The Fresno State swimming and diving team opened its 2019-20 swim season by finishing in the Chick-Fil-A Invitational.

The Bulldogs welcomed schools such as Cal, San Diego State University (SDSU), San Jose State University (SJSU), University of New Mexico and Washington State University for the two-day invitational, which featured 20 events over the span of three sessions.

The first day concluded with Cal finishing on top scoring a total of 812.5 points, followed by SDSU with 537.5 then Fresno State with 126.5. Washington State (106), New Mexico (95) and SJSU (83) rounded out the bottom three for day one.

For event one, in the 200-yard medley relay, the team of Athena Clayson, Megan Ridenour, Kimberly Harbert and Anna Moers finished in sixth place for the Bulldogs. In the 500 freestyle, Fresno State’s Darina Khisiamova would finish in ninth and in the 200-yard individual medley (IM), Manuela Mendolicchio finished in seventh.

One of the strongest performances from session one would come in event five, as the Bulldogs took fifth in the 200 freestyle relay. Another standout performance for Fresno State was freshman Yuliya Tikhaya finishing in fourth in the 3-meter diving with a score of 243.20.

Fresno State would take part in two events in the second session of day one. Khisiamova would finish in fifth place in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:36.10, and with the team of Khisiamova, Clayson, Emily Cutler and Marissa Johnson, the Bulldogs would take fourth in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Day two of the invitational hosted the back end of the 20 events. The day kicked off with the 400-yard medley relay, with the team of Clayson, Mendolicchio, Harbert and Cutler placing seventh out of 21 teams.

In the 1650-yard freestyle, Khisiamova finished in sixth place, while Clayson finished in fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with a finishing time of 2:02.85. 

Both Mendolicchio and Harbert had strong performances in their events as Mendolicchio finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke and Harbert finished fourth in the 200-yard butterfly. 

Harbert’s performance was highlighted by head coach Jeanne Fleck following the invitational.

“That was a great race for her,” Fleck said. “She is our number one flyer and we depend on her … It’s great to see her stepping up to the plate as a senior.”

The final event featured the team of Clayson, Johnson, Harbert and Cutler in the 400-yard freestyle relay, who would tie for fifth place to wrap up the meet. 

The standings from the end of day one would remain the same with Cal on top with 1301 points, SDSU with 813, Fresno State with 420.50 points, New Mexico (366), Washington State (361.50) and SJSU with 213.

The Bulldogs welcomed 14 new faces to the swimming and diving team this year. Fleck was very happy with the young team’s performance as it managed to hold its own against fellow conference teams, as well as PAC-12 competition.

“For us to come in here and get third is a step in the right direction,” Fleck said.