Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
WAC Championships
`Dogs Stay Close After Day One at WAC Championships
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 24, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State swimming and diving team started out the WAC Championships with a solid all around performance in each event and sit in sixth place as everyone chases Northern Arizona after the opening day of the WAC Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
The Fresno State divers were at the top of their game as each of them executed more than respectable dives in their first ever platform competition of their NCAA careers. Three Bulldogs finished high enough to tally up a good chunk of valuable championship points for the `Dogs.
Freshman Stacey Luke who has established herself as one of the top divers in the WAC led the way with an eighth place finish in the morning preliminary session, which qualified her for finals where she posted a score of 193.47 good enough to boost her to an impressive seventh place overall finish.
"I'm really proud of Stacey," said diving coach Taryn Patrick. "She did a really good job to qualify for finals and then was able to improve on her preliminary score to move her up even higher in the standings."
Sophomore Kendra Weeks and senior Blair Hopkins were also strong for the Bulldogs on day one of the conference meets as they finished 13th and 14th respectively on their way to snagging two more of the coveted point awarded finishing positions.
"I'm really proud of all of my divers," said Patrick. "It was our first platform meet of the year and they were all very consistent. All of the hard work they have put in this year to get to this point really showed through today."
The 200 medley relay team made up of sophomore Heidi Gjoen and freshmen Britney Vogel, Rayanne Nguyen and Dani Yoho swam a season best time of 1:45.30, in the finals to earn the `Dogs a seventh place finish. The team effort marks a time that surpasses the previous season best by one and seven-tenths of a second and is a mere tenth of a second off of a all-time school record.
In the 800 freestyle relay, which was the concluding event to day one, the Bulldog team composed of Gjoen, Stephanie Hatayama, Nguyen and Vogel swam a season best 7:40.90 which is nearly seven seconds faster than any Fresno State relay team has gone in the event since the return of the program under head coach Jeanne Fleck.
"Our relays were all around pretty solid for us today," said Fleck. "We were just a tenth or two off of a school record in the 200 medley so that was exciting and we had by far our best 800 free swim of the season."
At the end of the first day of the WAC Championship, the Bulldogs sit in sixth place after earning a total of 65 points, which is a major improvement in the standings when compared to last season. The `Dogs are still very much alive in the battle for the championship as they trail Northern Arizona by 32 points.
"We did well today and I'm very proud of all of our swimmers and divers today," said Fleck. "We had a good start and I'm pretty happy with where we sit in the standings after the first day. We have a lot of swimming left to do here and were going to give it all we've got."
The `Dogs will be back in the pool tomorrow for day two where they will look to slash into the lead and move up the charts when they compete in the 500 freestyle event, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay.
"We Are Your Team" - Next up, the Bulldogs swimming and diving team will be in San Antonio, Texas battling their conference rival in the WAC Championships Feb. 24-27. Check out gobulldogs.com for all your swimming and diving information along with exclusive team blogs.
Players Mentioned
