BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The San Diego State swim and dive team finds itself in fifth place among seven teams at the Art Adamson Invitational after completing the second day of competition at the Rec Center Natatorium on the campus of Texas A&M University.
Through 14 events, the Aztecs have racked up 235 points, trailing host Texas A&M (781 pts), UCLA (570 pts), LSU (475 pts) and Washington State (239 pts), while Utah (219 pts) and Houston (195 pts) round out the list of schools at the highly competitive meet.
Reigning Mountain West Swimmer of the Year Alex Roberts was SDSU's top finisher on Thursday, posting a fourth-place swim in the "A" finals of the 100 backstroke with an NCAA "B" cut time of 53.73, while teammate Riley Tapley touched the wall at 55.09 to take eighth. In addition, Trine Forss contributed to the Aztecs' point-total in the event after placing eighth in the "B" finals with a clocking of 57.06.
SDSU also fared well in the 100 breaststroke, as three swimmers surpassed NCAA "B" cut qualifying standards. Moa Bergdahl finished sixth in the "A" finals with a career-fast swim of 1:00.78, while Meredith Smithbaker followed in the seventh position at 1:01.17. Not to be outdone, Christiana Williams won the "B" final race after clocking in at 1:00.82, which marked the sixth-fastest time of the event.
Earlier, the Aztecs' top 200 medley relay team tied for seventh place with Houston, as the combo of Forss, Bergdahl, Roberts and Smithbaker completed the race at 1:41.01, while the SDSU's "B" squad consisting of Evonne Stehr, Williams, Tapley and Rachel Hubka took ninth with a time of 1:41.19.
In the 100 butterfly, Roberts placed fourth in the "C" finals with a time of 54.93, edging teammate Emily Tenczar (55.12), who finished fifth. Elsewhere, Tapley was second in the "D" finals of the event after clocking in at 55.82, while Charlotte Sevin (56.55) and Forss (56.64) grabbed the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
As the meet progressed, Reka Nyiradi tied for fourth in the "C" finals of the 200 freestyle at 1:50.59, while Avery Turney followed in the seventh position with a swim of 1:51.27. However, Wilma Johansson stole the spotlight, winning the "D" final after touching the wall at 1:48.76, which represented the fifth-fastest time of the event.
Later in the 800 freestyle relay, the Aztecs' top team of Turney, Nyiradi, Johansson and Paige Mitchell took ninth after completing the race at 7:23.46, while the foursome of Summer West, Alyssa Schiller, Emily Allen and Mai McKenna finished 15th with a time of 7:32.79.
On the 1-meter springboard, Valentina Lopez Arevalo finished ninth in the preliminaries with 261.40 points, while Summer Westmoreland (17th, 223.75 pts), Alina Skrocki (19th, 213.75 pts) and Jules Harrison (20th, 209.15) all cracked the top 20 during the round but were unable to advance as well.
The Art Adamson Invitational concludes on Friday with the 1,650 freestyle, platform diving, the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and the 400 freestyle relay.
Once again, preliminaries will be conducted in long course distances (LCM) and are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. CT/7:30 a.m. PT, while finals competition will feature short course races (SCY) and are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. PT. Additionally, platform diving will commence at noon CT/10 a.m. PT, while the 1,650 free begins at 2:30 p.m. CT/12:30 p.m. PT.
Aztecs Complete Day Two at Art Adamson Invite
