Valentina Lopez Arevalo Wins 3-Meter Diving at MW Championships
San Diego State diver Valentina Lopez Arevalo captured the gold medal in 3-meter springboard competition Thursday to lead the Aztecs during the second wave of action at the Mountain West Championships in Houston, Texas.
HOUSTON – San Diego State diver Valentina Lopez Arevalo captured the gold medal in 3-meter springboard competition Thursday to lead the Aztec swim and dive team during the second wave of action at the Mountain West Championships inside CRWC Natatorium on the University of Houston campus.
With her victory, Lopez Arevalo successfully defended her event title from a year ago after totaling a season-high 367.45 points, easily outdistancing second-place finisher Bailey Heydra of Nevada (334.90).
SDSU also collected a silver medal in the 400 medley relay as the foursome of Abby Storm, Moa Bergdahl, Alex Roberts and Meredith Smithbaker completed the race with a time of 3:34.59, which ranks third in program history.
In addition, Bergdahl and Smithbaker collected a pair of bronze medals in the finals of the 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle, respectively.
Bergdahl recorded a career-fast swim of 1:59.40, climbing into fifth place on the program’s all-time charts with her performance, while Smithbaker logged a sprint of 22.34 in her event to surpass an NCAA “B” cut standard.
After recording a season-best 22.73 in the preliminaries, Alli Mann placed eighth in the finals of the 50 free after clocking in at 22.80.
In consolation action, Grace Mering contributed to the Aztecs’ point-total with a victory in the “B” finals of the 200 IM, completing a collegiate-fast swim of 2:00.83 to finish ninth in the field, while Mai McKenna (2:02.54) was slotted eighth in the round and 16th overall.
Elsewhere, Wilma Johansson captured the “B” finals of the 500 freestyle with a season-best time of 4:48.33, while Summer Westmoreland (272.60) took fifth in the consolation 3-meter diving finals, followed by Jessica Schroeder (259.35), who slotted seventh in the round.
As a team, the Aztecs maintained their hold on first place Thursday with 456 points, topping UNLV (442 pts) by 14 points, while Nevada (403 pts) sits in third, followed by Wyoming (386 pts) and Fresno State (364 pts).
The Mountain West Championships continue on Friday with the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and 200 freestyle, along with the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle relay. 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.
2025 Mountain West Championships
Houston, Texas
Team standings after eight events (Day two)
- San Diego State (456 pts)
- UNLV (442 pts)
- Nevada (403 pts)
- Wyoming (386 pts)
- Fresno State (333 pts)
- Washington State (347 pts)
- Colorado State (267 pts)
- New Mexico (245 pts)
- Air Force (230 pts)
- San José State (134 pts)