San Diego State swim and dive defeated the Toreros on Friday evening, winning 155-108 behind powerful performances in both the pool and on the boards.
Before the meet, SDSU held a ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of seniors Moa Bergdahl, Abby Storm, Emily Tenczar and Alyssa Schiller.
The Aztecs have had a remarkable season, posting an undefeated 10-0 record. Head Coach Mike Shreder has been an important piece of the Aztec program, which has been untouched for over seven years.
“The biggest key is personal excellence,” Shreder said. “We talk about the process all year and try to control it so the results come. If we can control a process, it makes us better, especially with this group of awesome young ladies; it makes it more enjoyable.”
On the deck, there were four new pool records, those being the 50 and 100 freestyle by sophomore Allie Mann, the 200 free by sophomore Kaydence Bispo and a memorable 200 medley relay by the four graduating seniors, having a time of 1:40.35.
Bispo made her mark with her record time of 1:48.32 in the 200 free, followed closely by her two teammates, freshman Sierra Tallman and junior Masen Karsten.
The Aztecs also took the top three spots in the 100 back, led by Storm with a winning time of 54.19. This would be the second place on the Aquaplex all-time list.
Continuing the strong momentum, they also had the finish in the 100 breast: Bergdahl with 1:00.18, sophomore Elisa Branca coming shortly after with 1:01.56 and freshman Roni Black with her season-best swim of 1:02.02.
Mann also added to the Aquaplex record in the 50 free with her career-best time of 22.48. She continued this by setting a standard for her 100 fly with a sprint of 52.68. The flow was not over just yet, with the Aztecs leading in the 100 free with a time of 49.95 by Bispo, 200 back led by Storm with a swim of 1:58.14 and 200 breast by Branca with a time of 2:13.31.
The final races allowed the Aztecs to take the win; the 200 IM was performed by Barnca with a time of 2:02.01, and the 400 freestyle relay had a time of 3:25.83, swam by junior Reka Nyiradi, Karsten, Schiller and Storm.
The Aztec Dive team also had a strong turnout, with junior Isabella Gomez having a season-best score of 293.35 on the one–meter springboard, which went above NCAA qualifying standards. Gomez claimed her fifth event title of the season with a tally of 326.85 points.
There was a great send-off at the Aztec Aquaplex, with all the players feeling the love and gratitude for this swim program that has changed their lives, memories and friendships, which will never be forgotten.
“With our team being on the smaller side compared to other programs, it adds to having a family bond aspect and being able to connect with each other on deeper levels other than competing,” Bragdahl said.
“My advice to the underclassman is to take it all in,” Tenczar added. “It’s so cliche, but it does go by in a blink of an eye … because it is a privilege to be here and compete at this level, and taking each day as a blessing and enjoying every single moment.”
The Aztec Divers will be heading to Grand Canyon State for the NAU Lumberjack Invitational on Jan. 29 through 31 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
While SDSU will be working towards its fifth consecutive conference title in a little over two weeks, they will travel to Houston, Texas, for the 2026 Mountain West Championships on Feb. 18 through 21.
