Brie Marhenke swept the sprint freestyle events as San Jose State University and Western Athletic Conference rival University of Nevada competed to a thrilling 150-150 tie in women’s swimming and diving action at The Aquatics Center on Saturday, February 4.

Six senior San Jose State swimmers were recognized prior to the start on Senior Day: captain Alli Adams, Lisa Covey, Nicole Green, Annette Halloran, Kelly Thoni and Stephanie Carter. The dual meet constituted the regular season finale for both squads. With the tie, San Jose State closes its dual meet schedule with a record of 6-5-1. Nevada finishes at 12-1-1.

In the second close contest between the conference rivals this season, the Spartans held a two-point advantage at 133-131, heading into the final two events of the afternoon. Nevada took first- and third-place through Li Bei (2:08.86) and Sha Sha (2:12.66) in the 200 IM, while Adams was second for SJSU in 2:10.73. Beste Erener, a freshman out of Istanbul, Turkey, appearing in her first meet as a Spartan, finished fourth in 2:14.07. Mallory Welker of Nevada rounded out the event scorers in fifth-place (2:14.14). Those results put the score at 144-139, in favor of the visiting Wolf Pack.

The San Jose State foursome of Thoni, Covey, China Cho and Marhenke won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:31.00 to grab the 11 first-place points, but Nevada swimmers took both second- and third-place, the six points enough to knot the final score. The Spartan B team was just .45 seconds behind the Wolf Pack in fourth place.

The Spartans had lost by just one point to Nevada earlier this season, also in San Jose, back on December 3, 149-148. San Jose State was looking for its first dual meet win over the Wolf Pack since the 1985-86 season.

“This was definitely our best meet of the year,” commented first-year interim Spartan head coach Sage Hopkins. “This is the strongest we have shown against Nevada in 20 years, since the 1985-86 team. Both teams came ready to race against each other. The times were significantly faster than the December meet for both teams.”

Marhenke finished the dual season with a perfect 12-0 record in the 50 free, winning the event Saturday in 23.66. She also finished first in the 100 free in 52.78. Cho finished third in each event, in times of 24.70 and 53.73, respectively, with Thoni coming in second in the 50 in 24.47. Cho was also third in the 200 free (1:55.56)

Spartan swimmers won nine of the 14 races on the afternoon, with both diving events going to Wolf Pack athletes. Adams swept the breaststroke events in 1:05.91 and a lifetime-best 2:22.47, which moves her up to third on the all-time Spartan chart in the 200 breast.

“This was one of the most fun meets I have had in my four years as a Spartan,” said Adams. “It was great to see all of us stepping up. You could tell how much we wanted it. The finishes were awesome.”

Added fellow fourth-year team member Covey, “We improved on everything we had talked about that we wanted to improve on.”

Amanda Carr was a third double event-winner for San Jose State, topping both distance freestyle events. Carr swam 10:29.19 in the 1000 to finish ahead of sophomore teammate Melissa Logan (10:34.93) in second place, and turned in a first-place mark of 5:05.89 in the 500 free.

Corinne Wilson was first in the 200 free in a lifetime-best time of 1:54.21, and third in the 500 free (5:09.28). Fellow freshman Katey Nelson won the 200 back in 2:06.19.

“I definitely had mixed emotions about today,” commented Green, another one of a total of four fourth-year Spartans. I was excited, but sad at the same time. I’m real proud of the team and how we stepped up today. It’s a great group of girls and we let it show today.”

San Jose State achieved eight lifetime-best marks and nine season-best marks for the meet.

The only multi-individual event winner for Nevada was Devon Owen, who won on both the one-meter (292.95) and three-meter (322.50) diving boards.

The San Jose State women’s swimming and diving team will now take two and a half weeks to prepare for the 2006 WAC Championship, to be held in San Antonio, Texas, February 22-25.

“We have a real good chance at the top three,” said Adams. “The best we’ve done is fifth. The dominant teams (SMU and Rice) are gone, and it is going to be wide open. If we show as much heart as we did today, we’re going to do really well.”

Said Covey, “Everybody, including myself, are ready to beat Nevada at WAC.”