HOUSTON – Buoyed by three event titles on Thursday, the San Diego State swim and dive program extended its lead in the team standings at the Mountain West Championships held inside CRWC Natatorium on the University of Houston campus.
After the second day of competition, the Aztecs have compiled 568 points, separating themselves from the rest of the pack, as UNLV (484.50 pts), took over second place ahead of Nevada (356 pts), while Colorado State (336 pts) climbed into fourth, followed Fresno State (313.50 pts) and San José State. With two days remaining, SDSU is seeking its third straight conference championship and fifth in the last five years.
Meredith Smithbaker successfully defended her individual crown in the 50 freestyle after emerging triumphant in the finals with a time of 22.24, which tied her career best and surpassed an NCAA "B" Cut standard. With her effort, the Aztec junior maintained her third-place ranking on the school's all-time charts in the event.
SDSU also received a pair of career-fast swims from Rachel Hubka (22.74) and Alyssa Schiller (22.79), who finished fourth and sixth in the 50 free finals, respectively.
Elsewhere, Avery Turney provided the Aztecs with additional points with a second-place finish in the consolation finals after touching the wall with a season-best 23.09 clocking.
San Diego State later captured the gold in the 400 medley relay where the foursome of Abby Storm, Moa Bergdahl, Alex Roberts and Smithbaker joined forces for a winning time of 3:33.65, which ranks second in program history. The Aztec quartet shattered their seed time of 3:39.26 entering the meet.
The Aztecs added to their victory total in 3-meter diving competition where Valentina Lopez Arevalo fashioned another superlative performance en route to the event title. After posting a career-high score of 361.25 in the preliminaries, the SDSU junior was even better in the finals, compiling 374.20 points, which ranks second in school history.
Summer Westmoreland also advanced to finals after setting a collegiate-best total of her own with 296.25 points in the preliminaries, which surpassed an NCAA Zone qualifying mark. The Aztec senior ultimately finished the day in eighth place with a final-round score of 269.25.
Likewise, Jessica Schroeder reached an NCAA Zone qualifying standard of own after logging a season-high total of 288.40 points to claim the top spot in the consolation finals and place ninth overall.
The Aztecs also piled up the points in the finals of the 200 individual medley, where Mai McKenna (1:59.97) and Bergdahl (2:00.17) recorded career-fast swims to finish second and third, respectively, while Christiana Williams placed seventh at 2:02.25. Earlier, Williams set a collegiate-best of her own with a clocking of 2:01.89 in the preliminaries.
The Aztecs advanced only one swimmer to the 500 freestyle finals where Wilma Johansson finished seventh with a time of 4:52.67 after posting a season-fast 4:52.00 in the preliminaries.
However, the Scarlet and Black added to their point total in the event, as Summer West placed eighth in the consolation finals with a 4:57.43 after logging a season-best 4:55.98 in the prelims.
In addition, Paige Mitchell duplicated the feat with a season-fast swim of 4:56.79 in the preliminaries before taking third in the bonus finals at 4:57.49.
The Mountain West Championships continue on Friday with the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and 200 freestyle, along with the 100 backstroke. Preliminaries are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. CT/8:30 a.m. PT, with finals expected to start at 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. PT. Links to streaming video and live results can be found on GoAztecs.com.
2024 Mountain West Championships
Houston, Texas
Team standings after day two (eight events)
1. San Diego State (568 pts)
2. UNLV (484.50 pts)
3. Nevada (356 pts)
4. Colorado State (336 pts)
5. Fresno State (313.50 pts)
6. San José State (289 pts)
7. Wyoming (266 pts)
8. Air Force (260 pts)
9. New Mexico (214 pts)
Aztecs Increase Lead at MW Championships
