The San Diego State swim team traveled to Los Angeles to compete in the 2013 Arena Invitational this past weekend. Competing against 10 other universities, including the University of San Diego and the University of California, San Diego, the Aztecs finished the three-day event in first place with a score of 1,196.5.
[quote]“This was such an exciting win for us,” senior swimmer Livvi Sefton said. “We are such a small team compared to the others so we needed every one of the girls come back at night and score points.”[/quote]
The first-place finish at the invitational, which lasted from Thursday to Saturday, continued the Aztecs’ undefeated 2013 campaign. After the first day of this weekend’s event concluded, the Aztecs were in second place, just 18 points behind San Jose State University.
[quote]“We were in second place after the first day but we knew we had our best days to come,” Sefton said. “We just had to keep our focus over the three days and take it one race at a time.”[/quote]
After two days of swimming at the invitational, the Aztecs took first place. They would not look back.
Going into Saturday with the lead, SDSU created a larger gap with sophomore swimmer Natilee Ruiz’s first place finish in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:58.45. Senior swimmer Mikaela Macklin and freshman swimmer Kate Santilena also scored points, placing second and eighth respectively. Though pleased with her own performance, Santilena said she could do better.
[quote]“There are always kinks to work on in swimming, whether it’s correcting your stroke or fixing some aspect of your racing strategy,” Santilena said. “However, going into this meet I felt like my training got me through a great meet. It has definitely helped me and there is more to come for the rest of the season.”[/quote]
The Aztec divers also found themselves competing this past weekend, partaking in the 2013 Arizona Diving Invitational in Tucson. Sophomore diver Kelsey Bean was the Aztecs’ top finisher on Saturday and Sunday, placing 22nd and 28th respectively.
Both the swimmers and divers will compete again when they host the University of Chicago on Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. at the Aztec Aquaplex.
