Feb. 20, 2016
College Station, Texas --- Senior Riley Spitser grabbed her third NCAA 'B' cut as the San Jose State Spartans swimming and diving team fended off New Mexico for sixth place at the Mountain West Championships on Saturday.
"The team did an amazing job of stepping up to hold off New Mexico and secure our best ever program finish," said San Jose State Head Coach Sage Hopkins.
Picked to finish eighth in the pre-championship coaches' poll, the Spartans scored 258 points to improve one spot from seventh place at last year's Mountain West Championship.
Spitser opened the final day of the conference championships swimming a NCAA B Standard provisional time of 16:22.79 in the 1650-yard freestyle for a second place finish. Spitser also set San Jose State record, breaking her pervious time of 16:32.52 set at the conference championships last year.
"Riley's performance tonight was one of the more special things I've ever been a part of as a coach," Hopkins said.
At the 1000-yard turn of the 1650 freestyle, Spitser surpassed her personal best in the 1000-yard freestyle to set another school record with a time of 9:54.42. Spitser has reset four school records at the Mountain West Championships.
The distance swimmer claimed her second NCAA provisional time in the 200-yard freestyle on the opening leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay on the first day of competition. Spitser picked up her first NCAA 'B' cut this season in the 500-yard freestyle at the A3 Performance Invitational.
"I'd like to especially recognize our senior class for their leadership and performances, as well as Colleen Humel and Marley Maluafiti for bringing in much needed points," Hopkins said.
Sophomore Colleen Humel finished first in the consolation final for a ninth place finish overall in the 200-yard backstroke with a mark of 1:57.31. Humel's previous best was a NCAA B Standard time of 1:57.53, clocked at the A3 Invitational.
Setting a personal best and moving up two spots into seventh on the Spartans' all-time list, freshman Marley Maluafiti placed third in the consolation final for an 11th place finish overall in the 200-yard butterfly.
In the bonus final of the 100-yard freestyle senior Brynne Beneke finished second with a time of 50.76 for 18th place while sophomore Taylor Lehr came in third in the heat for 19th place overall. Beneke's preliminary time of 50.68 was the best 100 freestyle time of the season for the Spartans.
Senior Amanda Buxbaum finished fourth in the bonus final in the 200-yard breaststroke to place 20th overall with a time of 2:19.70. Competing alongside Buxbaum in the heat were 22nd finisher junior Taylor Solorio and 23rd finisher senior Natasha Moffitt.
Diving from the platform for the Spartans was sophomore Cari Reiswig, who matched her preliminary five dive score of 224.75 in the consolation final to finish 14th overall. Reiswig's posted a new personal best score in the platform dive.
The Spartans closed out the conference championships in the 400 freestyle relay with the team of Solorio, Lehr, Beneke and Spitser. The San Jose State relay team posted a time of 3:21.11 for the second best time in Spartans' history.
Day 4 Results
Team Scoring - 1, Nevada, 664. 2, Boise State, 651. 3, San Diego State, 511. 4, Wyoming, 457. 5, UNLV, 373. 6, San Jose State, 258. 7, New Mexico, 248. 8, Colorado State, 223. 9, Air Force, 207. 10, Fresno State, 182.
1650 Freestyle - 1, Genevieve Miller, Air Force, 16:01.39. 2, Riley Spitser, San Jose State, 16:22.79. 3, Sara Menke, Air Force, 16:31.47. Other San Jose State Finishers - 17, Allyson Fellows, 17:12.17.
200 Backstroke - 1, Ugne Mazutaityte, Fresno State, 1:54.47. 2, Samantha Wicks, Boise State, 1:54.76. 3, Al Kleinsorgen, Boise State, 1:56.59. Other San Jose State Finishers - 9, Colleen Humel, 1:57.31. 28, Lisa Ellis, 2:04.78.
100 Freestyle - 1, Michelle Troup, UNLV, 49.12. 2, Whitney Weisz, San Diego State, 49.14. 3, Emily Ridout, Wyoming, 49.17. San Jose State Finishers - 18, Brynne Beneke, 50.76. 19, Taylor Lehr, 50.95. 23, Brittany Heng, 51.67. 33, Brenna Bushey, 51.71. 34, Kimberlee Giggey, 51.84. 36, Angel Van Hofwegen, 52.02. 45, Alli Davis, 52.56. 48, Kendal Guy, 53.60. 49, Alyssa Cable, 53.64. Lisa Ellis, DFS.
200 Breaststroke - 1, Yawen Li, Nevada, 2:10.58. 2, Maria Harutjunjan, Wyoming, 2:12.18. 3, Arantxa Medina, Nevada, 2:13.33. San Jose State Finishers - 20, Amanda Buxbaum, 2:19.70. 22, Taylor Solorio, 2:20.48. 23, Natasha Moffitt, 2:21.04.
200 Butterfly - 1, Sita Kusserow, Nevada, 1:58.68. 2, Rachael Kelch, San Diego State, 1:19.41. 3, Goezde, Tekin, UNLV, 2:00.44. San Jose State Finishers - 11, Marley Maluafiti, 2:02.04.
Platform Dive - 1, Krysta Palmer, Nevada, 362.15. 2, Zoe Lei, Nevada, 278.00. 3, Keely Bishop, Wyoming, 248.70. San Jose State Finishers - 14, Cari Reiswig, 224.75. Exhibition - Eri Tamada, 131.80.
400 Freestyle Relay - 1, Boise State, 3:15.38. 2, Nevada, 3:18.16. 3, UNLV, 3:19.51. San Jose State Finish - 6, Taylor Solorio, Taylor Lehr, Brynne Beneke, Riley Spitser, 3:21.11.