THIS WEEKEND - SPARTANS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON IN FRESNO
The San Jose State University women's swimming and diving team concludes both a three-week road stretch, as well as the regular-season portion of its 2009-10 schedule, in Fresno, Calif., this Saturday, February 6. The Spartans take on Western Athletic Conference rival Fresno State at Clovis North Aquatics Complex on the campus of Clovis North High School, beginning at 12:00 p.m. San Jose State will head to Fresno in vans on Saturday morning, and return to San Jose immediately after the meet.

San Jose State enters the dual meet with an 11-3 record and on a streak of seven straight victories since the start of the new year. Fresno State is 3-9 in its second year back in existence as a women's swimming and diving program. San Jose State already topped Fresno State once this season, 176-66, during the WAC Shootout in October. Following Saturday, the Spartans will have just 15 days left of preparation for the 2010 WAC Championship, as they travel to San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, February 22.

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY (11-3)
at FRESNO STATE (3-9)
CLOVIS NORTH AQUATICS COMPLEX, FRESNO, CALIF.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 12:00 P.M.

SAN JOSE STATE (11-3) at FRESNO STATE (3-9)
Fresno State is coming off a third-place performance at the Beach Cup in Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, January 23. The Bulldogs scored 270 points to conclude the competitive event behind the University of San Diego (279), a conference foe, and host Loyola Marymount University (275).

Sophomore Heidi Gjoen, a native of Oslo, Norway, earned first-place finishes at the Beach Cup in both backstroke races, timing 59.24 in the 100 and 2:04.77 in the 200.

The Bulldogs have won both of their home meets at Clovis North Aquatics Complex this season, over Pacific (130-107) on January 14 and Cal State Bakersfield (183-114) two days later. Fresno State did not have any home contests in 2008-09. The program is still awaiting the completion of its on-campus pool.

The Fresno State women's swimming and diving program was cut following the 2003-04 season. It was brought back on January 7, 2007, with Jeanne Fleck being appointed head coach after spending nine years at Ohio State. The Bulldogs have 15 swimmers on their 2009-10 roster. Taryn Patrick, a former national champion in the platform event at Kentucky, leads a group of five Fresno State divers.

Fresno State finished ninth at the 2009 WAC Championship. In its previous appearance in 2004, Fresno State placed sixth out of six competing teams, with 166 points. San Jose State was fifth that year with 329 points. The Bulldogs finished ahead of the Spartans at the meet in the seven years prior to 2004.

RECENT MEETS AGAINST FRESNO STATE
San Jose State won the earlier meeting with Fresno State this season, 176-66, on the first day of the 2009 Western Athletic Conference Shootout on October 9. The Spartans topped the Bulldogs a total of three times in duals last season. San Jose State raced past Fresno State, 198-80, in a double-dual at UC Santa Cruz on October 18, 2008, then 240-57 in another double-dual at UC Davis on January 10, 2009, and finally, 177-103 on Senior Day at The Aquatics Center in San Jose on February 7. Sage Hopkins is a perfect 4-0 against Fresno State as a head coach.

Prior to last season, the teams previously met in dual competition on February 7, 2004, with the Spartans coming away with a 158.5-125.5 victory on Senior Day in San Jose. Fresno State won at home, 180-120, on February 8, 2003, with San Jose State winning in another home finale the year before, 171-129, on February 9, 2002.

ORDER OF EVENTS
The day will follow a standard collegiate 16-event dual format. The meet will begin with the 200 medley relay, and end with the 200 freestyle relay. The full order of swimming events is as follows: 200 medley relay, 1000 free, 200 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 fly, 50 free, 100 free, 200 back, 200 breast, 500 free, 100 fly, 200 IM and 200 free relay. There will be two breaks, after the 50 free and 100 fly. Both the one-meter and three-meter springboard diving events will also take place.

SCORING
Individual events during this Saturday's dual meet will be scored to five places (1st-9; 2nd-4; 3rd-3; 4th-2; 5th-1). Relays will be scored to three places (1st-11; 2nd-4; 3rd-2). No more than three individuals or two relay foursomes per team can accumulate points in a given event.

SPARTANS RUN PAST 'RUNNERS, SLUG SLUGS
San Jose State produced the top times in 11 of 16 events, including both relays to start and finish the day, in rolling to the sweep of a double-dual meet at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, January 30. The Spartans out-scored the host 'Runners, 172-113, while defeating the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, 191-115. Sophomore Heather Denman won three more individual events, against both opponents.

SAGE HOPKINS VERSUS ALMA MATER
Sage Hopkins, a 1997 cum laude graduate of Cal State Bakersfield, is a perfect 7-0 in dual meets against his alma mater as a head coach. As a member of the 'Runners, Hopkins was a team captain and seven-time All-American. He was also an assistant coach for the CSUB men's squad from 1995-97.

UPCOMING
The 2010 Western Athletic Conference Championship takes place at the Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday, February 24, through Saturday, February 27.
 
WAC TO STREAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Western Athletic Conference, in conjunction with its website partner, JumpTV Sports, has announced it will stream the finals of all four nights of the 2010 WAC Swimming & Diving Championship, February 24-27. Viewers can sign up by visiting www.WAC.tv.

The championship will be held at the Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas. On Wednesday, February 24, there will be finals in two relays, the 200 medley and 800 freestyle. Viewers that sign up will be able to watch those two events for free. Full schedules begin Thursday, with finals in several events the next three nights. Each of those three nights can be viewed for a subscription fee of $5.95, or a full championship package can be purchased for $9.95. Finals begin at 4:30 p.m. PT on all four nights.

More information, and how to subscribe to any of these video streaming events, can be found at www.WAC.tv. Due to the previously announced venue change for platform diving, the finals for that event will not be shown.

2010 WAC CHAMPIONSHIP CHANGES VENUES
The Western Athletic Conference announced on Tuesday, January 12, that the 2010 WAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championship will be moved to a different facility within the San Antonio, Texas, area due to maintenance issues. The championship has been conducted at Palo Alto College Natatorium in 12 of the last 14 years, but will be moved to the Josh Davis Natatorium in northern San Antonio due to mechanical problems at Palo Alto that will not be fixed by the start of the meet.

The schedule of events will remain virtually the same as in previous years, beginning on Wednesday, February 24, and running through Saturday, February 27. The one difference is that since the Josh Davis Natatorium does not have a tower for platform diving, that event will be held at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center at the University of Texas at Austin, about 75 miles from San Antonio, on Wednesday, February 24. The one-meter and three-meter springboard diving events will be held at the Josh Davis Natatorium, but will be conducted on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

SPARTANS AMONG WAC LEADERS
Heather Denman has turned in the fastest times in the Western Athletic Conference this season in the 100 back, 200 back and 100 fly, while Meghan McCurley has the second-best mark in the 50 free and fourth-best in the 100. Freshman diver Amy Kilby is second-best on the platform, fifth-best on one meter and 10th-best from three meters. The Spartans have the top performances in four of the five relay events, the 200 and 400 free, and 200 and 400 medley relays.