SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women's swimming and diving team opened the new year with a double dual meet at Aztec Aquaplex on a rainy Thursday morning and came away with matching 127-118 wins over Incarnate Word and Cal State East Bay.
With the wins, the Aztecs extend its dual meet win streak to 48 straight and are three days shy of five years since its last loss in a dual meet, a 153-147 defeat at the hands of Colorado State on January 8, 2018. In addition, SDSU runs its record in dual meet competition to 12-0 this season.
Among 14 races that were contested, San Diego State swimmers had the fastest time in 13 and were awarded wins in eight.
The 200 Medley Relay started the competition and SDSU swept the top three places, including the win by the team of Alex Roberts, Meredith Smithbaker, Lizzie Menzmer and Jeannette King who touched in a time of 1:44.09. Mai McKenna, Christiana Williams, Riley Tapley and Avery Turney were second with a 1:44.40 and the squad of Evonne Stehr, Moa Bergdahl, Wilma Johansson and Kristina Murphy finished in third in 1:46.83.
Page Mitchell (1:56.39), Emily Gebhardt (1:56.90) and Lindsey Wehr (1:57.18) finished one, two, three, respectively, in the 200 Free.
In the next race, the 100 Back, the Aztecs had the top four times. The event was won by Riley Tapley who touched the wall in 56.09. Alex Roberts came home in second with a 58:08 and Jeannette King finished in 58:27 and in third place. Abby Storm swam the fourth fastest time, 1:00.87, but her swim was recorded as an exhibition and so did not figure in the scoring.
In the 100 Breaststroke, the Aztecs again had the four fastest times led by race winner Meredith Smithbaker's 1:04.05. Smithbaker edged out teammate Moa Bergdahl who recorded a 1:04.40. Evonne Stehr was third with a time of 1:05.89. Jessie McMurray swam the fourth quickest time, a 1:07.99, and Liberty Edwards came home in 1:12.60, but both swims were exhibitions.
Wilma Johansson was the winner of the 200 Fly and did so in 2:06.30. In her first competition at the distance, Mai McKenna swam a 2:12.73 to finish in third place, and Emily Tenczar was fourth with a 2:14.43.
The 50 Free was won by Avery Turney who touched the wall in 23.92. Lizzie Menzmer was the third-place finisher in 24.72.
In the 100 Free, San Diego State student-athletes had five of the top six times, but only the top three figured into the meet scoring. Avery Turney won the race in 52.14 and was followed by Kristina Murphy who came home in 52.64. Lyndsey Wehr was the third-place finisher in a time of 53.59. Jeanette King and Alyssa Schiller had the fifth and sixth fastest times, 54.25 and 55.12, respectively, but their efforts were recorded as exhibitions.
Alex Roberts won the 200 Back with a 2:04.75. Moa Bergdahl, in her first collegiate swim at the distance, was third in 2:13.48 with Abby Storm just off Bergdahl's time, touching in 2:13.70 and in fourth place. Emily Tenczar swam the race as an exhibition and had the eighth quickest time, a 2:20.58.
In the final four races, with the meet well in hand, all the San Diego State's swimmers swam exhibitions and had at least the fastest time in each race.
In the 200 Breaststroke, Christiana Williams (2:17.30), Meredith Smithbaker (2:27.72) and Jessie McMurray (2:30.29) had the three fastest times. Liberty Edwards touched in 2:37.37 and Mai McKenna finished in 2:37.77 with the sixth and seventh quickest time in the event.
Paige Mitchell's 5:10.78 would have won the 500 Free by nearly 3.5 seconds, but her time and that of Emily Allen (5:40.37) were recorded as exhibitions.
In the 100 Fly, all seven of the Aztecs swims were done as an exhibition and were the seven fastest in the race. Lizzie Menzmer was the first to touch the wall in 56.61. She was followed by Riley Tapley (57.20), Kristina Murphy (57.47), Evonne Stehr (58.17), Emily Gebhardt (58.32), Wilma Johansson (58.80) and Alex Roberts (59.03).
Riley Tapley had the quickest time in the 200 IM with a 2:07.04, but her time along with Mai McKenna's 2:09.60 and Christiana Williams' 2:11.39 were all exhibitions.
In the final race of the day, the Aztecs A (Lizzie Menzmer, Jeannette King, Avery Turney and Meredith Smithbaker) and B (Alyssa Schiller, Evonne Stehr, Lyndsey Wehr and Emily Allen) 200 Free Relay teams recorded the top two times, a 1:36.57 and 1:38.65, while the C squad (Moa Bergdahl, Emily Gebhardt, Emily Tenczar and Wilma Johansson) had the fourth fasted time (1:41.02).
The team's next competition, on January 13, will be its Senior Meet. The Aztecs host Pepperdine with the first race set for 11 a.m. PT at Aztec Aquaplex.
Swim & Dive Opens 2023 With Double Dual Wins
