Staff And Wire Reports

The SDSU women’s swimming team broke four school records en route to a third-place finish on the final day of the Summit League Championships in Rochester, Mich. on Feb. 21.

Katie Budahl became the first Jackrabbit to win an individual conference title since the move to Division I when she earned a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke. She finished with a time of 2:17.55, breaking her own school record.

Budahl is the first Jackrabbit woman to win a conference title since Diane Kelsey won her third consecutive North Central Conference 1,650 freestyle title in 1985.

“Katie had the best time coming into the meet in the 200 breaststroke (not backstroke), so it would have been an upset for her to lose that swim,” SDSU head coach Brad Erickson said. “She had a lifetime best (and lowered her own school record) 100 breaststroke on Friday, which gave her a lot of confidence going into the 200 breast on Saturday. Not only is she our first conference champion in the Summit League, but her time was also a new conference record.”

In the 1,650-yard freestyle, Christina Gerometta set a new record with a sixth-place finish in a time of 17 minutes, 51.21 seconds. Gerometta became the first woman in Jackrabbit history to finish the event in under 18 minutes. Her time was over 10 seconds faster than previous record-holder and teammate Kayleigh Boucher. Boucher finished eighth with a time of 18:00.71.

The Jackrabbit team of Gerometta, Mallory Onisk, Jessica Ferley and Sara Olenich set a record in the 400 freestyle relay when they finished in fourth place in 3:33.37. Their time was more than a second better than the previous school record set last year at the Summit League Championships.

Onisk set a school record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2 minutes, 5.5 seconds. She broke her own record she set in 2006.

Of the 12 records that were broken in the three-day event, Onisk was a part of seven of them.

“Just like the men’s team, our women swam exceptionally well. The last three years in a row, we have broken between 12-18 records,” Erickson said. “Each year, the athletes have risen to the challenge to perform better and better. It is fun to watch them progress, and even more exciting to see their reaction to how well they do.”

The Jackrabbits earned 493.5 points over the three-day event, which was good enough for third. Oakland won its 10th straight Summit League Championship.