The UCLA women and UC Santa Barbara men took home the A3 Performance Invitational titles on Saturday.
UC San Diego Press Release
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. - Seniors Jaimie Bryan and Gabriel Hernandez raced to individual victories as the University of California San Diego swim programs concluded the 2016 A3 Performance Invitational Saturday at East Los Angeles College (ELAC).
UC San Diego was the host of the three-day meet, the top competition on its fall schedule annually, for the eighth successive year, with ELAC Swim Stadium the venue for the fourth straight edition. Swimwear manufacturer A3 Performance was the third-year title sponsor.
The Triton men finished in second (1193) behind UC Santa Barbara (2028) and ahead of three other Division I foes in Hawai'i (971), Cal Poly (961.5) and CSU Bakersfield (696.5). The women placed sixth (575.5) in an 11-team all-Division I field. UCLA won handily (1400.5) ahead of San Diego State (1138.5). The UCSD men and women are ranked third and sixth, respectively, in Division II.
Bryan, a fourth-year Triton and first-year tri-captain, timed 2:14.61 to win the championship final of the 200-yard breaststroke. She was just off her best ever of 2:14.13, and very close to an automatic NCAA qualifier (2:13.75).
Hernandez, a first-year Triton and member of the Venezuela national team who had just broken the school standard in the 400 IM in Friday preliminaries, swam 1:46.36 to edge UCSB junior Chris Nolan (1:46.48) and take the top spot in the 200 fly.
All five UCSD divers were also in action Saturday, at the Lancer Dive Invite, hosted by California Baptist University at the Lancer Aquatics Center in Riverside. All five, in fact, became the first Tritons to officially book their tickets to Birmingham, Ala., for the 2016 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships. They will compete there in pre-qualification on the eve of the meet on Tuesday, March 7.
Sophomore Brooke Abrantes (San Diego/Santana HS) was third on both springboards, totaling 441.3 points from one meter and 466.95 from three. In the one-meter event, Tiffany Wong (433.6), Delainey Carlin (Carlsbad/Carlsbad HS/397.41) and Patty Sullivan (372.9) went 4-5-6 behind Abrantes. It was Sullivan (431.51), Wong (422.3) and Carlin (408.2) going 4-5-6 on the three-meter board. Junior Trevor Jackson (Ramona/Ramona HS) was third of three in both events (427.25 and 406.2). All scores were 11-dive totals. Jackson appears to have earned his NCAA qualifier with a six-dive mark that was not available at press time.
Back at the A3 Performance invite, more top-eight finishes Saturday night came from Alex Rodman in the women's 200 backstroke (7th, 2:01.71 B), Michael Cohn (3rd, 1:45.56 B) and CJ Pais (7th, 1:52.13) in the men's 200 back, Sawyer Farmer in the men's 100 free (7th, 45.93), fellow true freshmen Jack Spitser (4th, 15:57.15 B) and Eli Lawrence (8th, 16:04.35 B) in the 1650, and Angie Phetbenjakul in the 200 breast (6th, 2:16.19 B).
Edgar Chin (2:00.26 B) and Zach Yong (2:01.57 B) went 3-4 in the men's 200 breast, with Amanda Sumrow fifth in the 200 fly (2:01.23 B). Kevin Wylder (1:49.17 B) and Garrett Tse (1:53.71) were 5-8 behind Hernandez in the men's 200 fly.
Sophomore Lily Maxfield won the consolation final of the 200 breast in a B standard time of 2:16.37 for ninth overall.
The UC San Diego men have completed the competitive segment of the 2016 calendar year. The women will host 18th-ranked Division II rival Cal State East Bay in a swimming-only, long-course dual meet on Friday, Dec. 16, beginning at 2 p.m. at Canyonview Aquatic Center. Admission is free.
Fresno State Press Release
LOS ANGELES- The Fresno State swim team finished the second day of the A3 Performance Invitational in record-breaking fashion. Seven events took place on the second day of competition including the 200 Medley Relay, 400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke and 800 Freestyle.
Day two was highlighted by freshman Manuela Mendolicchio's fourth place finish that broke the Fresno State record for the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:02.62. The record was previously held by Brooke Rodriguez who clocked a time of 1:02.65 during the 2014-15 season.
Sophomore Ugne Mazutaityte took seventh place in the 100 Backstroke final with a time of 55.86.
In the 200 Medley Relay final, the Fresno State team of Mendolicchio, Mazutaityte, Kimberly Harbert and Hannah Jarvis took eighth place (1:45.14).
Senior Esme Gullick led the Bulldogs in the 400 IM with a fifth place finish (4:25.35). Fellow senior Kelly Simmons took 11th place in the consolation final (4:26.90).
As for the 800 Freestyle Relay final, Fresno State's team of Mazutaityte, Hunter Winslow, Katelin Britton and Emily Niles took eighth place with a time of 7:41.30.
Fresno State sits in seventh place after two days of competition with a team score of 324.5.
