By Beau Bearden, Senior Staff Writer
The San Diego State swimming and diving team hasn’t made many headlines in the news outlets this season. But that doesn’t mean SDSU isn’t worthy of some.
The Aztecs are currently undefeated, have beaten a Pac-10 squad for the first time in school history and have broken a number of records in the process.
“This is a start that was expected,” senior Brooke Vessey said. “We have very hardworking girls on our team and all the returners knew what it was going to take in the off-season to get to where we want to be at the end.”
On Oct. 2, SDSU defeated Oregon State 150-125 thanks to seven new Aztec Aquaplex records. The team etched a new school mark in the 1000-freestyle when freshman Kelly Marquenie set the previous record by two seconds with a time of 9:57.83.
Then, on Oct. 23, the Aztecs opened Mountain West Conference play with wins against Air Force, Colorado State and New Mexico in a triple dual meet in Albuquerque, N.M.
But SDSU’s biggest test will come against BYU at 1 p.m. today at the Aztec Aquaplex. The Cougars were chosen as the conference favorite before the season.
“We pay no attention to preseason rankings,” Vessey said. “They mean nothing to us. BYU is the best team in our conference and has been for a long time. They have a group of hardworking girls who know what it takes to win and are out there every day training hard just like our team is.”
While the overall team effort has led to a successful year, Vessey mentioned a couple of key individual contributors. Marquenie has adjusted quickly to a new environment after moving from Australia and freshman Mikaela Macklin has also stepped up this season, Vessey said.
The Aztec veterans on the squad have been just as important. Vessey and junior Kristen Meier were recognized by the MWC last Tuesday with the league’s swimmer and diver of the week honors, respectively.
In SDSU’s dual meet last month, Vessey won a pair of events and was on the first-place 200-medley relay team. Meanwhile, Meier finished third in two different events and her 3-meter springboard score of 279.80 ranks third-highest in school history.
Everyone looks to be instrumental in the battle with the Cougars, but the Aztecs (4-0) plan on turning to their fans for extra help.
“We are going to do our best to use home pool advantage and hopefully get a great home crowd out to support us,” Vessey said. “I think we match up well against (BYU) event-to-event, so stepping up and racing is what it’s going to take (to win).”
AT A GLANCE:
When: 1 p.m., today
Where: Aztec Aquaplex
Why to watch: SDSU faces off against BYU in a pivotal MWC matchup.
