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UCSD Leads PCSC Championships

UC San Diego

UC San Diego underclassmen Stephanie Sin and Chandler Pourvahidi swept the 1000-yard freestyle events on the first night of the 2015 Pacific Collegiate Swimming & Diving Conference (PCSC) Championships Wednesday at the Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center.

Both marks served as meet records, with Sin's time of 10:07.10 also a new UCSD standard, besting Sophie Levy's 10:08.15 from the 2006 NCAA Championships. Pourvahidi went a personal-record 9:11.40 to move from No. 3 to No. 2 on the all-time list. Another pair of Tritons had previously held the PCSC records in current junior Kyle Nadler (9:13.52) and Erika Rodman (10:10.83), both from 2014, when the distance was first added to the program at the PCSC Championships. Pourvahidi is a sophomore from El Dorado Hills, with Sin a true freshman out of Chatsworth.

"I didn't really have the record on my mind," said Sin. "I just wanted to drop time, get my personal best, and have fun. The plan was to start strong, keep a good pace, and go after it in the last 300 (yards). It worked.

"It was a little intimidating having someone in the next lane right with me, but I just wanted to keep ahead, and was able to open it up a little bit at the end."

"The first 100 (yards), I was just too excited, and went out way faster than I should have," added Pourvahidi. "I tried to compensate, and ended up backing off too much. Around 600, I knew I had to turn it on, because (junior teammate) Howie (Chang) was on me. That last part worked perfectly. It was nice to get the record, but I'm not satisfied. I know I can go faster. I'm not where I want to be yet."

UCSD totaled five conference titles on the evening, with three individual and a sweep of the 800 freestyle relays for the fifth year running. Fourth-year senior diver Adam Springer joined Sin and Pourvahidi atop the awards podium with his first career PCSC win in the one-meter event. 

The UCSD men and women, both six-time defending PCSC champions, top the standings through four of 21 events in each division. The Triton women have 253 points and are narrowly ahead of Azusa Pacific (242) among a 12-team field.

Pourvahidi led a dominant 1-2-3-4 Triton finish in the 1000 ahead of Howie Chang (9:19.13), Sasha Mitrushina (9:20.61) and Nadler (9:30.07). Chang’s mark was a personal record, and moved him up from No. 10 to No. 8 at UCSD. Haley Hamza (10:15.65) and senior Jessica Norgaard (10:27.48) were 3-4 behind Sin, with Hamza’s mark good for sixth in program history as the freshman enters the top 10.

The women’s 800 consisted of Natalie Tang, Maddy Huttner, Dari Watkins and Catherine Woo, as the foursome timed 7:23.23 to achieve an automatic NCAA qualifier. The men’s quartet was Paul Li, Michael Cohn (Solana Beach/Grossmont College), Chang and Michael Leung (6:38.34).

Both 200 medley relays placed second, snapping a run of five straight PCSC titles for the Triton men in the event. That group included Sean Malley, AJ Zavala, Julian Jacobs and Cole Heale in 1:29.61, just getting out-touched by Fresno Pacific in 1:29.42. The women’s race was similarly close, with Austine Lee, Jaimie Bryan, Jaclyn Amog and Colleen Daley timing 1:42.61 behind Alaska in 1:42.25. UCSD’s mark was also just off the school record (1:42.23) and an A standard (1:42.07).

Senior divers Liz Bird (214.25) and fifth-year Triton Natalie Mouzooni (200.75) were fifth and seventh, respectively, in the three-meter springboard competition.

The 2015 PCSC Championships will go into full swing with two sessions on Thursday, Feb. 19. Preliminaries begin at 9 a.m., and finals at 4 p.m. Events to be contested on the second day include the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 200 free relay.

 

Pepperdine

The Pepperdine women’s swimming and diving team opened action today at the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC) Championships. Sophomore Sydney Newman led the Waves on day one with an All-PCSC performance in the 3-meter springboard.

With 181 points, Pepperdine sits in fourth place after the first day of competition. Nationally-ranked UC San Diego leads with 253 points.

Newman (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS) earned All-PCSC acclaim in the 3-meter for the second-straight season. The sophomore scored a 237.05 in the finals to place third overall, just short of her personal-record 243.65 she scored last time out at the PCSC Time Trials.

Kayla Gonzales (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty HS) and Lauren Stigers (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay HS) placed 10th and 12th, respectively.

All five Waves in the 1000 freestyle clocked season-best times, including three that went down as personal bests. Kathrine Kuhlmann (Liberty, Mo./Liberty HS) swam the 1000 for the first time in collegiate competition, and placed 16th behind a time of 11:03.10.

With a time of 11.03.38, Erin Himes (West Chester, Pa./Unionville HS) followed in 17th. Codie Cox (Sonoma, Calif./Maria Carrillo HS/Santa Rosa JC) PRed in the event with a 19th-place time of 11:15.81.

Heather Connelly (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge HS) picked up four points with her 21st place finish (11:21.70), while Cailey Stuebner (Los Altos, Calif./Mountain View HS) lowered her collegiate-best time to 12:39.06.

Sabrina Altman (Kula, Hawaii/Seabury Hall), Jessica Mosbaugh (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS), Nicolette Barreiro (Valencia, Calif./Hart HS) and Allison Naasz (Lodi, Calif./Tokay HS) earned all-conference acclaim in the 200 medley relay, combining for a sixth-place finish. Their time of 1:48.42 was their fastest of the year, thanks in part to Naasz’ 50 free split of 24.00 flat (a PR).

Pepperdine’s 800 freestyle relay team of Mosbaugh, Laura Graziano (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic HS), Connelly and Naasz placed eighth, charting a time of 7:51.09, marking their first sub-8 minute race of the season.

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