Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Cal State Bakersfield<BR>(Fall Valley Classic)
Bulldogs' Swimming & Diving Capitalizes on Strong Performances
10/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 13, 2001
FRESNO, Calif. - In its second meet of the young season, the Fresno State swimming and diving team wasted little time turning things around since its home-opening loss against nationally-ranked Pacific and California last weekend.
The Bulldogs capitalized with strong performances against CS Bakersfield in an exhibition meet at the Central Unified Aquatics Complex and came away with 12 first-place showings in the 15-event meet.
The 'Dogs, whose roster boasts 20 underclassmen on a 23-member squad, also went one-two in eight events and swept five events as a trio of freshmen led the way in Melissa Johnson (sprint/freestyle), Minja Mickelsen (freestyle/backstroke) and Carolyn Wigginton (backstroke/individual medley).
Individually, Johnson captured first-place showings in the 100 (54.25) and 150 freestyle (1:25.64) events while anchoring the winning 800 free relay team (8:04.66).
Mickelsen anchored the winning 400 medley relay team (4:12.21) before capturing the individual title in the 150 backstroke (1.37.46). Wigginton picked up the 50 backstroke (28.72) crown and took second place in the 100 individual medley (1:04.10) while pacing the 200 free relay team to a runner-up finish (1:44.85).
Other first-place finishes contributed by the Bulldogs went to sophomore Greer McGettrick (50 breast, 32.16, 150 breast, 1:48.88), sophomore Kristi Collins (100 individual medley, 1:03.93) and freshman Jolene Valley (150 fly, 1:38.33).
In diving, freshman Ashleigh Raley (1-meter, 238.275, 3-meter, 235.05), freshman Lindsey Paulekas (1-meter, 226.35, 3-meter, 223.35) and sophomore Nicole Recupito (1-meter, 226.30, 3-meter, 205.00) finished one-two-three, respectively, in the 1- and 3-meter diving competitions.
"It was a solid meet even though it was not scored," said head coach Daniella Irle, who is in her 10th season at Fresno State and owns an 87-28 (.763) dual meet record. "Just in the past week we improved so much. We swam well and made good strides today as we head off for the Colorado State Invitational next weekend. We're looking forward to competing next week and I think we'll win it. We set high expectations for ourselves."
The Bulldogs, who have one home meet left on the season with Cal Poly on Dec. 15, 12:00 p.m. at the Central Unified Aquatics Complex, will travel to Colorado for the "Early Bird" Invitational at Colorado State University next weekend. Fresno State has finished second in this invitational the last three seasons. Last year, the Bulldogs scored a record-high 800 points.
