Others Nominated...
Fresno State junior Jessica Klenner swam five season-bests at the UNLV Invitational last weekend. Klenner took almost 13 seconds off of her 500 free time, swimming a 5:06.65, down from 5:19.01. She posted season-bests in the 1650 free (17:51.11), 1000 free (10:45.66), 200 fly (2:11.09), 400 I.M. (4:39.79) and 200 free (1:56.29). Her times lead the team in all those events except the 200 free, and she was named the Fresno State swimmer of the Meet for her efforts at UNLV. Charlotte Pierce, a junior from San Jose State, finished third in the 100 fly at the UC Irvine/Speedo Cup last weekend. Her times of 55.99 in the 100 fly and 2:05.45 in the 200 fly are both third-best in school history. Pierce also swam a 24.49 in the 50 free. SMU sophomore Alenka Kejzar won three events while qualifying for the NCAA championships in all three at the U.S. Open in East Meadows, N.Y. last weekend. She broke the short course meter record in the 400 I.M. with a time of 4:38.97, a mark almost eight seconds better than the NCAA A standard. Kejzar also set the meet record in the 200 I.M. with a time of 2:13.10. Finally, she won the 200 back in 2:09.01 and finished fourth in the 200 breast and was the High Point Womens Swimmer of the Meet.
U.S. Open Highlights
Several SMU swimmers posted solid times at the U.S. Open. Sophomore Georgina Lee set a short course school record in the 200-meter breast with a time of 2:09.00. The previous record of 2:09.92 was held by former standout Martina Moravcova, set in 1996. The 800 free relay team of Lotta Wanberg, Flavia Rigamonti, McCall Dorr and Lisa Wanberg set a meet record en route to a victory with a time of 8:06.04. Freshman Rigamonti finished second in the 800 free in 8:26.19. Dorr was fifth in the 200 fly with a time of 2:12.15 while Lisa Wanberg was seventh in the 100 free with a time of 56.10, meeting the NCAA B standard. The Mustangs placed third in the 400 free relay with the strong team of Lisa Wanberg, Dallas Marshall, Katie Merriam and Lotta Wanberg. Third place showings by Anu Koivisto in the 200 I.M. (2:14.74), Andrea Cassidy in the 400 I.M. (4:43.67) and Lotta Wanberg in the 400 back added to SMUs success at the Open. Finally, the Mustangs took first and second place in the 400 medley relay, with the A team of Koivisto, Julia Pomeroy, Lee and Lisa Wanberg touching in at 4:06.27 and the B team of Kejzar, Laura Bares, Dorr and Marshall finishing in 4:11.35.
Poll Position
SMU moved up to eighth in the poll released on Nov. 29. Rice dropped to the 25th spot after another idle weekend. For many WAC teams, the season goes into full swing after the winter break. The next poll will be released on Dec. 13, followed by Jan. 17, Jan. 31, Feb. 14 and Mar. 7.
Splashes
Fresno State has placed in the top three in each of three invitationals this fall and is 3-2 in dual meet competition. At the UNLV Invitational the Bulldogs posted 62 season-best times and 26 top 10 finishes...Mandy Mularz was Rices only competitor at the Texas Inviational but her 16 points put the team in 11th out of 14...Hawai`i junior Katie Seall swam a 10:36.46 in the 1000 free to rank on the Wahine all-time list.