Wyoming Cruises by San Diego State

SAN DIEGO, California, November 21. THE Cowgirl swimming and diving team closed out the first half of their dual season with a perfect 4-0 record after defeating San Diego State 133.5-73.5, Tuesday afternoon in San Diego, Calif. With the win the Cowgirls also improve to 3-0 in Mountain West Conference duals. San Diego State falls to 5-7 overall and 1-5 in the MWC.

"We had a nice dual meet. We led from the get go and finished strong. I am very pleased with our effort and that we improved to 4-0 on the season," said veteran UW swimming and diving coach Tom Johnson. "I am very happy with where we are right now. It nice to be undefeated and to have gotten off to such a good start like we have, but the toughest part of the season lies ahead of us. I hope that we can take the momentum we have built into the rest of the season."

The Cowgirls won 11 of 13 events and both relays to beat the Aztecs in dual action for the third consecutive season. Freshman Olena Moher and seniors Erin Spadinger, Heidi Thorson and Tamara Lehnertz opened the dual with a bang for the Cowgirls, swimming to a first place time of 3:59.14 in the 400 medley relay. The UW relays also closed out the meet in style by swimming the top time of 3:38.37 in the 400 freestyle relay. Seniors Heidi Thorson and Katie Bigger combined with sophomore Aimee Stinson and freshman Kari Budd to win that race.

Individually, Lehnertz, Stinson and junior Brittany Wainwright paced the Cowgirls by winning two events each. Lehnertz opened the dual with a first place time of 1:54.46 in the 200 freestyle. In a rare occurrence, she also tied for first place in the 100 freestyle with SDSU's Kimberlee Frith in a time of 53.75. Stinson won both distance freestyle events, turning in a time of 10:30.26 in the 1000 and a 5:05.76 in the 500. Wainwright had an exceptional day, winning both diving events and setting a new Wyoming record in the 1-meter event. She set the record with a score of 299.55, eclipsing a 17 year old record of 279.60 set by Carlyn Heimerdinger. Wainwright also won the 3-meter event with a score of 297.00.

Other first place finishes came from freshmen Kari Budd, Cassie Stelow and Jessica Fruhwirth, all of which marked their first college dual wins. Budd won the 200 butterfly in a time of 2:10.51, Stelow won the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.06 and Fruhwirth won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:23.69.

Another solid performance came from sophomore Krista Jones in the 1000 freestyle. She shaved 26 seconds of her previous best time in the event, turning in a 10:34.57 and placing second. Senior Saara Haapanen also moved into the top-five all-time in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 277.56.

"As a team we had the best 1000 freestyle I have ever been a part of. Aimee had a great swim as usual and what Krista did was simply amazing," added Johnson. "Our divers had a great day, especially with Brittany breaking such an old record. It was also fun to see three freshman win their first dual events in Kari, Jessica and Cassie."

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