San Diego State Women Go 3-0 At GCU Quad Meet; Grand Canyon Men Top Seattle

2022 GCU Quad Meet

Final Team Scores

Men

  • GCU 136, Seattle 65

Women

  • SDSU 168, Seattle 36
  • SDSU 168, Loyola Marymount 34
  • SDSU 156, GCU 66
  • GCU 153, Seattle 51
  • GCU 162, Loyola Marymount 39
  • Seattle 142, Loyola Marymount 60

Courtesy: San Diego State Athletics

PHOENIX – The San Diego State swim and dive team wrapped competition at the GCU Quad Meet in convincing fashion on Saturday with three additional dual victories, defeating host Grand Canyon (156-66), Loyola Marymount (168-34) and Seattle U (168-36) at Fr Edward A. Reese Aquatics Center.

The Aztecs won 11 of 12 events on the day to extend their streak of dual-meet wins to 44 straight dating back to Jan. 8, 2018, including a 6-0 mark over the weekend.

Once again, SDSU set the early tone in the first race of the day, capturing three of the top four spots in the 400 medley relay, including the foursome of Evonne StehrMeredith SmithbakerMai McKenna, and Avery Turney, who emerged triumphant with a time of 3:46.88, setting a pool record in the process, while the quartet of Riley TapleyChristiana WilliamsLizzie Menzmer and Lyndsey Wehr took second with a 3:48.82 clocking.

The Aztec team of Abby StormMoa BergdahlEmily Gebhardt, and Emily Allen also contributed to the Scarlet and Black’s dominance after finishing fourth at 3:54.56.

SDSU continued its winning ways in the 1000 freestyle, as Wilma Johansson claimed the top spot with a first-place performance of 10:34.11, while Paige Mitchell touched the wall in second at 10:35.98.

After placing second in the 200 freestyle on Friday, Turney returned to claim the event title on the second day of action with a winning effort of 1:55.35, while Schiller finished fourth at 1:58.08 and Allen took sixth with a 1:59.32 clocking.

It was Smithbaker’s turn to shine in the 50 freestyle, where she topped the field with a season-best time of 23.36, while Jeannette King swam a 24.06 to place fourth, followed by Tapley, who ended up in the sixth position at 24:61.

The spotlight soon shifted to the 400 individual medley, where the Aztecs captured four of the top-five placements, including another winner by Kristina Murphy, who clocked in at 4:24.22, while McKenna finished second with a 4:30.14 clocking, followed by Bergdahl (4.37.47) and Christiana Williams (4:38.28), who took fourth and fifth, respectively, with the latter’s swim considered an exhibition.

SDSU was denied a sweep of event titles in the 100 butterfly, but three swimmers still completed the race among the top five. Menzmer turned in a second-place time of 57.49, while Emily Tenczar was fourth at 57.73, just ahead of Johansson (57.91), who took fifth.

Wehr headlined a crowded Aztec field of finishers in the 100 freestyle with a first-place clocking of 51.66, which set a season best, while Turney (52.24), Stehr (52.26), Schiller (52.32) were a close third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, with Schiller’s result deemed an exhibition.

SDSU witnessed additional success in the 200 backstroke, where McKenna emerged victorious with a time of 2:01.61, while Storm (2:03.40) and Tapley (2:03.45) finished in a dead heat for second and third, respectively.

Mitchell subsequently collected her second win of the weekend after claiming the top spot in the 500 freestyle with a swim of 5:06.61, while Allen took fourth at 5:24.29.

Shortly thereafter, the Aztecs replicated their feat in the 200 back by posting the three fastest times in the 200 breaststroke, as Murphy led the way with a winning performance of 2:16.08, followed by Williams (2:18.64) and Bergdahl (2:19.92).

Punctuating the day’s swimming events was the 200 freestyle relay, where the Scarlet and Black occupied three of top five placements by the race’s completion.

Menzmer, Smithbaker, King, and Wehr joined forces to register a winning time of 1:33.88, while the quartet of Storm, Stehr, Murphy and Schiller finished third at 1:36.54.

Meanwhile, Johansson, Jessie McMurray, Mitchell and Gebhardt combined for a fifth-place showing of 1:40.60, which was logged as an exhibition.

Not to be outdone, the Aztecs boasted four of the top five divers in the 1-meter competition, as Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez won her second event of the weekend with a score of 278.18, while Summer Westmoreland (252.83), Valentina Lopez Arevalo (248.25) and Emma Duggan (238.73) finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

San Diego State returns to the pool on Saturday, Nov. 5, when it plays host to Utah Tech in a dual meet at Aztec Aquaplex. First swim is set for 10 a.m. PT.

Courtesy: GCU Athletics

The Grand Canyon men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams continued their Friday success into Saturday to close out the first home meet of the year.

The GCU men finished Saturday with a win against Seattle U, 136-65, at Fr Edward A. Reese Aquatic Center in Phoenix. The women again beat Loyola Marymount, 162-39, and Seattle U, 153-51, while taking a loss to San Diego State, 156-66.

“It was a good meet for us,” Lopes head coach Steve Schaffer said. “A lot of improvement for both the men and the women over the last couple of weeks. Meet by meet, we are getting better with our racing skills and swimming smarter. I’m really impressed with how well our new swimmers are adapting to our program and with how many of our returners are starting off the year better than prior years.”

One of the day’s best performances came from sophomore Wyatt Dickman, who swam the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10 minutes, 1.03 seconds. The time was over eight seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. For the women’s team, freshman Paula Martinez Moreno swam a 56.26 in the 100 butterfly.

With regard to diving, Shaffer stated, “Our divers are also off to a great start with both Isaac Poole and Abigail Erickson earning NCAA Zone Championship qualifying scores.”

Poole posted a final score of 324.45, and Erickson finished with 266.78.

The Lopes are off to a promising start and wil look to continue to build on these performances when they ravel to Colorado to face Air Force on Nov. 4-5.

“We are looking forward to the Air Force meet,” Schaffer said. “It will be a good test for us as we continue preparing to peak for our midseason invitational in December.”

Day 1 recap

GCU had impressive showings from multiple swimmers Friday through the first 25 events of its home opener.

The GCU men’s team won the evening’s dual against Seattle U, 141-63, at Fr Edward A. Reese Aquatic Center. The women’s team was victorious against Loyola Marymount, 168-36, and Seattle U, 163-41, but fell to San Diego State, 147-76.

The Lopes began the night with a second-place finish in the women’s 200-yard medley relay. The team constructed of senior Briana Rittenbach, junior Raphaela Nakashima, freshman Paula Martinez Moreno and graduate Emily Muteti posted a finals time of one minute, 44.63 seconds. Individually, Aleksandra Wegrzynowska won the 200 freestyle in a close finish, clocking a time of 1:54.23. The sophomore also later came up with a second-place finish in the 200 butterfly.

On the GCU men’s side of the action, sophomore Sam Jennings won the 100 backstroke with a time of 51.50, building off last week’s time of 52.15 in Tucson. Jennings also contributed a second-place finish in the 200 individual medley. Junior teammate Harper Houk took first place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 57.23 while the next closest finisher was nearly two seconds behind at 59.21.

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