COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2018-19 Mountain West Champion San Diego State swimming and diving team earned three end-of-year awards from the Mountain West on Wednesday, including Diver of the Year Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez, Swimming Coach of the Year Mike Shrader, and Diving Coach of the Year Roland McDonald.
Lechuga Gonzalez, the first freshmen to ever win Diver of the Year, shined at the Mountain West Championships, claiming both the individual title on the 1-meter board while winning Diver of the Meet. The Tijuana, Mexico, native recorded a school-record 325.55 to claim the 1-meter title and reached the final round on all three boards at the NCAA Zone E Championships earlier this month.
Lechuga Gonzalez was the only diver in the Mountain West Championships to finish in the top three on all three boards. The freshman heads into the 2019-20 season owning the top 1-meter score in school history, the second-best platform score (259.65) and third-best 3-meter score (338.70).
Shrader, now a six-time Mountain West Swimming Coach of the Year, led the Aztecs to their fourth Mountain West Championship this season, putting the Aztecs in a tie with Boise State for the most conference titles among active members. In the pool, the Aztecs set five school records in 2018-19, including the 200 and 400 medley relay teams that both set Mountain West records at the MW Championships in February.
Including the five new school records, the Aztecs posted 33 times that rank inside the program record book's top 10 in 2018-19. Shrader guided three swimmers (Klara Thormalm , Courtney Vincent, Morganne McKennan) to the NCAA Championships, where the Aztecs finished 38th with nine points after Klara Thormalm won the consolation final in the 100 breast with a conference-record 58.93. The time for Thormalm marked as the ninth-fastest at the NCAA Championships.
In dual meet action, the Aztecs finished a perfect 13-0, marking the fourth undefeated dual meet season for the Aztecs in the last six years.
Shrader's six Mountain West Swimming Coach of the Year awards mark as the most for any coach in conference history.
McDonald, now having completed his ninth season on the Mesa, collects his first Mountain West Diving Coach of the Year award. Prior to his arrival to SDSU, McDonald was a three-time Diving Coach of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Association at George Mason.
McDonald guided Lechuga Gonzalez to Diver of the Meet and Diver of the Year honors in 2018-19 with Lechuga Gonzalez being the first-ever freshman to win either award. The Aztecs won three Mountain West Diver of the Week awards in 2018-19, including a pair from Lechuga Gonzalez and one by Delaney Gallagher. Both Gallagher and Emily Reed recorded top-10 platform board scores during the 2018-19 season.
The Aztecs won the 2019 Northern Arizona Diving Invitational, topping both Idaho and Northern Arizona in a three-team event. Lechuga Gonzalez was the top overall point scorer in the event with 32 points and the lone diver to finish in the top three on all three boards. Prior to that, Lechuga Gonzalez was one of seven divers in a highly competitive UCLA Diving Invitational field to finish in the top 10 of all three events.
McDonald's Diving Coach of the Year marks as the first Mountain West Diving Coach of the Year award for the Aztecs.