By Aaliyah Stuart (aaliyah.stuart4) – Spear Reporter | Junior Ashley Jackson performing in the 100-yard breaststroke. (Photo by Soren Stanton – The Spartan Daily)
San Jose State (4-2) wrapped up its regular season and celebrated Senior Day with a dual meet at home, where it fell to Fresno State (5-1) 151-105.
“It was a great day, we always make this meet really important. I couldn’t be more happy as a coach,” SJSU head coach Sage Hopkins said.
While the Spartans struggled against Fresno State in the first event, the 400-yard medley relay, they began to find their footing in the third event, the 200-yard freestyle. Redshirt senior Stephanie Sifferman placed first (1:49.66), and redshirt junior Mya Azzopardi placed second (1:50.60), racking up a consecutive 13 points.
The Spartans also went on to finish in the top in four of the other events, including 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly, and 200-yard freestyle relay. Three Spartan swimmers finished in the top four in the 100-yard freestyle.
With senior day in full effect, many swimmers appeared in high spirits as their loved ones came to support them for the final home meet of their careers.
“I feel good. I feel like the sport deserves more recognition over here…it for sure motivates us to swim faster and beat our dual team,” Azzopardi said.
Aside from her performance in the 200-yard freestyle, Azzopardi participated in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing seventh (51.62), and the 200-yard freestyle relay, placing second in the second relay heat.
Redshirt senior Ela Freiman contributed greatly to this team’s effort, placing in the top two for the 200-yard butterfly (2:00.30) and 200-yard IM (2:00.26). Senior Laís e Silva led the Spartans to a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with her time of 23.51.
Senior Laís e Silva diving into the water during SJSU’s meet against Fresno State. (Photo by Soren Stanton – The Spartan Daily)
Despite the loss, the Spartan swimmers seemed to enjoy their last home meet as a team.
“It’s a great atmosphere and energy the rest of the team brings…to honor the seniors. We had a boatload of best times, we almost broke a couple of pool records,” Hopkins said.
The graduating seniors hope to leave a positive impact on the underclassmen who are continuing their time at SJSU.
“I want to show them that today is not just about swimming. You also have to have fun during the process. You put in the work and see results…and you’re still there for your teammates, and we finished good,” Silva said.
As this team prepares to compete for a championship, they continue to rally around each other and improve “every single day”.
“Mentally, we block all the noise outside. The countdown is two weeks out. We’re there. As our coach says, ‘Get excited because we put in the work and we’re ready to go,’” senior Andreea Dragoi said.
The Mountain West Championship will take place on Feb. 18-21 in Houston, Texas.
