Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
WAC Championships
Swimming and Diving Finishes Fourth at WAC Championships
3/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
March 2, 2002
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Fresno State completed the final day of the 2002 Western Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, March 2, in San Antonio, Texas. The Bulldogs finished in fourth place with 515 points.
The first event was the 1650 freestyle and representing Fresno State in the finals was junior Jessica Klenner (Mission Viejo, Calif.). She finished in seventh place with a personal-best time of 17:24.87. Freshman Katie Haney (Bend, Ore.) finished in sixth place in the same event with a personal-best and team-leading time of 17:20.10. Next was the 200 backstroke, an event in which freshman Carolyn Wigginton (Carmichael, Calif.) set a new Fresno State record in, with a time of 2:02.14 in the prelims. The time was also a NCAA "B" Standard. In the finals she finished in fourth place and clocked a time of 2:02.17. The third event was the 100 freestyle and freshman Melissa Johnson (Vacaville, Calif.) was the Bulldogs' leader heading into the finals. Johnson finished in eighth place with a time of 52.75. Sophomore Greer McGettrick (Studio City, Calif.) led the 'Dogs into the finals of the 200 breastroke. In one of her best events, McGettrick captured eighth place and clocked a season-best time of 2:21.30. The final individual swimming event was the 200 butterfly and again a freshman represented the Bulldogs in the finals. Jolene Valley (Bend, Ore.) advanced with a personal-best time of 2:05.07 and finished in seventh place overall in a time of 2:07.28. The final swimming event was the 400 free relay. For the 'Dogs, Johnson was the leadoff, while freshmen Minja Mickelsen (Sumner, Wash.) and Jennifer Palmberg (Simi Valley, Calif.) took the middle places while Klenner anchored. The foursome finished in fifth place with a time of 3:31.56, a season-best.
For the divers, freshman Ashleigh Raley (Austin, Texas) was the only Bulldog to advance in the top eight of the platform. She placed sixth in the prelims with a score of 322.55 to advance her into the finals. Raley earned a cumulative final score of 338.95 and fifth place.
Overall, the Bulldogs set four Fresno State records, including Wigginton (200 back-2:02.14), Raley (1-meter springboard-championship-251.65), Johnson, Mickelsen, Palmberg and senior Jesie Lewis (200 free relay-1:35.47) and Johnson, Mickelsen, Lewis and Klenner (800 free relay-7:34.15).
Complete results from the 2002 WAC Championships are available on the WAC website at www.wacsports.com or at www.aaaa-sa.org. Next up for the Bulldogs are the NCAA Diving "Zone" Championships, which will be held in Palo Alto, Calif., at Stanford, March 15-16. All three divers, including Raley, sophomore Nicole Recupito and freshman Lindsey Paulekas will be competing.
2002 WAC Championships - Final Standings
1. SMU (828 pts.)
2. Nevada (757 pts.)
3. Rice (541 pts.)
4. Fresno State (515 pts.)
5. San Jose State (381 pts.)
6. Hawai'i (371 pts.)
Head Coach Daniella Irle (Thoughts on the Meet)
"Our team competed their hearts out today. People picked us to finish last at this meet and we finished fourth. I can say this is the most success I have had in a weekend at this meet with this team. Honestly there are no words that could give enough justice to how well this group performed this past week. I am so proud of all of them."
Freshman Carolyn Wigginton (On her success as a freshman and her record in the 200 back)
"It's really a dream come true. I never could have imagined I would have achieved my goals and even surpassed them. I know I look forward to my future as an athlete with this team. This team, with all the freshmen, is only going to continue to grow and get better."
