Meredith Smithbaker Season 2024-25

SUMMER 2024: Participated in the preliminaries of the 50-meter freestyle at the US Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana… Finished second in her heat and tied for 43rd overall with a personal-best time of 25.65 after entering with a No. 79 seed.

2023-24 SEASON (As a Junior): Completed another superlative campaign for the Scarlet and Black, capturing five additional gold medals at the Mountain West Championships, as the Aztecs secured their third consecutive conference title with 1487.50 points… Led the team with seven all-MW honors following the league meet… Emerged triumphant in the 50 and 100 freestyle at the conference championships, surpassing NCAA “B” standards in both events while competing on SDSU’s four victorious relay teams… Won the 100 free at the MW meet with a career-fast swim of 48.54, which ranks second in program history (2-23-24) … Also matched her collegiate best with a winning time of 22.24 in the 50 free, which is slotted third on the school’s all-time list (2-22-24)… Anchored the Aztecs’ winning relay teams in the 200 medley (1:37.94) and 400 medley (3:33.65) at the conference meet… Set a school record with her 50 freestyle split of 21.54 in that  200 medley (2-21-24)… Also led off the SDSU’s victorious 200 (1.29.80) and 400 freestyle relay squads (3:16.62)… Her 400 medley and 400 free relays posted the second-fastest times in school history, while both her 200 medley and 200 free relays clocked in with the seventh-best performances on the program’s all-time charts… Placed seventh in the finals of the 100 breast at the conference championships after setting a season best in the preliminaries with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:01.06 (2-23-24)… Helped the Aztecs capture their 65th consecutive dual-meet victory in a home clash with San Diego after swimming the breaststroke leg of the team’s winning 200 medley relay (1:41.68)… Logged a pair of individual wins in a quad meet vs. Fresno State, Alaska Fairbanks and LMU, capturing event titles in the 50 free (23.41) and 100 free (50.94)… Her 50 free time from that competition ranks 10th in Aztec Aquaplex history (1-8-24)… Emerged triumphant in the 100 breast (1:03.50) in a double dual sweep of Cal State East Bay and Concordia Irvine (1-5-24)… Was named Mountain West Swimmer of the Week after leading the Aztecs with 45 individual points at Texas A&M’s Art Adamson Invitational, where logged three top-seven placements, highlighted by a victory in the 50 free with a career-fast and NCAA “B” cut time of 22.24 (11-21-23)… Also recorded a sixth-place swim in 100 free (49.48) at the same meet and finished seventh in the 100 breast (1:01.17), surpassing another NCAA "B" cut qualifying standard. Garnered second-team Scholar-Athlete All-America accolades from the Collegiate Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) for the second straight season… Also earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators academic all-district team… Additionally received Mountain West all-academic distinction and conference scholar-athlete honors for the third consecutive year.

