Derrick Tuskan, Staff PhotographerThe San Diego State swimming and diving team had an adventure this past weekend battling cancelled flights and blizzards to get to its meets.
The Aztecs were scheduled to play Northern Colorado Friday. After their flight was canceled, the team had to be shuttled to Los Angeles and flown to Denver, delaying the meet for two-and-a-half hours. Despite the unexpected obstacles in simply getting to the meet, SDSU came out focused and dominated the Bears.
The Aztecs came out hungry for a win, sweeping the first six events of the meet. Junior transfer Samantha Peters, sophomores Stella Karoly and Caitlin Friedhoff and freshman Lindsay Hnyda set the tone for the day, winning the 200-yard medley relay. Wins by sophomores Emily Parker (100-yard freestyle), Jennifer Arrow (100-yard breaststroke and Friedhoff (200-yard freestyle), freshman Katie Smith (100-yard backstroke) and junior Emily Schmied (200-yard butterfly) immediately followed.
After a brief absence from the top of the scoreboard, sophomore Sarah Davis put SDSU back on top, winning the 200-yard backstroke. Hnyda, Parker, Karoly and Schmied each won another event for the Aztecs, to put them up 172-128.
A day later, the Aztecs drove through a blizzard to get to Wyoming for their fifth conference meet. Two meets in two days in harsh weather conditions proved too strenuous for SDSU. The team didn’t look anything like it did a day earlier. The Cowgirls dominated on Saturday, taking the top spot in the first six events with a 173-119 victory.
Friedhoff finally managed to get the Aztecs a win in the 50-yard freestyle. Karoly (100-yard butterfly) and Davis (200-yard IM) earned two more wins for the Aztecs. The 400-yard freestyle relay team – Peters, Schmied, Friedhoff and freshman Tamarah Binek – pulled out the last win of the meet.
Assistant coach Greg Hutt attributed the loss to the change in altitude.
“It started snowing on Saturday morning, so we had to drive through the blizzard,” Hutt said. “There’s a higher altitude, so we didn’t win. It’s hard to adjust to altitude.”
After a day off, SDSU was back in the pool against Colorado State, this time at home. The home advantage wasn’t enough for the Aztecs. The Rams won the first six events and went on to win 184-113.
Junior Karen MacKall earned SDSU’s first win of the meet in the 50-yard freestyle. Friedhoff and Arrow came up big again for the Aztecs, finishing first in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard breaststroke, respectively. The team swept the last two events with Karoly winning the 400-yard IM, and Binek, Peters, freshman Adrienne Conte and senior Stephanie Chambers taking the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The weekend meets leave SDSU with a 3-5 overall record – 1-5 in the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs’ next game is also their last conference game of the season. They will travel to Dec. 18 Nevada to face the UNLV Rebels, who have a 3-1 conference record. The long break should give the Aztecs enough time to re-energize themselves and give the Rebels a run for their money.
