Fresno State (396), Washington State (307) and San Jose State (221).
Thormalm, for the second day in a row, won the breaststroke event. In Saturday's 200 Breaststroke, she touched the wall in 2:14.95 to top teammate Kristina Murphy who was second in 2:15.32. Ashlyn Hemphill was the next Aztec to finish, in 18th in 2:27.29, and Jessie McMurray was 21st in 2:28.34.
In the first race of the day, the 400 Medley Relay, the Aztec team of Riley Tapley, Thormalm, Cassandra Phillips, and Meredith Smithbaker finished in fourth place in 3:44.86, while Mai McKenna, Sammy Geyer, Lizzie Menzmer, and Cathy Cooper finished in 14th place in a time of 3:58.31.
San Diego State's top finisher in the 1650 Free was Paige Mitchell in fourth place, in a time of 17:51.10, and right behind her, in 17:58.20, was Ryan Dulaney in fifth.
Evonne Stehr (2:07.45) and Tapley (2:07.47) led the Aztecs in the 200 Back, finishing in 15th and 16th place, respectively. In 18th place was Alex Roberts in 2:08.46, while McKenna touched in 19th place in 2:09.70, and Lexi Anderson finished in 23rd in 2:12.81.
Phillips, who swam a 52.36 and was 13th in the 100 Free, was San Diego State's first finisher in the race. In 20th, 23rd and 25th, respectively, were Emily Gebhardt (53.37), Geyer (53.62) and Smithbaker (53.68). Cooper came home in 53.86 and in 27th place, Lauren Torchiana was 28th in 53.98 and Menzmer finished in 54.33 and in 31st place.
In the 200 Fly, San Diego State's top times were 2:08.85 and 2:08.97 from Gebhardt (16th place) and Mitchell (17th place). Anderson was 23rd in 2:11.57, and Fiona Trotz-Chavez finished in 27th in 2:15.31. Wilma Johansson swam as an exhibition and finished in 1:59.93, which was the third fastest time on the day.
In the final swimming event, the 400 Free Relay, the team of Smithbaker, Phillips, Thormalm and Murphy were the third quickest in 3:24.10. Stehr, Menzmer, Geyer and Cooper recorded the eight fastest time with a 3:29.63. In 14th place, Mitchell, Torchiana, Trotz-Chavez and Gebhardt touched in 3:38.70. Dulaney, Hemphill, Roberts and Tapley were 17th in 3:39.96, and McKenna, McMurray, Anderson and Johansson finished in 3:47.22 and 21st place.
In the 1-Meter Diving competition, Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez was second with a score of 258.80. In fourth through seventh place were Gillian Garcia (243.40), Lexi Letts (236.65), Gina Cazares (234.05) and Summer Westmoreland (223.35), respectively. Emma Duggan (216.30) was ninth, Olivia Zamudio (208.00) was tenth, and Juliana Harrison (205.25) finished in 11th place.
THE NOTE
In each of the five times the Chick-Fil-A Invitational has been contested among six teams, the Aztecs have finished in second place. Last year, as a three-team event, the Aztecs were the winners.
UP NEXT
San Diego State returns to action on Friday, Oct. 22, when it puts its 29-consecutive dual meet win streak on the line at Loyola Marymount. The event is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. PT.
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Aztecs Finish In Second At Chick-Fil-A Invitational
