Feb. 17, 2016
College Station, Texas --- Senior Riley Spitser sets a school record at the Mountain West Championships as the San Jose State Spartans' swimming and diving team finish the first day in fourth place.
"Riley is ready to have the meet of her life," said Spartans Head Coach Sage Hopkins. "I am really looking forward to the next three days."
Swimming the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay, Spitser topped her school record in the 200-yard freestyle she set at last year's conference championships. The Spartans 800 freestyle relay team of sophomores Taylor Lehr and Colleen Humel, senior Alli Davis and Spitser placed fourth with a time of 7:16.79, posting the second best time in Spartans history in the event.
"This was a great first day and exactly the start we needed. All eight of our swims were lifetime bests," Hopkins said.
In the 200-yard medley relay, San Jose State relay team of Humel, junior Taylor Solorio, sophomore Brenna Bushey and senior Brynne Beneke clocked a time of 1:40.26 to finish fifth. The foursome's time his the fourth fast in San Jose State history.
Sophomore Cari Reiswig advanced into the final round of the 1-meter springboard after placing fifth in the preliminary round with a dive score of 285.95. In the final round Reiswig improved from prelims with a dive mark of 289.05, finishing in fifth place.
"Cari's 1-meter performance was her best ever at a championship meet," Hopkins said.
Competing for the first time at the conference championships, freshman Megan Au scored 185.15 on her six dives in the preliminaries. The top 13 dive scores advanced to the final rounds.
"All nine of these ladies have worked so diligently this year, and it is great to see them perform so well at the biggest meet of the season," Hopkins said.
In the second day of action on Thursday at the Mountain West Championships, the Spartans will be competing in the 3-meter springboard, 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley and the 50-yard freestyle. The preliminary round begins at 11 a.m. with the finals at 6:30 p.m. Both rounds will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
Day 1 Results
Team Scores - 1, Nevada, 129. 2, Boise State, 91. 3, San Diego State, 86. 4, San Jose State, 72. 5, UNLV, 64. 6, Colorado State, 56. 7, Wyoming, 51. 8, Air Force, 48. 9, Fresno State, 38. 10, New Mexico, 24.
200 Medley Relay - 1, Boise State, 1:37.63. 2, UNLV, 1:38.36. 3, San Diego State, 1:39.25. San Jose State Finish - 5, Colleen Humel, Taylor Solorio, Brenna Bushey, Brynne Beneke, 1:40.26.
1-Meter Springboard - 1, Sharae Zheng, Nevada, 334.25. 2, Krysta Palmer, Nevada, 331.50. 3, Alexandra Caplan, San Diego State, 330.15. San Jose State Finishers - 5, Cari Reiswig, 289.05. 30, Megan Au, 185.15.
800 Freestyle Relay - 1, Boise State, 7:04.60. 2, Nevada, 7:05.98. 3, San Diego State, 7:13.74. San Jose State Finish - 4, Riley Spitser, Taylor Lehr, Colleen Humel, Alli Davis, 7:16.79.