CASTRO POSTS NCAA ZONES-QUALIFYING MARK

Photo by: SDSU Athletics

11/22/2024 10:11:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Anna Mei Castro established an NCAA Zones qualifying mark with a victory in 3-meter diving and the South Dakota State women's swimming and diving team added two more event titles in swimming events during the second day of competition at the Tommie Invitational Friday night at the Anderson Athletics and Recreation Complex Pool.

A sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, Castro strung together a series of high-scoring dives on the 3-meter board in Friday's evening session to post a winning score of 282.00 points. That mark exceeded the NCAA Zones qualifying standard of 280 points for six dives.

Castro entered the finals after finishing third in the morning preliminaries with a score of 231.15 points.

Also winning event titles Friday night were Jenna Currier and freshman Emma Ingalls.

Currier claimed the 100-yard butterfly in 55.45 seconds, with Ingalls placing fourth in 56.73 seconds. Sara Juez added a seventh-place effort for the Jackrabbits in 57.19 seconds, with Isabella Gnewuch right behind in eighth, 57.20 seconds.

A freshman from Spokane, Washington, Ingalls came back a short time later to lead a group of six Jackrabbits to place in the top eight of the 400 individual medley. Ingalls clocked a winning time of 4 minutes, 28.54 seconds, with Kaylin de Almeida taking third in 4:33.61 and fellow freshman Kailee Crane placing fourth in 4:36.07. Claiming top-eight spots after swimming in the B final of the 400 IM were Annabelle Macadams, fifth in 4:32.42; Poppy Mead, sixth in 4:33.52, and Hailey Creary, ninth in 4:36.97.

SDSU also qualified two swimmers for the A final in the 200 freestyle as Gigi Hioki posted a runner-up time of 1;51.11 and Emma Schultz notched fourth place with a time of 1;53.40. Juez placed eighth in 1:55.41.

Hioki held the top time in the qualifying round at 1:50.70.

Rounding out the top-eight individual finishes for the Jackrabbits was Morgan Nelson, who placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke, 1:05.82.

SDSU also fared well in the relays by turning in a pair of runner-up showings. The 200 medley relay squad of Currier, Hannah Miller, Ingalls and Hioki combined for a time of 3:52.60, while the 800 freestyle relay quartet of Hioki, Schultz, Aubrey Douds and Ingalls registered a season-best time of 7:41.31.

The Jackrabbits remain in second place in the team standings with 879 points. South Dakota leads the four-team field with 1,292 points.

Competition at the Tommie Invitational concludes Saturday. Preliminary rounds begin at 10 a.m., followed by event finals at 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY EVENT WINNERS
200 Medley Relay: South Dakota (Schultz, Buhr, Mayer, Spomer), 1:42.86
3-Meter Diving: Anna Mei Castro, SDSU, 282.00
100 Butterfly: Jenna Currier, SDSU, :55.45
400 Individual Medley: Emma Ingalls, SDSU, 4:28.54
200 Freestyle: Emily Allen, Green Bay, 1:50.94
100 Breaststroke: Phoebe Pearlberg, South Dakota, 1:03.16
100 Backstroke: Grace Schultz, South Dakota, :55.28
800 Freestyle Relay: South Dakota (Diprospero, O'Shea, Leverenz, White), 7:31.66

TEAM SCORES