Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UC Irvine
Swimming and Diving Tops UC Irvine 158.50-141.50
1/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 11, 2003
IRVINE, Calif.- Fresno State sophomore Carolyn Wigginton established a new meet record in the 100 Back with a time of 57.65 to help lead the Bulldogs to a 158.50-141.50 win over UC Irvine Saturday.
Wigginton eclipsed the previous record of 58.79 that she recorded last year. The Carmichael, Calif., native also came in first in the 200 Back with a time of 2:09.24 and swam the lead off leg of the 200 Medley Relay group that clocked a meet record and team season best time of 1:48.54, breaking the previous mark of 1:49.39 set by Fresno State in 2001. Juniors Greer McGettrick and Kristi Collins and sophomore Jennifer Palmberg swam the second through fourth legs of the event.
After the Bulldogs won the opening event of the meet, the 200 Medley Relay, UC Irvine won the next two events in meet record efforts. UCI's Alexis Sheridan established a meet best time in the 1000 Free when she touched the wall in 10:16.35 and Lara Bjargardottir put her name in the meet record books with her time in the 200 Free of 1:53.83.
Fresno State (6-2-1) responded with two victories of its own with Wigginton's time in the 100 Back and McGettrick's meet record breaking performance in the 100 Breast, clocking a time of 1:05.99 to eclipse the previous mark she set last year. McGettrick also recorded a team season best time in the 200 Breast of 2:23.66. The Bulldogs then went on to win six of the meet's last eleven events to secure the victory.
Collins and sophomore Melissa Johnson notched two first place finishes each for Fresno State. Collins paced the field in the 100 Fly (59.78) and tied UCI's Alexis Sheridan for the top spot in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:08.09. Johnson led a Bulldog sweep of the top three spots in the 50 Free with a time of 24.64. Palmberg (24.98) and freshman Julie Heaton (25.40) finished second and third respectively. In the 100 Free, Johnson finished first with a time of 52.73.
In diving, sophomore Ashleigh Raley and freshman McKenzie Elston placed first and second in the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. Raley paced the field with 244.55 points in the 1-meter and 256.00 in the 3-meter. Elston followed right behind her with scores of 214.85 in the 1-meter and 239.90 in the 3-meter, a career high.
Individually, the Bulldogs tallied 22 top-three finishes for the meet including nine first-place finishes, seven second place results and six third-place times.
The Bulldog diving squad returns to action next Friday and Saturday when they travel to Los Angeles for the UCLA Diving Invitational. The swim team will then rejoin the divers for its final regular season road dual meet at Oregon State Saturday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m.
