Aztecs Headed to Iowa for Hawkeye Invitational
After an extended hiatus, the San Diego State swim and dive program returns to the competition pool this weekend when it travels to the Midwest for the Hawkeye Invitational, Nov. 21-23, in Iowa City, Iowa.
SAN DIEGO – After an extended hiatus, the San Diego State swim and dive program returns to the competition pool this weekend when it travels to the Midwest for the Hawkeye Invitational, Nov. 21-23, in Iowa City, Iowa.
Along with host Iowa, the Aztecs will face fellow Mountain West member Colorado State at the three-day meet, which also features Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Nebraska and Northern Iowa.
Links to streaming video and live results from Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center will be available on GoAztecs.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow live results on their mobile devices by downloading the Meet Mobile app.
Preliminaries are set to begin at 10 a.m. CT/8 a.m. PT all three days, followed by diving events at 11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. PT, while final sessions are scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT.
Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, San Diego State has competed in 16 regular-season invitational meets and has finished outside of the top three just once during that span, logging four first-place performances, nine second-place efforts and a pair of third-place results.
The Aztecs have been idle since Oct. 11-12, when they swept a pair of dual meets at Alaska Fairbanks, posting winning scores of 125-75 and 121-75. As a result, the Scarlet and Black raised its record to 5-0 this year and extended its winning streak to 70 straight dual meets dating back to Jan. 8, 2018.
Following its successful road trip to the 49th State, SDSU garnered two conference weekly accolades, as Reka Nyiradi was named Mountain West Swimmer of the Week, while Kaydence Bispo received Freshman of the Week recognition. The Aztec duo combined to set three facility records at UAF’s Patty Center Pool.
Nyiradi captured four individual event titles, winning the 50 freestyle (24.69) and 100 freestyle (52.46) on day one before wrapping up the weekend with a pair of crowns in the 1000 freestyle (10:27.80) and 200 backstroke (2:00.53), the latter of which marked a pool record.
Additionally, Nyiradi and Bispo joined forces on a pair of victorious SDSU relay teams that established pool standards in the first meet, including the 400 medley relay (3:48.33) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:30.04).
Bispo also returned to anchor the Aztecs’ triumphant 200 medley (1:45.99) and 200 freestyle relay teams (1:35.99) on day two, while claiming an event title in the 50 free (1:54.95). Earlier in the first meet, she won the 200 free (1:54.95) before placing second in the 100 free (53.30).
Elsewhere, Mai McKenna collected a trio of victories during the Alaska trip, including a pool record swim of 4:28.96 in the 400 individual medley on day two after posting wins in the 100 backstroke (57.93) and 200 IM (2:06.58) in the first meet.
Earlier this season, Valentina Lopez Arevalo earned Mountain West Diver of the Week after capturing a pair of event titles at the Fresno State Invitational, Oct. 4-5. The Aztec senior eclipsed an NCAA zone qualifying standard on the 3-meter springboard with a victorious total of 306.65 before winning the 1-meter springboard competition with 263.10 points.
Entering this weekend’s Hawkeye Invitational, Nyiradi and Moa Bergdahl own the Mountain West’s fastest times thus far in the 400 IM (4:20.04) and the 100 breaststroke (1:01.67), respectively, both of which were recorded at the Fresno State Invite.
Additionally, Nyiradi ranks third in the league in the 200 backstroke (2:00.30) and 200 butterfly (2:02.38), while Christiana Williams is slotted third as well in the 100 breast (1:02.09). Those three swims were also logged at the same meet in early October.
Not to be outdone, SDSU’s 800 freestyle relay team posted a conference-leading time of 7:27.37 at the Fresno State Invite, which ranks 16th nationally as of Nov. 20.
Following this weekend's meet, Aztec divers will be back in action next month at the Riverside Diving Invitational, Dec. 6-7, in Riverside, California.
San Diego State will return to action with a full squad on Thursday, Jan. 2, when it plays host to New Mexico and Pepperdine in a double dual meet at Aztec Aquaplex, starting at 2 p.m. PT.