Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Beach Cup (San Diego, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount)
Bulldogs Swim Out to an Early Lead at Beach Cup
1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
By Jason Kelm
jakelm@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
SAN DIEGO - The Fresno State swimming and diving team's 239 points through day one of the Beach Cup in San Diego on Friday afternoon has given the Bulldogs the lead over San Diego (184), Loyola Marymount (131) and Pepperdine (112) through six events.
"We got off to a good start today," Fresno State head coach Jeanne Fleck said. "It's been an important week for the team training and bonding in San Diego and I have a feeling we'll swim even better tomorrow."
Senior Leah Hatayama and freshman Ugne Mazutaityte both placed first in freestyle events and freshman diver Irina Nikolaeva scored the highest in the 1-meter dive to set the pace for the 'Dogs.
Hatayama won the 50 free for the eighth time this season with a time of 23.75 seconds, .64 seconds faster than second place. Ally Short (So), Katelin Britton (So), Tarryn Rennie (Jr), Hannah Nabors (So) and Brooke Rodriguez (Sr) all scored points for the Bulldogs in the event.
"[Hatayama] has a lot of confidence this year," Fleck said. "There's a lot of tough competition in the Mountain West in the freestyle this season and it will be exciting to see how that motivates her as we get closer."
Mazutaityte, most notably known for her strong backstroke performances, won the 500 free (5:05.84) by 3.81 seconds. Other 'Dogs notching points in the event were Casey Kennemann (So), Danielle Powers (Sr), Vanessa Dugan (So) and Emma Monnich (Fr).
Fresno State's divers grabbed the top three spots in the 1-meter event, led by Nikolaeva's personal-best score of 286.35. Shelbie Holden (Jr) took second with 271.35 and senior Lacie Ruth rounded the Bulldogs out with a score of 258.75.
Fresno State also earned points in the 200 individual medley courtesy of Esme Gullick (Jr), Gabbie Libang (Fr) and Karissa DeRousseau (Sr).
The Bulldogs came in second and fourth in both the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay.
Fresno State will continue pursuit of its third-straight Beach Cup title on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. PT.
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Players Mentioned
