San Diego State vs Cal State East Bay vs Concordia U Irvine
- January 5, 2024
- San Diego, Calif.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: SDSU Athletics
SAN DIEGO – The calendar may have flipped pages, but for the San Diego State swim and dive program, the results remain constant after the Aztecs posted a pair of victories over Cal State East Bay (132-118) and Concordia University Irvine (136.50-113.50) in a double dual meet Friday at Aztec Aquaplex.
With the decisions, SDSU extends its winning streak to 58 consecutive dual meets and is three days shy of six years since its last defeat, a 153-147 setback at the hands of Colorado State on Jan. 8, 2018.
The Scarlet and Black posted the fastest times in all 14 races and were awarded victories in nine to raise its record to 8-0 in dual-meet competition this season.
Individually, the Aztecs were led by Avery Turney and Reka Nyiradi, who captured two event titles that counted towards the host school’s team score, while Raya Embury-Brown, Meredith Smithbaker, Rachel Hubka, Christiana Williams, Riley Tapley, Paige Mitchell and Mai McKenna also emerged triumphant to highlight the SDSU’s tremendous depth.
The Aztecs’ balance was on full display in the first race of the day, posting the top three time in the 200 medley relay, including the combo of Evonne Stehr, Moa Bergdahl, Tapley and Smithbaker, who joined forces for a winning effort of 1:43.68, while the team of Alex Roberts, Williams, McKenna and Turney finished second at 1:44.66.
In addition, the foursome of Abby Storm, Liberty Edwards, Wilma Johansson and Hubka combined for a third-place clocking of 1:49.29, which was scored as an exhibition.
SDSU logged a 1-2 finish in the 1,000 freestyle, as Raya Embury-Brown touched the wall with a season-fast 10:53.75, edging teammate Emily Allen, whose time of 10:53.97 marked a collegiate best.
The Aztecs kept the momentum in the 200 freestyle, where Turney completed the race with a winning performance of 1:55.00, while Mitchell (1:57.29) tied for third, followed by Alyssa Schiller (1:58.13), who took fifth.
Moments later, Tapley was triumphant in the 100 backstroke at 57.00, while Williams was fifth with a season-fast 1:00.47.
As the meet progressed, the Scarlet and Black kept the momentum rolling with a strong showing in the 100 breaststroke. Smithbaker led the pack with a winning time of 1:03.50, while McKenna placed second with a collegiate-fast 1:07.53, followed by Roberts (1:09.46) and Edwards (1:09.46), who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with the latter’s result scored as an exhibition.
Shortly thereafter, SDSU grabbed the top three spots in the 100 butterfly, where Nyiradi completed a victorious swim of 2:01.69, while Charlotte Sevin (2:07.43) edged Emily Tenczar (2:07.84) for second place.
Heading into the meet’s intermission, Hubka claimed the top prize in the 50 freestyle after touching the wall at 23.46, while Stehr logged a second-place effort of 24.22.
Following the break, the Aztecs’ dominance continued in 100 freestyle, as the Scarlet Black recorded four of the top-five results, including Turney, who logged her second win of the day at 52.50, while Schiller (53.31), Johansson (53.68) and Hubka (54.00) were slotted third, fourth and fifth, respectively, with the latter’s time deemed an exhibition.
Likewise, Nyiradi claimed her second event crown in the 200 backstroke with a clocking of 2:01.44, while Tapley touched the wall at 2:05.53 to finish second.
With another pair of sizable leads on the team scoreboard, the Aztecs’ results in the final five events of the meet were scored as exhibitions.
That didn’t prevent the Scarlet and Black from boasting the top three times in the 200 breaststroke, where Williams bested the field with a time of 2:15.94, followed by Bergdahl (2:20.10) and Smithbaker (2:23.38).
SDSU maintained a familiar trend in the 500 freestyle, where Mitchell registered the fastest time in the event with a clocking of 5:13.69, followed by Allen’s second-place swim of 5:19.47.
The Aztecs duplicated the 1-2 finish in the final two individual races of the day, including the 100 butterfly, where McKenna (56.25) and Johansson (57.46) set season bests.
