FRESNO, Calif. – The San Diego State swimming and diving team finds itself in third place among seven teams competing at the Chick-Fil-A Invitational hosted by Fresno State. The Aztecs tallied 453.33 points on the first day of the meet which included four Mountain West schools and three Pac-12 Conference institutions.
After 13 events, SDSU is slotted comfortably ahead of Washington State (222.5 pts), Fresno State (200.83 pts), San José State (166.5 pts) and Colorado State (164 pts), while California (628.5 pts) and UCLA (577.33 pts) occupy the top two spots in the standings.
Kristina Murphy led off the evening session with a third-place finish in the 400 individual medley, touching the wall with a time of 4:19.55. The Aztec senior later added a fourth-place performance in the 100 breaststroke after clocking in at 1:02.83, edging teammates Moa Bergdahl (1:02.86) and Meredith Smithbaker (1:03.11).
Earlier in day, Murphy placed sixth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.43, while teammate Mai McKenna followed in seventh at 2:05.18.
SDSU started the morning session with a pair of top-10 placements in the 200 medley relay, including the team of Evonne Stehr, Murphy, Lizzie Menzmer and Smithbaker, who took fifth with a time of 1:43.77, while the quartet of McKenna, Christiana Williams, Riley Tapley and Alyssa Schiller clocked in at 1:44.95 to finish eighth.
Emily Gebhardt was the Aztecs' top swimmer in the 500 freestyle, completing the event with a ninth-place showing of 5:04.71. SDSU also netted points in the event courtesy of Paige Mitchell (13th, 5:06.05) and Wilma Johansson (5:07.14).
The Scarlet and Black subsequently received three more point-producers in the 50 freestyle, including Smithbaker, who finished seventh with a 23.40 clocking, followed by Avery Turney (10th, 23.50) and Lyndsey Wehr (11th, 23.66).
The Aztecs capped off the early session with a third-place performance in the 200 freestyle relay by Menzmer, Turney, Smithbaker and Wehr, who clocked in at 1:33.58, while the team of Stehr, Schiller, Bergdahl and Jeannette King placed 10th with a time of 1:36.59.
Menzmer later posted a seventh-place result in the 100 butterfly at 55.84, followed by teammates Alex Roberts (10th, 56.63) and Gebhardt (11th, 56.75).
Mitchell (14th, 1:53.75) and Turney (16th, 1:53.88) were SDSU's top two swimmers in the 200 freestyle, while Williams (9th, 1:03.90) and Jessie McMurray (12th, 1:04.24) provided the Aztecs some additional points in the 100 breaststroke behind the aforementioned Murphy, Bergdahl and Smithbaker.
As the evening progressed, SDSU received a trio of top-10 finishes in the 100 backstroke, led by Alex Roberts, who placed seventh at 56.25, while McKenna (56.52) and Stehr (56.96) followed in the eighth and ninth position, respectively.
Rounding out the swimming competition on Friday was the 800 freestyle relay, where the quartet of Johansson, Turney, Murphy and Mitchell finished fifth with a time of 7:34.73, while the team of Gebhardt, Schiller, Emily Allen and Wehr placed 11th at 7:46.49.
Though not included in the published results at press time, the Aztecs boasted three top-10 placements in the 3-meter diving event, according to the Meet Mobile app. Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez finished third with a score of 262.55, while Summer Westmoreland (245.70) and Valentina Lopez Arevalo (239.65) were sixth and seventh, respectively.
San Diego State closes out action at the Chick-Fil-A Invitational on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. PT with the 400 medley relay. A total of seven swimming events along with the 1-meter diving competition will be contested to conclude the meet.
Aztecs Complete Day One at Chick-Fil-A Invite
