Niemczak wins 200 Fly title, ‘Dogs have best MW finish in 5th place

Saturday, February 23

Minneapolis, MN

Fresno State

Mountain West Championship

Niemczak wins 200 Fly title, ‘Dogs have best MW finish in 5th place

2/23/2019 7:45:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Photo Gallery (NCAA Photos)

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Complete Results (PDF)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Sophomore Zofia Niemczak became a MW champion winning the 200 Butterfly and Ugne Mazutaityte (200 Back) and Manuela Mendolicchio (200 Breast) earned bronze medals to lead the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish on the final day of the 2019 MW Swimming & Diving Championship.

Freshman Brenda Diaz Martinez also broke a program record on Saturday in the 1650 Free. Fresno State had its best MW Championship finish since joining the conference in 2012-13, having never before placed higher than seventh place. The team's 781.5 total points at the championship are also a program record, topping the 644 points the team earned last year.

The Bulldogs moved up to fourth place with two events remaining and finished fifth as New Mexico came back and finished just 11 points ahead. San Diego State was the overall MW champion followed by Nevada, Boise State, New Mexico, and Fresno State in the 10-team field. The 'Dogs were in fifth place or better after each day of the meet.

Swimming Highlights

Niemczak had the top prelim time in the 200 Fly and won the final by nearly one second in 1:58.34, an NCAA B time that was just shy of her program record time. Niemczak and Kimberly Harbert had the top two times in the prelims in 1:58.10 and 1:59.23, respectively, and Harbert placed fifth in the final in 1:59.63. Gabbie Libang just missed the A final with a prelim time of 2:01.96, good for ninth best, and she placed 4^th in the B final.
🚨🚨 MW CHAMPION 🚨🚨 Zofia Niemczak wins gold in the 200 Butterfly in 1:58.34, earning her first career conference title!! 🏆🏆 #GoDogs #MWSD

Watch live on @floswimming - https://t.co/nExMOIcOsr pic.twitter.com/K75Ed6g1YF
— Fresno State S&D (@FresnoStateSwim) February 24, 2019
Zofi gets the GOLD 🥇 from Coach Fleck!! 200 Butterfly champion! #GoDogs #MWSD

Watch live on @floswimming - https://t.co/nExMOIcOsr pic.twitter.com/kNXlAHwQVG
— Fresno State S&D (@FresnoStateSwim) February 24, 2019
Mazutaityte earned her third career medal in the 200 Back. She placed fourth in the prelims in 1:56.35 and moved up to third in the final, touching in 1:55.88. Emily Cutler placed second in the 200 Back consolation final with a PR and the second best time in program history of 1:57.70 after she had the 12^th fastest prelim time. Stephanie Bartel and Emma Monnich reached the C final and placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ugne takes Bronze in the 200 Back! 🥉 She becomes a four-time All-MW award winner in the 200 Back and earns her THIRD medal in her illustrious career! #GoDogs #MWSD

Watch live on @floswimming - https://t.co/nExMOIcOsr pic.twitter.com/8QPvn9BaJn
— Fresno State S&D (@FresnoStateSwim) February 24, 2019
After placing fourth in the prelims, Mendolicchio earned her second career medal in the 200 Breast as she placed third in 2:11.31, just .10 shy of her program record time. Lucy Davies placed second in the B final in 2:15.99, fourth best in program history, after she had the 12^th best time in the prelims.
Manuela Mendolicchio medals in the 200 Breast for the second straight year as she earns Bronze! 🥉 Finished in 2:11.31, just .10 shy of her own program record! #GoDogs #MWSD

Watch live on @floswimming - https://t.co/nExMOIcOsr pic.twitter.com/ILIm5jXAkx
— Fresno State S&D (@FresnoStateSwim) February 24, 2019
Diaz Martinez broke one of the longest standing program records, swimming a 16:41.87 in the 1650 Free to break the record of 16:43.28 set by Nicole Brushey in 1998. Her time was the sixth fastest overall as she earned her first All-MW accolade.
Osianna Mcreed had the top Bulldog finish in the 100 Free prelims, touching in 51.59 to just miss qualifying for the C final.
In the final event of the championship, the Bulldog quartet of McReed, Cutler, Harbert, and Niemczak finished second in their heat of the 400 Free Relay in 3:23.99 and placed seventh overall, missing the program record by less than a second.

Diving Highlights

Kelli Funk and Yuliya Tykha represented the 'Dogs on platform in the final diving event of the meet.
In the prelims, Funk scored 210.30 to place 13^th in the field of 30 and qualify for the consolation final. Tykha totaled 205.85 to finish 18^th.
Funk moved up in the consolation final, scoring 218.00 to place fourth among the eight divers in the B final.

Notes

In addition to winning her first MW title Niemczak also broke three program records during the conference meet. She holds four individual program records in the 200 Free, 500 Free, 100 Fly, and 200 Fly.
Davies (400 IM), Diaz Martinez (1650 Free), and diver Irina Nikolaeva (1-meter) also broke individual records and the 'Dogs broke the 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay, and 800 Free Relay records during the meet.
Fresno State's three divers (Funk, Tykha, and Nikolaeva) all earned points in each of the events in which they participate.

Quotes
Head Coach Jeanne Fleck
"This was just a phenomenal year for our team. I'm disappointed we didn't get fourth but we did about everything we could to get it. We swam great and I'm so proud of the swimmers and divers and everybody. Everybody pulled their weight and it was a fun and exciting last day and it was great having a champion. I'm excited for this team; we have a good, young team and it's just going to keep getting better."

Zofia Niemczak
"This year has been an incredible roller coaster of emotion; it's been up and down and its everything I could have asked for. I couldn't have done it without any of my girls here. They've had my back and I've had theirs and this team really means everything to me. It feels like a dream come true to be a Mountain West champion and I'm just on cloud nine."

What's Next

Funk and Nikolaeva have qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving meet and will compete in Flagstaff, Ariz. March 11-13.

2019 MW Championship Standings (Final)
1. San Diego State - 1363.5
2. Nevada - 1261.5
3. Boise State - 1159
4. New Mexico - 792.5
5. Fresno State - 781.5
6. Wyoming - 743.5
7. Colorado State - 636.5
8. San Jose State - 515.5
9. UNLV - 501.5
10. Air Force - 409