SAN DIEGO- The San Diego State Swimming and Diving Team earned its 50th straight doubles victory on Friday after beating the University of San Diego at the USD Sports Center Pool.
The Aztecs posted the fastest time in 12 of 13 swim races, winning eight, while four others were counted as exhibitions. SDSU also won event titles in two diving competitions, taking its record to 14-0 on the season and has not lost a double meet since Jan. 8, 2018, a span of more than five years.
Moreover, the Aztecs beat the Toreros for the third time this year and emerged triumphant over their opponent in Crosstown for the 30th consecutive time since 2001.
Final team scores from SDSU’s clash with USD were not available at press time and will be compiled to include two diving events held concurrently during the afternoon at the Aztec Aquaplex.
San Diego State’s depth was in the spotlight on Friday, as the event’s first eight titles each went to a different Aztec swimmer.
Alex Robert shook things up for the visitors with a victory in the 100m backstroke after finishing the race in 54.94, while jeannette king took fourth place at 59.89.
Moments later, the Aztecs took care of business by taking the top three spots in the 100m breaststroke, highlighted by At Meredith Smithbaker’s winning effort of 1:01.85, while Moa Bergdahl placed second at 1:03.65, followed by Christiana Williams (1:04.88).
Likewise, SDSU boasted the top three in the 100 butterfly, as Lizzie Menzmer emerged triumphant with a run of 54.90, while Emilie Gebhardt (56.34) and Wilma Johansson (58.23) placed second and third respectively.
Next, Paige Mitchell was the Aztecs’ only competitor in the 1,000 freestyle, and the senior SDSU tallied it with a winning time of 10:26.85, beating the second-placed American swimmer by more than 12 seconds.
In the fifth event of the day, the 200m freestyle saw a dominating effort from the Aztecs, who posted the fastest four times, as Emily Allen hit the wall at 1:53.27, while Avery Turny finished second at 1:54.97, ahead May McKenna (1:56.35) and Alyssa Schiller (1:58.43), the latter time being marked as an exhibition.
King came back to claim the event title in the 50 freestyle with a winning time of 23.85, edging out Smithbaker, who finished the race in 24.16, while Menzmer was fourth (24.67).
Kristina Murphy won first prize in the 200 IM shortly after with a first-place effort of 2:00.84, passing his teammate Evonne Stehrwho took second place in 2:05.53.
SDSU showed no signs of letting up in the 200m butterfly where the Scarlet and Black once again boasted the top three placers in the event. Johansson finished the race in 2:00.23, while McKenna (2:07.32) and Emilie Tenczar (2:09.52) finished second and third respectively.
Turney clocked the third-fastest time in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.85, followed closely by Smithbaker (54.89) and King (55.01).
Although the Aztecs had the best time in the last four events, these results were marked as exhibitions.
In the 200m backstroke, Riley Tapley clocked 1:59.23, while Mitchell finished the 500 freestyle with a swim of 5:05.84.
Not to be outdone, Williams recorded an NCAA “B” cut time of 2:13.25 in the 200 breaststroke, finishing ahead of Murphy, who hit the wall at 2:17.75.
The Aztecs finished the swimming portion of the competition in the 400m freestyle relay, as the team of Menzmer, Murphy, King and Turney combined for a time of 3:33.55, edging out the quartet of Stehr, Schiller, Tapley and McKenna, who finished at 3:34.86.
Meanwhile, back on The Mesa, SDSU flexed its proverbial muscle in two diving events held at the Aztec Aquaplex, including the 1-meter competition, where the Aztecs clinched the top three spots with scores of NCAA area qualification.
Valentina Lopez Arevalo ended up atop the standings with a season-best total of 298.35 points, while Ximena Lechuga González second (278.25 pts), followed by Westmoreland Summer (271.35 points). Westmoreland also set a season high, along with teammate Emma Dugan (256.35 pts), who took fourth place.
In the 3-meter event, the Scarlet and Black sported the top five, led by Lechuga Gonzalez, who broke the NCAA Zone qualifying plateau with 320.78 points, surpassing his season high by more than 20 points. , while Duggan (274.35 pts) landed in the runner-up spot, followed successively by Lopez Arevalo (261.38 pts), Olivia Zamudio (255.00 points) and Westmoreland (252.23 points). Moreover, Zamudio’s total marked his career best.
The Aztec Divers will be back in action next weekend when they hit the road for the NAU Lumberjack Invitational, Feb. 3-5, in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The entire San Diego State team will reunite again two weeks later when they travel to Lone State for the Mountain West Championship, February 15-18, in Houston, Texas.
