Feb. 26, 2017
Federal Way, Wash.----- Brenna Bushey and Colleen Humel, San Jose State University's top two swimmers, set school records at the Pac-12 Invitational women's swimming meet at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatics Center.
Bushey, a junior from Littleton, Colo., swam 53.29 finishing first in a 100 butterfly time trial. Her previous season and career bests were 53.84 and 53.77, respectively. Bushey's new career best and school record was .22 seconds faster than the former San Jose State mark of 53.51 set by Ashlyn Acosta in 2013.
"I was really excited to get another opportunity to swim (after the Mountain West Championships). I was relaxed and felt smooth in the water," Bushey said about her school record-setting performance.
Humel, a junior from Chicopee, Mass., posted a 53.04 time in the 100 backstroke to finish first in her first of two time trial races in the same event. She had a previous best time of 53.74 eight days earlier at 2017 Mountain West Championships. Humel's time was .44 seconds faster than Morgan McCormick's 53.48 at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
"I had a great mindset. I knew what I needed to do. It was just a matter of giving it my all and finding out what that time would be," said Humel. "I took off about .7 seconds from my best time. I'm really happy with the swim. The fact that it was a school record is even 'cooler.'"
"I knew that both Brenna and Colleen could go significantly faster than last week (at the Mountain West Championships). They both executed very good swims," said San Jose State women's swimming and diving head coach Sage Hopkins who noticed both swimmers stayed relaxed and had better technique in the underwater portions of their swims.
Bushey and Humel both had NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships "B" standard times heading into the Pac-12 Invitational and significantly improved their position for a possible invitation to the NCAA Championships next month in Indianapolis.
The list of swimmers in each NCAA Championship event will be announced on March 1. Whether either Bushey or Humel gets the word their season continues, Hopkins is pleased about the possible finish to the college season on a high note.
"I think it is an awfully nice way to finish the season with two school record performances," concluded the Spartans' head coach.