San Diego State Tops Chicago In Relay Meet, Sets Pool Record In 800 Free Relay

SAN DIEGO, California, December 20. SAN Diego State established a new pool record in the women’s 800 free relay and won 10 of 12 events in a relay meet against the University of Chicago this morning. The Aztecs also posted several other top-10 times in school history.

San Diego State Press Release

San Diego State finished first in eight of 10 swimming events and both diving competitions as it defeated Chicago, 48-40, in a relay dual meet Friday morning at the Aztec Aquaplex. Along the way SDSU set one new pool record and registered five other marks that rank among the top 10 in the history of the facility.

The pool record came in the 800 freestyle relay where the foursome of Anika Apostalon, Natilee Ruiz, Mikaela Macklin and Frida Berggren turned in a time of 7:26.95. That mark, which also ranks seventh on the SDSU all-time list, bettered the former record of 7:29.51 set by California in October 2009. In that same event the team of Dana Michaels, Whitney Weisz, Maddy Dalcamo and Caroline Mitchell had the fifth-best time in Aquaplex history at 7:51.45.

Sophomore Shannon Herman proved to be one of the Aztecs’ top swimmers on the day as she competed in five of the 10 relays and was on the winning team in four of those. She began the meet by anchoring the 300 butterfly relay and along with teammates Livvi Sefton and Loreen Whitfield won the race in 2:59.71. She then anchored the 300 backstroke relay, finishing second with fellow Aztecs Kate Santilena and Caroline Mitchell in 3:01.40.

Herman then swam in her third consecutive race as she was the middle leg in the 300 breaststroke relay as she and Emilie Pleger and Mitchell went 3:28.94 to capture first place. In the 400 medley relay, winning the team of Herman, Macklin, Sefton and Weisz finished first in 3:59.89, a mark that ranks as the third-fastest in facility history. In that same event the quartet of Ruiz, Pleger, Mitchell and Taylor Johnson went 4:04.02 to record the fourth-fastest time ever at the Aquaplex.

Herman wrapped up her day by helping SDSU to a first-place finish in the 400 individual medley relay as she teamed with Whitfield, Apostalon and Sefton to win it 4:04.83.

Apostalon, Whitfield and Sefton were all involved in three relay wins each with the first two combining with Dalcamo and Johnson to win the 200 free style relay in1:38.12, the sixth-best time ever at the Aquaplex.

In the diving, freshman Marlee Kersting captured first place on the one-meter springboard with a score of 266.03 points. That mark qualifies her for the Zone Meet in mid-March.

The three-meter competition was won by sophomore Ashely Stott with a score of 297.60, a mark that ranks as the seventh-highest point total in the event at the Aztec Aquaplex. SDSU’s Chandler Marshal finished second at 283.95. Both of those scores qualified for the Zone Meet with Stott having previously achieved a qualifying mark.

San Diego State now has a brief break for the holidays before it resumes competition with a double dual meet against Air Force and UC San Diego on Monday, Dec. 30, at 2:00 p.m. at the Aztec Aquaplex. That meet will also feature a dual meet between the men’s squads from Air Force and UC San Diego.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use