5 Things you may have missed in SDSU sports this summer

The Aztecs captured multiple conference titles, watched schools records be broken and had Oceanside call itself home for a new sports team

by Jacob Fogelstrom, Abigail Segoviano, Mac Pham, and Silas Bravo • August 7, 2024

Jamie Sanchez

Last season, SDSU pitcher #99 Cassidy West delivered the final blow to a dominant 6-1 win over UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 10, 2024.

1. SDSU softball adds onto previous seasons success

The San Diego State softball team concluded its remarkable season with a record of 31-20 (15-7 Mountain West) crowning them as the regular season champions of the 2024 season.

The Scarlet and Black competed in the 2024 Mountain West Softball Championship as the No. 1 seed, facing No. 5 Boise State and No. 3 the University of Nevada to advance to the Championship game. In the final, the Aztecs competed against the Broncos in which SDSU won 6-3, securing their second straight Mountain West Tournament Title.

Mac Barbara was awarded Tournament MVP after recording five hits, three home runs, six RBIs and four runs scored. Besides winning titles, Barbara was awarded the Mountain West Softball Co-Player Of The Year for the second time in three years.

Allie Light, Dee Dee Hernandez and Barbara were all named All-Mountain West First Team. Additionally, Cali Decker was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team. The Aztecs credited their success to their third-year head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz, who was awarded Mountain West Softball Coach Of The Year.

2. Aztecs set to compete in Paris Summer Olympics

Three Aztecs competed in the qualifying trials for the Paris games. Former SDSU track and field star Shanieka Ricketts will be representing Jamaica in the triple jump event.

Ricketts scored 47-7 (14.50m) at the JAAA Puma National Championship to claim her spot in Paris as well as her sixth national championship in this event. This will be Ricketts’ third appearance at the Olympics, as she previously participated in the 2016 and 2021 games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.

Junior Xiamara Young also competed in the triple jump qualifying event, placing fifth. Despite missing out on qualifying, Young recorded her personal best jump of 44-4 (13.51 meters).

Junior Meredith Smithbaker competed in the 50-meter freestyle qualifying event, placing second in her heat, and recording 43 in the preliminaries. Despite missing out on qualifying, Smithbaker recorded a personal best of 25.65 seconds, beating her previous record by .03 seconds.

Former SDSU alum Xander Schauffele was named one of the four United States players that will compete in the 72-hole stroke play at Le Golf National. Recently, Schauffele won the 2024 Open Championship and last month, Schauffele also won the PGA Championship. Schauffele will play for the United States and compete in men’s golf.

3. Swim & Dive returns to a familiar place

The San Diego State swim and dive team ended their 2024 regular season with an undefeated record of 15-0 (2-0 Mountain West), extending their regular season win streak to 65. The Aztecs went on to secure their third consecutive Mountain West title at the championship meet in Houston, the program’s eighth title since 2010-2011.

In the meet, the Scarlet and Black claimed 11 event titles, while junior Valentina Lopez Arevalo earned Mountain West Diver of the Meet honors.

Seniors Alex Roberts and Christiana Williams advanced to the NCAA Championships meet in Athens, Georgia. Ultimately, both swimmers failed to advance to Saturday’s final session, with Roberts falling short by .14 seconds.

In Georgia, Roberts set a Mountain West record in the 200 backstroke, with a time of 1:52.76. This time surpassed her previous record, set at the 2023 MW championships with a time of 1:52.89.

4. Men’s Golf captures three-peat, competes in regionals

The SDSU men’s golf team captured their third straight Mountain West championship, defeating New Mexico on the par-72. This three-peat puts the Aztecs as just the third program in MW history to win three straight golf titles.

This conference championship puts mens golf at six MW titles all time, passing UNLV for the lone spot as the second most in league history.

Junior Justin Hastings and sophomore Tyler Kowack were both named to the 2023-2024 all-Mountain West team, giving Hastings his second consecutive award and Kowack his first.

The Scarlet and Black proceeded to finish sixth out of 13 teams at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional, falling 10 shots short of advancing to the NCAA championships and ending their season.

Hastings and Kowack were selected to the PING All-West Region team, marking a second consecutive selection for Hastings and a first for Kowack yet again.

5. The Los Angeles Clippers move G-League team to Oceanside

The Los Angeles Clippers announced back in March that they will be relocating their G League team to Oceanside, Calif. Starting in the 2024-2025 season, the Ontario Clippers will now be known as the San Diego Clippers. The Clippers organization makes their return to San Diego after a 40-year period. The NBA Clippers called San Diego their home from 1978-1984 before controversially making the move to Los Angeles.

Gillian Zucker, president of business operations for the Los Angeles Clippers, spoke at the reveal earlier this year.

“We are proud to re-introduce the San Diego Clippers into this passionate sports market,” Zucker said. “Our G League team is a critical part of our business and basketball operation, and we are thrilled to be relocating.”

The G League Clippers will be playing in the brand new Frontwave Arena, located in Oceanside. The arena is still in the process of being built but has plans to be finished before the beginning of the season. The arena boasts a 7,500-capacity venue that will also host concerts, soccer games and other community events.

About the Contributors

Jacob Fogelstrom, '24-25 Sports Editor

Stemming from Brentwood, California, Jacob Fogelstrom is a fourth-year student majoring in Journalism. This is Jacob’s second year at the Daily Aztec, and first year as Sports Editor. Prior to the DA, Jacob wrote for the LPC Express news, as well as his high school newspaper. Growing up, Jacob's life revolved around sports. His father and grandfather played college football, with his grandfather being in the Fresno State hall of fame. In his free time, Jacob likes to go to the gym, play basketball, and explore his passion of photography. Jacob's goals in the Daily Aztec are to grow his writing and tell the stories of athletes on a deeper level than simply what happens during game-day.

Abigail Segoviano, '24-25 Mundo Azteca Editor

Originally from Richmond, California, Abigail Segoviano is a second-year student, majoring in Journalism with a minor in Spanish. This is Abigail’s second year at the Daily Aztec where she got the opportunity to expand her writing skills as a journalist. As a staff writer last year she had the opportunity to mainly cover the entire season of women’s volleyball and also covered a couple of games for women’s basketball. This year her main focus is to branch out and write for different sports. Additionally to get involved in other sections such as Multimedia and Mundo Azteca. Abigail is the Vice President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (SDSU Chapter). Abigail received an award from The Daily Aztec: “Consistent Contributor.” In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching sports, listening to music, and going on adventures with friends.

Mac Pham, Staff Writer

Mac Pham is a Journalism major and a senior transfer student from Palomar Community College. He joined the Daily Aztec in 2023. Writing stories, story telling, reading and talking to people is something he enjoys doing, so he figured why not talk sports with that. His favorite aspect of sports writing is being an analyst and breaking down the details of a football or a basketball game. In his spare time, Mac is an avid swimmer and likes to play basketball. He hopes to be a sports writer whose calling card is writing articles filled with sports analysis. Mac is bilingual in Vietnamese.

Silas Bravo, Staff Writer

Born and raised in La Puente, California, Silas Bravo is a fourth-year senior majoring in Journalism. This is Silas’ second year writing for the Daily Aztec. Prior to SDSU, Silas attended Cerritos College where he was a football captain and wrote for their newspaper, Talon Marks. Silas played football, baseball and basketball his whole life and wants to continue covering sports on a pro level. Silas brother played Division I football at UTEP and is currently a quarterbacks coach at Sul Ross University.

Jamie Sanchez, '24-25 Photo Editor