Oct. 10, 2009

FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State swimming and diving team concluded opening weekend at the WAC Shootout in San Jose, Calif., and while the `Dogs dropped dual meets against Hawai'i and Boise State many Bulldogs improved their times and set personal bests.

Heidi Gjoen once again led the Bulldogs with strong performances in all of her events including a second place overall finish out of 24 swimmers in the 200 backstroke, which gave her two first place finishes in the dual meets.

"Heidi was our top performer again today and I am very proud of her," said head swimming coach Jeanne Fleck. "She swam hard for us in the relays and did an excellent job in the backstroke as she always does."

Gjoen's times early this season are already matching times that she was putting up at the end of last year in which she broke the school record in the 200 backstroke at the 2008 WAC Championships.

Rayanne Nguyen was very impressive in the second day as well, posting times good enough to boast second place against both teams in dual meet competition. Nguyen's time in the 200 butterfly was six seconds faster today than her performance yesterday. She also improved her 500 freestyle time from yesterday by five seconds.

"Rayanne also came up big for us today," said Fleck. "She showed major improvement on her times from yesterday and that's what we were looking for as we move on to the next meet."

Freshman Dani Yoho posted fast times in both the 100 and 50 freestyle events. In the 50 free Yoho swam almost an identical time as the first day of the WAC Shootout (24.53) which was good enough for fourth place in the duals. Kat Vietti was also right behind her teammate swimming a 25.55. Yoho posted a time 54.86 in the 100 free which is the best by a Bulldog under coach Fleck.

In the 200 breaststroke, Brittney Vogel posted a time of 2:26.67 which is the second best time in that event by a Bulldog under Fleck.

"I'm very proud of the performance our team put forth this weekend," said Fleck. "We are getting better every day."

On the diving side the `Dogs had multiple competitors post scores that were at the top of the charts. Kendra Weeks scored a 218.15 in the 1-meter dive which was good enough for first place in dual meet competition against Boise State while Nikki Kohls also had a strong performance good enough to boast a third place score against the Broncos.

In the 3-meter dive Stacey Luke posted a score of 236.70 for a first place finish against Boise State and fourth against diving powerhouse Hawai'i.

"Kendra and Stacey really stepped it up for us today," said head diving coach Taryn Patrick. "Kendra was great in the 1-meter and Stacey did a really good job in the 3-meter. I am extremely proud of all of these girls, they did a great job this weekend."

"We are Your Team" - The swimming and diving team returns to the pool on Oct. 30 as the `Dogs travel to Reno, Nev., to take on the Wolf Pack in a dual meet at 12 p.m.