SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State swim and dive team enjoyed another series of successful performances on Tuesday after defeating Alaska Fairbanks by a 33-24 count in a pentathlon meet between the two schools at Aztec Aquaplex.
With the victory, SDSU raised its record to 12-0 in dual-meet competition this season and has captured all four meetings against the Nanooks in program history.
SDSU boasted the top seven pentathlon finishers, led by junior Mai McKenna, who took home the individual title after posting a combined time of 4:58.23, edging freshman Reka Nyiradi (4:59.99) by less than two seconds.
Graduate student Evonne Stehr was a close third in the final standings with a clocking of 5:00.34, followed by senior Christiana Williams (5:02.98), sophomore Moa Bergdahl (5:07.25), junior Avery Turney (5:09.78) and graduate student Riley Tapley (5:13.60).
McKenna logged top-five individual placements in the five pentathlon events, winning the 100 backstroke with a season-fast time of 58.68, while finishing second in the 100 butterfly (58.42), fourth in the both the 100 breaststroke (1:07.86) and 100 individual medley (1:00.38), and fifth in the 100 freestyle (52.71), the latter of which marked a career best.
Additionally, Nyiradi was emerged victorious in a pair of pentathlon races, claiming titles in the 100 freestyle (51.51) and 100 butterfly (56.67) to go with a second-place effort in the 100 IM (1:00.38) and a third-place performance in the 100 backstroke (59.87).
Not to be outdone, Stehr was triumphant in the 100 IM (59.76) after placing second in the 100 freestyle (52.34), while Williams took home the crown in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.80), finishing ahead of Moa Bergdahl (1:03.73).
In head-to-head scoring, points were awarded to only to the top three finishers from each squad on a 12-11-10-9-8-7 basis.
The two teams swam additional races on Tuesday. These events were not scored in the results but gave both the Aztecs and Nanooks benchmarks to continue their mid-season training with.
SDSU seized the top five spots in the 500 freestyle, featuring season-fast times by Wilma Johansson (4:54.77) and Emily Allen (5:05.23), while Paige Mitchell (5:06.48) took third, followed in succession by Raya Embury-Brown (5:11.25), who logged a season-best time of her own, and Summer West (5:12.09).
The Aztecs also dominated four sprinting events, claiming the top nine places in the 50 freestyle and 50 backstroke along with the top seven slots in the 50 butterfly and 50 breaststroke.
Williams captured the gold in the 50 breaststroke with a clocking of 28.68, while Stehr took home top honors in the 50 back with a time of 27.46.
In addition, Rachel Hubka was triumphant in the 50 butterfly with a swim of 26.32, edging Stehr, who placed second in the event at 26.43, while Turney (23.92) was a narrow winner over Meredith Smithbaker (24.06) in the 50 freestyle.
San Diego State returns to action this weekend when select competitors travel up the freeway for the UCLA Bruin Diving Invitational, Jan. 12-14, in Los Angeles, California.
Aztecs Defeat Alaska Fairbanks in Pentathlon Meet