2022-23 SEASON (As a Sophomore): Enjoyed a banner year in her second campaign on The Mesa, winning five gold medals at the Mountain West Championships to help the Aztecs claim their second consecutive conference title with a league-record 1,638 team points… Tied for the team lead with six all-MW honors at the league meet… Won the 50 and 100 freestyle at the conference championships, eclipsing NCAA “B” cut standards in both races, while contributing to three of SDSU’s victorious relay teams (200 free, 200 medley, 400 medley)… Emerged triumphant in the 50 free at the MW meet with a career-fast sprint of 22.47, which ranks sixth in program history (2-16-23)… Also captured the event title in the 100 free with a time of 49:05 after establishing a collegiate best in the preliminaries with a swim of 48.84, which ranks third on the school’s all-time list (2-18-23)… Swam the breaststroke segment of the Aztecs’ winning 200 medley (1:36.62) and 400 medley (3:35.20) relay teams whose times rank second and fourth, respectively, in program history (2-15/16-23)… Posted SDSU’s third-fastest all-time breaststroke splits in the 200 medley (26.84) and 400 medley (1:00.26)… Was additionally the third swimmer on the Aztecs’ triumphant 200 freestyle relay team that clocked in at 1:29.19, which ranks fifth on the school’s career charts (2-17-23)… Earned a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke with season-fast 1:00.41 to eclipse an NCAA “B” cut qualifying standard (2-17-23) … Helped the Scarlet and Black secure its 50th consecutive dual-meet victory after winning the 100 breaststroke against USD with a time of 1:01.85 (1-27-23)… Also placed second in the 50 free vs. the Toreros after touching the wall at 24.16… Contributed to SDSU’s double dual sweep of Incarnate Word and Cal State East Bay with a pair of event titles in the 100 breast (1:04.15) and the 200 medley relay (1:44.09) during inclement weather (1-5-23)… Also swam the anchor leg of SDSU’s 200 free relay team that posted the fastest time in the race at 1:36.57 but was counted as an exhibition… Made a huge splash in the Aztecs’ home dual victory over San Diego just before the holiday break, winning the 100 free (50.75) and 100 breast (1:02.20) while swimming the second leg of the SDSU’s triumphant 200 medley relay that completed the event at 1:42.17 (12-19-23)… Also anchored the Aztecs’ 200 free relay that logged the fastest time in that meet vs. the Toreros with a clocking of 1:34.12 that was deemed an exhibition… Helped the Scarlet and Black capture the team title at the highly competitive SMU Invitational with a trio of top five individual placements, finishing second in the 100 free (49.10), fourth in the 50 free (22.87) and fifth in the 100 breast (1:01.66) (11-17/19-22)… Also swam the third leg of SDSU’s second-place 200 free relay team that combined for the eighth-best time in program history at 1:30.09…  Additionally anchored the Aztecs’ runner-up 400 medley relay (3:40.88) at the SMU meet… Contributed to SDSU’s home dual victory over Utah Tech after swimming the second leg of the Aztecs’ winning 200 medley relay team (3:49.75)… Also swam a career-fast 2:23.83 in the 200 breast vs. the Trailblazers (11-5-22)… Received Mountain West Swimmer of the Week recognition after leading SDSU to a dominating 6-0 record against Grand Canyon, LMU and Seattle at the GCU Quad Meet (10-25-22)… Completed the breaststroke segment in the Scarlet and Black’s victorious 200 medley relay that posted a winning time of 1:42.80 before capturing the 100 freestyle at 50.31… Also logged a third-place swim of 1:03.56 in the 100 breaststroke to wrap up the first day of competition... Returned the next day and once again handled the breaststroke leg of the Aztecs' winning 400 medley relay that set a pool record with a 3:46.88 clocking before claiming another individual crown in the 50 freestyle at 23.36… Put the finishing touches on a successful weekend at GCU by swimming the second leg of SDSU's victorious 200 freestyle relay that logged a winning time of 1:33.80, as the Scarlet and Black combined for wins in 21 of 24 events at the meet… Helped the Aztecs to a second-place standing at Fresno State’s Chick-Fil-A Invitational, highlighted by a third-place time of 50.66 in the 100 free (10-8-22)… Also completed the third leg of SDSU’s second-place 400 free relay team (3:24.67) at that meet… Finished second overall in the season-opening USD Pentathlon, featuring a pair of victories in the 50 breast (30.01) and 100 free (51.89) (9-9-23)… Also swam a career-fast 1:02.65 in the 100 backstroke at that meet to go with a season-best 58.23 in the 100 butterfly… Earned Mountain West all-academic honors and received conference scholar-athlete recognition for the second year in a row.
 
2021-22 SEASON (As a Freshman): Competed in eight meets… Collected Freshman of the Meet honors at the 2022 Mountain West Championships… Produced two B-cut times at the Mountain West Championships: in the 50 Free (22.70) and 100 Breaststroke (1:00.40)… Also recorded a collegiate best 49.92 in the 100 Free at the Mountain West Championships… Best 200 Free time (1:51.10) came in the leadoff of the 800 Free Relay at Phill Hansel Invitational… Also posted season bests in the 200 Breaststroke (2:27.94) and 200 IM (2:03.00) at the Phill Hansel Invitational… Also had top times in the 100 Fly (56.90 at the Chick-Fil-A Invitational) and 100 Back (1:03.53 at the USD Pentathlon)… Qualified for the 2022 Phillips 66 Summer Nationals where she posted a 57.56 and 1:11.16 in the 100 Free and 100 Breaststroke, respectively… Won the 200 and 800 Free Relays at the Mountain West Championships, was fourth in the 100 Free, fifth in the 100 Breaststroke, ninth in the 50 Free.

CLUB: Swam for Team Vortex in Colorado from 2014-2021, captaining the team in 2019 and 2020 ... Swam at the U.S. Open, U.S. Winter Nationals, U.S. Speedo Jr. Nationals, U.S. Toyota Spring Cup.
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Three-year letterwinner at Rocky Mountain High School … Three-time Scholastic All-American … Named NISCA All-American in 2020 (50 free, 100 free, 100 breast), 2019 (50 free) and 2018 (200 free relay) … Earned seven first-team All-Front Range League honors during her high school career … Holds the Front Range League record in the 50 free (captured in the 2019 season) … Named second-team All-Colorado in the 200 free relay in 2018 and 50 free in 2019 … Named CHSSA Academic all-state in 2019 and 2020 … Holds Rocky Mountain records in the 50 free, 100 free, 100 breast, and as a part of the Lobos’ 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relays … Competed at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials (two-time qualifier).
 
PERSONAL: Daughter of Tracey and John Smithbaker … Enjoys creating art, summiting Colorado 14ers and playing chess … Favorite athlete is Caleb Dressel … Majoring in graphic design at SDSU.