Dec. 30, 2015
San Jose, Calif. --- On the road for the new year, the San Jose State swimming and diving team makes a stop at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners on New Year's Eve before traveling to San Diego to face UC San Diego Tritons and San Diego State Aztecs.
"We are in the midst of our heaviest training of the year, and our expectations are the team will race tough and tactfully," said San Jose State Head Coach Sage Hopkins.
Ranked 30th among the Division I mid-major schools, the Spartans return to the pool for the first time since December 5 when San Jose State beat UC Santa Cruz, 139-91, and Cal Lutheran, 138-58, in a three-way meet.
Defeating CSU Bakersfield in their last three meetings, the Spartans return to Hillman Aquatics Complex for the fourth consecutive year to face the Roadrunners on Thursday, December 31. The Spartans are led by senior distance swimmer Riley Spitser and sophomore backstroke swimmer Colleen Humel, both have posted NCAA provisional qualifying times this season.
"CSU Bakersfield is a well-coached team and has several stand out athletes. We will need to bring our `A' game," Hopkins said.
San Jose State will also be looking to score points from sophomore divers Kylie Fonseca and Cari Reiswig, each have qualified for the NCAA Zone Championships. In the 1-meter springboard, Reiswig posted a qualifying mark of 301.75 and Fonseca qualified with score of 293.59 against UC Santa Cruz and Cal Lutheran. Reiswig has also qualified in the 3-meter springboard dive at California with a mark of 289.95 to open the season.
"We are looking for our divers to show consistency and improve skill wise over the course of the week leading into our championship season," Hopkins said.
Facing their first Mountain West Conference opponent in head-to-head competition this season, the Spartans will face defending Mountain West champions San Diego State in a three-way meet with UC San Diego on Sunday, January 3, at Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla, Calif.
"Sunday we will face San Diego State, one of the better programs in the country, along with UCSD, one of the top D2 teams in the country," Hopkins said. "This will be a terrific opportunity for us to go head to head with quality programs."
The Aztecs are ranked 8th in the Division I mid-major schools and the Tritons ranked 4th in Division II.
by Brian S. Stanley, SJSU athletics media relations student assistant