Jan. 11, 2011

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The University of San Diego placed second overall in Tuesday's Sprint Eliminator competition against crosstown rival San Diego State and Colorado State at the USD Swim Complex. The Toreros swam to a 168-148 win over Colorado State to take second place, while the Aztecs won with 304 points.

The Sprint Eliminator competition is an intense and rigorous test of one's skills in every stroke. The preliminary for every stroke narrowed down a field of 16 for two heats of eight. The round of 16 is then cut in half to the final eight athletes who swim and the winner of that race is named the champion of that stroke.

In the 50 butterfly event, USD's Kelly Stone, Francesca Finucane, and Sarah Geerdes advanced to the round of 16. All three Toreros advanced to the round of eight with Kelly Stone taking fourth place with a time of 26.35. Sarah Geerdes took seventh in 26.96 while Francesca Finucane finished in eighth place with a mark of 27.34.

In the 50 backstroke event, Kristyn Deckard, Melissa Andruzzi, Geerdes, and Finucane advanced to the round of 16. Deckard and Andruzzi advanced to the final round of eight as Deckard finished in fifth place with a time of 27.80 and Andruzzi took seventh in 29.54.

In the 50 breaststroke event, Geerdes, Andruzzi, and Jacquie Kimmel all advanced to the round of 16. Jacquie Kimmel took first place overall with a time of 31.72, one-one hundredth of a second ahead of the second place finisher. Andruzzi finished in fifth place with a time of 31.39 while Geerdes took eighth place with a 32.06 mark.

Wrapping up the day was the 50 freestyle event. Andruzzi, Finucane, and Kimmel advanced to the finals for USD. Finucane took first place overall with a time of 24.31 while teammate Andruzzi finished in fourth place overall with a time of 25.01.

The Toreros return to the water on January 21 for the two-day Beach Cup hosted by Fresno State featuring Loyola Marymount and Seattle.