San Diego State, TCU, Air Force

SAN DIEGO, California, January 4. THE San Diego State swimming and diving team opened the year in impressive fashion as it swept its double dual meet against TCU (169-129) and Air Force (167-63) on Friday afternoon.

The Aztecs, who fell to TCU by a score of 71-40 last year, picked up its first victory over the Horned Frogs in program history.

“It is really nice to get our first win over TCU,” said head coach Mike Shrader. “Both TCU and Air Force are great teams and it will be another tough battle at conference.”

The divers proved to be a key component for the Aztecs as they secured the top three spots in both events. Caitlin Atkinson captured the one-meter board with her NCAA Zone E Diving Regional qualifying score of 269.10, and also finished second in the three-meter (261.60). Keely Brooks racked up a score of 265.27 on the three-meter board to win her first collegiate event and placed second in the one-meter (255.00), while Megan Flanagan finished third in both events.

“It was a phenomenal day for the Aztec divers,” said Shrader. “They dominated both boards and Caitlin Atkinson led the way with her NCAA regional qualifying score in the one-meter event.” SDSU got off the blocks quickly as Katie Smith (1:00.52), Brooke Vessey (1:01.35) and Alexandra Rogers (1:01.45) gave the Aztecs a sweep in the 100 backstroke. Rogers and Smith also finished second and third in the 200 back with times of 2:09.28 and 2:11.84, respectively.

Jessica Morrill had a strong day as she was the Aztecs’ only double winner, claiming the 100 breaststroke (1:07.43) and the 200 breaststroke (2:22.97)

Elsewhere, SDSU got first-place finishes from Rosalie Raymond (1000 free, 10:37.49) and Ana Dowell (100 free, 54.50). Both Raymond and Dowell added second-place finishes in the 500 and 50 free, respectively.

Smith, Morrill, Nino Metsar and Katie Leahy also combined to capture the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:51.72.

“I am so proud of how the girls fought all the way through the meet,” said Shrader. “There was a point where we lost a couple races in a row, but they rebounded to pick up two great team victories.”

Special thanks to San Diego State for contributing this report.

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