Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
at WAC Championship
Bulldogs Hold Down Sixth Place at 2004 WAC Championships
2/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 28, 2004
SAN ANTONIO - SMU extended its lead after day three of the 2004 Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship. The defending champion Mustangs won three gold medals on the night to increase its lead. SMU currently stands in first with 625 points.
Hawai'i junior Yan Chen captured her second individual medal with an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 4:15.64 in the 400-yard individual medley. Chen finished second in the event last year. SMU senior Andrea Cassidy finished second with a time of 4:20.32, while teammate Sara Nordenstam was third with a time of 4:22.19.
In the 100-yard butterfly, SMU's Georgina Lee captured gold for the second-straight season with a time of 53.33, an automatic qualifying time. Her first place time was a season best and the fastest time in the WAC this season. Rice's Urska Ros was second with a time of 55.14. Hawai'i's Mia Broden took the bronze with a time of 55.18.
In the 200-yard freestyle, SMU freshman Celina Lemmen won her first individual title, taking the gold with an automatic qualifying time of 1:47.55. Teammate Marizanne Grundlingh was second with a time of 1:48.50. Rice senior Jackie Corcoran took third with a time of 1:49.97.
Nevada became the first school besides Hawai'i and SMU to win a gold when senior Leticia Cunha won the 100-yard breastroke with a time 1:03.39. Cunha finished second in the breaststroke last season. Rice junior Lauren Hill took the silver with a time of 1:04.24. SMU's Laura Pomeroy won the bronze with a time of 1:04.29. All three swimmers swam their best breaststroke of the year.
The Rainbow Wahine took the gold and silver in the 100-yard backstroke. Freshman Nicole Mackey won her second gold medal of the meet after also taking first in the 200-yard individual medley on Friday. YingJuan Zhen was second with a time of 56.05. Zhen was the winner of the backstroke last season. Nevada's Sarabeth Schweitzer took third with a time of 56.18. This was the first event in which SMU did not finish in the top three.
Hawai'i diver Qiongjie Huang captured her second gold medal in as many nights, winning the three-meter diving title. Huan took the title with 507.60 points. Junior Maggie Roberts was second with a score of 484.45. Roberts was also second in the one-meter. SMU's Liz Pike took third with a score of 472.30.
The SMU team of Alex Miciul, Sara Nordenstam, Georgina Lee and Celina Lemmen won the final event of the night, the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:42.67. Hawai'i finished second, while Nevada took third.
After three days of competition, SMU remains in first place with 625 points, followed by Hawai'i with 484 points. Nevada is third with 423 points. Rice stands in fourth followed by San Jose State and Fresno State, respectively. Action concludes tomorrow at Palo Alto College Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas at 11:00 a.m. with the preliminaries and at 6:30 p.m. for the finals of the 1650-yard freestyle.
Team Scores1. SMU 6252. Hawai'i 4843. Nevada 4234. Rice 3695. San Jose State 2306. Fresno State 166
