Aztecs In Second Place After Day One at Fresno State Invite
The San Diego State swim and dive team sits in second place among six schools participating at the Fresno State Invitational, finishing the first two sessions of the meet on Friday with 522 points at Fresno State Aquatics Center.
FRESNO, Calif. – The San Diego State swim and dive program sits in second place among six schools participating at the Fresno State Invitational, finishing the first two sessions of the meet on Friday with 522 points at Fresno State Aquatics Center.
Through 12 events, the Aztecs trail first-place UCLA (661.5 pts), while the host Bulldogs (395.5 pts) occupy the third position, followed by Washington State (389 pts), San José State (178 pts) and Hawai’i (53 pts).
Reka Nyiradi highlighted the first day of action for the Scarlet and Black after capturing event titles in the 500 freestyle and 400 individual medley. In addition, Moa Bergdahl emerged victorious in the 100 breaststroke, while Valentina Lopez Arevalo took home an individual diving crown on the 3-meter springboard.
Swimming for the first time as a collegian in the 500 free, Nyiradi touched the wall with a winning time of 4:56.66, while Summer West (9th, 5:08.67) and Eva Allan (10th, 5:11.42) contributed to SDSU’s point total with top 10 placements.
Later in the evening session, Nyiradi established a personal best in the 400 IM after clocking in at 4:20.04, while Mai McKenna took third in the race with a time of 4:22.70.
Additionally, Nyiradi anchored the Aztecs’ top 800 freestyle relay, joining forces with Alli Mann, Kaydence Bispo and Eva Allan for second-place performance of 7:27.37. The SDSU sophomore also swam the third leg of the squad’s “A” team in the 200 freestyle relay, combining with Meredith Smithbaker, Mann and Bispo for a third-place effort of 1:34.38.
Elsewhere, Bergdahl successfully defended her event title from last year’s Fresno State Invite after completing the 100 breast at 1:01.67, just missing an NCAA “B” cut time by 0.45 seconds, while Christiana Williams finished fourth at 1:02.09.
Earlier in the 200 individual medley, Bergdahl logged a second-place swim of 2:04.36, while McKenna (2:04.63) placed sixth, followed by Liv Peebles (2:06.31), who took ninth.
Not to be outdone, Lopez Arevalo eclipsed an NCAA zone qualifying score in 3-meter diving competition with a triumphant total of 306.65 points, while Jessica Schroeder (7th, 238.50 pts) and Olivia Zamudio (10th, 214.05 pts) landed in the top 10.
SDSU started the morning session with a pair of top-five placements in the 200 medley relay, including the team of Abby Storm, Williams, McKenna and Smithbaker, who took fourth with a time of 1:43.16, edging the quartet of Peebles, Bergdahl, Mann, and Bispo, who clocked in at 1:43.82 to finish fifth.
The Scarlet and Black subsequently received a trio of point-producers in the 50 freestyle, including Mann, who placed third with a swim of 23.35, followed by Bispo (5th, 23.59) and Smithbaker (11th, 23.89).
Four Aztecs produced top 10 finishes in the 100 butterfly to open the evening session, featuring Mann, who touched the wall in fifth at 55.68, edging teammate Charlotte Sevin (56.08), who took sixth, followed by Emily Tenczar (9th, 56.69) and Peebles (10th, 56.83).
Bispo was SDSU’s top competitor in the 200 free, posting a sixth-place swim of 1:53.02, while Allan was slotted eighth at 1:53.42.
With the evening session drawing to a close, the Aztecs received a second-place finish from Peebles in the 100 backstroke, where she completed the race at 55.69, while Storm logged a fifth-place time of 56.20.
San Diego State concludes its visit to the Central Valley on Saturday with the final session of the Fresno State Invitational, which gets underway at 10 a.m. PT with the 400 medley relay. A total of eight swimming events along with the 1-meter diving competition will be contested to wrap up the meet.