Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Pacific Invite
'Dogs Finish Third at UOP Invite
10/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
By Jason Kelm
jakelm@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Fresno State swimming team opened up its 2015-16 campaign with a third-place finish after scoring 578 points at the University of the Pacific Invitational this weekend. Nevada swam away with first place (1,020) while Pacific came in second (659). San Jose State (555) and Fresno Pacific (223) rounded out the competition.
"We definitely kept getting better as the meet went on," Fresno State head coach Jeanne Fleck said. "We swam with more confidence and that has a lot to do with the swimmers getting their nerves out in the first meet of the season."
Highlights include a first-place finish by freshman Ugne Mazutaityte in the 200 Backstroke with a time of 2:01.40, fourth-best in program history. Senior Leah Hatayama also came out with a second-place finish in the 100 Freestyle (52.03) and senior Brooke Rodriguez swam a 2:22.70 in the 200 Breaststroke to finish third.
"Ugne [Mazutaityte] came into the program really strong," Fleck said. "Every week in practice she gets faster as she makes the right adjustments. She has her eye on the Olympics and she knows what she has to do to get there."
The Bulldogs were strong in relay events as Hatayama, Rodriguez, junior Tarryn Rennie and sophomore Katelin Britton finished second with a time of 1:36.53 in the 200 Freestyle Relay and Mazutaityte, Rodriguez, Rennie and Hatayama swam a 3:53.54 in the 400 Medley Relay to take third.
In the 1650 Freestyle, senior team captain Danielle Powers swam a strong 17:51.33 to finish third while sophomore Vanessa Dugan was close behind with a time of 18:04.78 to finish fifth.
"It was a solid day," Fleck added. "We're looking forward to traveling to Nevada next weekend and getting the experience of racing against the best in the Mountain West."
The 'Dogs face Nevada in Reno next Saturday and return to Stockton on Nov. 7 to face Pacific and Oregon State. The first chance to catch Fresno State at home at the Aquatics Center will be Nov. 14 as it hosts Fresno Pacific and UC Santa Cruz.
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Players Mentioned
