Fresno State Athletics
`Dogs Capture First Place Finishes
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 31, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. -
Freshman Heidi Gjoen (Oslo, Norway), Jordan Morillo (Lindsay, Calif.) and junior diver Kendra Weeks (Folsom, Calif.) led the Bulldogs with top finishes in warm weather Saturday afternoon against the Toreros and Loyola Marymount at the Beach Cup Invitational hosted by the University of San Diego in sunny southern California.
"Today was very, very fun," said head coach Jeanne Fleck. "We did very well and individual wise we did great."
The three-way invitational featured a three session format with a 1-meter diving break in between each interval. The structure of the events allowed Fresno State the opportunity to experience the outline of a conference championship meet.
"We are really pleased because today gave us a look at how individual events will go at conference," said Fleck. "We won two events and got second and third in some."
Fresno State placed third overall and captured two first-place finishes by Gjoen in the 100 backstroke and Morillo in the 100 breaststroke. Morillo finished the race with a top reign and a best score of 1:09.03.
Junior Rebecca Strmiska took nearly 40 seconds off her mile time and earned a lifetime best in the distance freestyle event, finishing 20:18.40. Likewise, sophomore Stephanie Hatayama (Fresno, Calif.) rose to the top in the 100 butterfly and won a season best with a time of 1:03.37.
Morillo gained another top three finish in the 200 breaststroke and placed third as teammate junior Mary Tess Taylor (Granite Bay, Calif.) came in closely behind in fourth. Gjoen continued to put forth strength as a backstroker and placed second in the 200 backstroke.
On the 1-meter diving board, Weeks became a high scorer and finished second with 219.98 points. Teammate Blair Hopkins was not far off Weeks and freshman Jillian Mason held consistency both times. The team competed twice on the 1-meter as there was no availability to a 3-meter board.
"I was really happy today," said head diving coach Taryn Ignacio. "I am seeing a lot of improvement and we are getting more consistent each week."
Earning tenth place finishes were sophomore Stephanie Hatayama (Fresno, Calif.) in the 50 freestyle, Gjoen in the 500 freestyle and Morillo in the 200 individual medley.
In relays, the `Dogs earned a high time of 8:19.45 in the 800 freestyle, and placed third in the 400 medley relay.
"We did awesome," said Fleck.
Both swimming and diving will conclude the regular season Saturday, Feb. 7 against WAC rival San Jose State at 12 p.m., before heading the WAC Championships Feb. 25-28 in San Antonio.
"Join the State - Fresno State" -The Fresno State swimming and diving team will face WAC foe San Jose State Saturday, Feb. 7, at noon for the third and final meeting with the Spartans before the WAC Championships.
Players Mentioned
