San Jose State vs. Cal State East Bay

SAN JOSE, California, January 9. SAN Jose State University won all 11 events, with sophomore Kristin Yamaguchi and freshman Julia Craddock each providing a pair of individual first-place finishes, to easily top visiting Cal State East Bay, 129-57, in women's swimming action at The Aquatics Center on Saturday, January 9.

The victory improves San Jose State's dual meet record to 6-3 on the season. The Spartans had not competed at their home venue in San Jose since back in October. Cal State East Bay, in its first year at the NCAA Division II level after a move up from Division III, drops to 1-2.

The foursome of Yamaguchi, junior tri-captain Kirsten Trammell, senior tri-captain Erin Garcia and freshman anchor Elana Faria timed 1:50.64 to take the meet-opening 200 medley relay. Juniors Meghan McCurley, Caitlin Macky, Rudie Guerrero and freshman Kiley Foster went 1:51.51 to touch second and earn maximum points for the Spartans. McCurley's 50-yard lead leg of 29.07 was her career best.

That first relay was followed by wins for Craddock (1000 free, 10:30.90), sophomore Megan Mills (200 free, 1:59.83), Foster (50 free, 24.82), Yamaguchi (200 IM, 2:13.85), Garcia (100 fly, 59.71), freshman Marisa DeWames (100 free, 53.82), Yamaguchi (100 back, 1:02.10), sophomore Heather Denman (500 free, 5:08.66) and Craddock (100 breast, 1:12.49).

The meet, which followed a standard 13-event format, but featured just 11 races because Cal State East Bay does not have a diving program, ended with Denman, Faria, Garcia and Macky turning in the fastest time in the 200 free relay, of 1:39.56.

Denman, competing in the two distance freestyle events for just the second time in her career, with the other instance coming at Cal State East Bay last January, placed second behind Craddock in an impressive 1000 free for the standout underclassmen. Craddock's collegiate 1000 debut put her in eighth all-time at San Jose State, and was the Spartans' fastest this season by almost six seconds. Denman's time of 10:32.46 slid her into the 10th spot, and was over 23 seconds faster than last year's effort (10:55.95). Her first-place mark of 5:08.66 also bettered her 2009 performance by a large margin, over 13 seconds (5:22.39).

Senior tri-captain Hannah Tringham was the runner-up behind Yamaguchi in the 200 IM, in 2:17.19. McCurley made her first collegiate 100 butterfly appearance and posted the second-fastest time, 1:00.18, behind Garcia's winner. Other season debuts included junior Julia Koch in the 50 free (26.13), Guerrero in the 100 free (56.53), and Trammell (1:05.55) and fellow junior Julie Wynn (1:07.04) in the 100 back, both with career bests. In between her two victories, with the latter also coming in her first collegiate opportunity to compete in the 100 breaststroke, Craddock sprinted 55.46 for the second-best time in the 100 free behind DeWames.

Denman's first 50-yard freestyle run of 2009-10 to open the triumphant 200 free relay lowered her collegiate best from 25.11 to 24.51, while Trammell did the same to lead off the ‘C' quartet (McCurley, Daphne Yeung, Wynn), going from a 27.10 her freshman year to a 26.51.

The 50 free event earlier saw the freshman trio of Foster (24.82), DeWames (24.97) and Faria (25.22) touch first, second and third, respectively. Faria and Garcia aided in both relay wins.

The Pioneers, with just 10 swimmers available, were no match in falling to the Spartans for a third straight time over the past three seasons. San Jose State exhibitioned and thus conceded points for all but the winning competitors in each of the last six events. The Spartans swept the top three spots in all five individual events in which they entered at least three swimmers.

The Spartans conclude the home portion of their 2009-10 schedule next Sunday afternoon, January 17, when they will play host to area rivals UC Davis and the University of the Pacific in a double-dual meet on Senior Day. The first of 16 events is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start, following a special ceremony recognizing the career contributions of Garcia and Tringham.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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