Later in the 200 individual medley, Nyiradi collected her third victory of the meet, although her time of 2:06.34 was considered an exhibition, as was Stehr’s second-place performance of 2:08.69.
Fittingly, SDSU ended Friday’s docket by recording the three fastest swims in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Smithbaker, McKenna, Bergdahl and Storm combined for a winning time of 3:31.32, while the foursome of Turney, Allen, Tenczar and Johansson was second at 3:35.18, followed by the third-place grouping of Schiller, Mitchell, Williams and Nyiradi (3:36.78).
San Diego State continues its busy stretch on Monday, Jan. 8, when it plays host to Alaska Fairbanks, Loyola Marymount and Fresno State in a quad meet at Aztec Aquaplex. UAF will remain in “America’s Finest City” to face the Aztecs in a dual meet the following day, Jan. 9. Both competitions are slated for a 10 a.m. start.
Courtesy: East Bay Athletics
SAN DIEGO – At Aztec Aquaplex on Friday, No. 18 Cal State East Bay women’s swimming competed in a double dual meet against San Diego State and Concordia University Irvine. In their first meet in 2024,the Pioneers lost to SDSU, 132-118 in team scoring, but defeated the Golden Eagles, 157-105.
There was one first place finish individually and the meet was capped off with a relay win.
- Tehani Kong won the 100 yard butterfly in 58.19 seconds.
- The final event of the day was the 400 yard freestyle relay, which the team of Delaney Carlson, Olivia Parham, Emilie Giannini and Kong won in 3:38.88.
Additional highlights in the pool on Friday for the Pioneers included:
- A pair second place finishes by Brooklyn Dressel, including the 200 yard freestyle (1:57.13) and the 100 yard freestyle (52.97).
- A second place finish in the 100 yard backstroke by Hannah Sharp in 59.35 seconds.
- A finish of 5:21.41 by Giannini in the 500 yard freestyle.
- Emma Wettlaufer placing second in the 200 yard individual medley in 2:17.16.
The Pioneers have a pair of home meets next week at Pioneer Pool. On Friday, January 12, Cal State East Bay hosts a double dual meet with San Jose State and Simon Fraser set for 1 p.m. The next day, Saturday January 13, the final home meet of the season is set to start at 10 a.m. when the Pioneers host UC Santa Cruz, Simon Fraser and Southwestern Oregon Community College. Prior to Saturday’s meet, Cal State East Bay will have a Senior Day Ceremony.
Courtesy: CUI Athletics
On Friday, January 5th the CUI women got their first meet of 2024 out of the way with a tough match up with defending MWC champs, the D1 SDSU Aztecs and the NCAA DII top-20 ranked Pioneers from our own PCSC Conference. Swimming for the first time at the SDSU pool, the CUI women performed extremely well while in the midst of winter training.
The Golden Eagles dropped the contests to SDSU (114.5-135) and CSEB (158-104), but won seven of 16 events against CSEB.
Alex Leland won the 100-200 breaststrokes as well as the breaststroke leg on the victorious 200 medley relay (with Aubrie Carver, Georgia Caraway and Hailey Garcia). Her 2:29.44 is her season best and moves her up into the top-15 in the conference. The relay time of 1:49.44 is a solid in-season swim.
Also snagging a pair of wins were freshmen Rachel Maki (500-1000 free) and Carissa Ward (200 back, 200 IM).
Alice Stainer was touched out for a gold in the 200 free by 1/10th of a second with a really good effort at 1:57.29 and Caraway was 2nd in the 100 butterfly (59.60) and 3rd in the 100 back (1:00.41).
“The women went into this day with some apprehension,” said head coach, Bert Bergen. “I think they learned a lot about themselves today. These are excellent teams and ones we don’t normally see. We raced well, had tremendous enthusiasm and battled through a lot of fatigue. It was a really good experience and they should feel good about what we experienced. We have work ahead of us but we can swim in the big leagues and today showed it.
Both teams train for another day in San Diego before heading home to start the second semester and get ready to host the OC Invitational on January 13 at the Woollett Aquatic Center.
For the Spring 2024 Swim and Dive Schedule CLICK HERE
