Football season may be the main focus of sports on campus, but the San Diego State swimming and diving team is attempting to make some noise as well.

The season is just around the corner, and SDSU is chomping at the bit to get started. The Aztecs face off against Utah at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Aztec Aquaplex.

Not only is it SDSU’s first conference meet of the season, but their first meet period, apart from a pair of red and black scrimmages.

“Our main goal is to get better than the red and black meets,” head coach Mike Shrader said. “We want to be faster and have overall better dives.”

The first meet of the year will be the first time the Aztecs are given official times and scores that they can build upon throughout the season.

“I’m really excited for our seniors to see how they start off their senior campaign,” Shrader said. “I’m just really excited just to watch.”

The team will enter the meet with 13 out of 23 newcomers to the squad. Even though this is a relatively new team, these women are no strangers to the water. Alex Barstad, a junior transfer from Minnesota, is an exceptional diver who scored in all three diving events at the Big Ten Championships last year. Other newcomers to watch include sophomore Dominique Campora, who was named co-state diver of the year last year, and sophomore Melissa Church, who was a finalist in the 50 and 100 fly last year at the California Community College State Championships.

Not only has SDSU upgraded its dive team, but its swim team as well. Incoming freshmen like Kelsy Diener, a two-time Arizona 5A Division I state champion, and German native Elisabeth Krueger, who is a butterfly, freestyle and individual medley swimmer, are just a part of the much anticipated incoming class.

“They are definitely looking forward to the challenge,” Shrader said of his young athletes.

With such an overwhelmingly new squad, the Aztecs will look to their captains Jessica Morrill, Noelle Holland and Kyla Power for leadership. All three captains seem excited for the opportunity.

“We’re definitely going to be cheering everyone on,” Holland said. “We’re all going to put in our contributions.”

Conference rival Utah, which is coming off of back-to-back victories against No. 24 Washington, seems to be a great launching point to start the season for SDSU.

“You can’t control your opponents, so you just have to worry about yourself,” Shrader said. “We’re just trying to get better each day.”

At A Glance:
When: 3 p.m., Saturday
Where: The Aztec Aquaplex