March 8, 2005
MEET RESULTS
ORLANDO, Fla. – Loni Burton shattered the NCAA Division II record while winning the 50 Freestyle and Ross Farance easily walked away with the men’s 3–meter diving title in first day action at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday at the YMCA Aquatics Center in Orlando.
The convincing win on the board helped the ’Runner men move to third place with 107 team points, just five and a half points behind second place North Dakota’s 112.5. Drury leads the competition with 172 points. On the women’s side, CSUB is tied for sixth with 49 points. Drury also is on top on the women’s side with 143 points.
Burton, the 2004 NCAA II National Swimmer of the year, shattered the previous NCAA best with a blistering time of 22.72 in the 50 freestyle. Her mark was .25 seconds faster than the old record of 22.98 set in 1998 by Jamie McDaniel of Ashland. Burton struggled in her preliminary swim, slipping on her turn, but recovering to remain the top seed. In the final, it all came together.
“I couldn’t be happier with that swim,” said Burton. “It all went according to plan. Everything felt kind of slow, so I didn’t want to look at my time. When I finally looked up at the scoreboard I couldn’t believe it.“
Farance was equally dominant on the 3–meter board, putting together one of the best performances in NCAA II history, scoring 530.62 points in his 12–dive performance. The freshman finished 65 points ahead of the second place diver and would’ve won the competition without taking his final dive. The score also bettered the previous school record set by John Lucas in 1995.
“I felt unstoppable today,” Farance said. “I needed to do well today not just for myself but for the team as well. It made it become a priority. I was only thinking of the perfect time and how to do it.”
The Roadrunner men placed two in the top five in the 50 freestyle as Piotr Gegotek and Mike Trujillo finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Gegotek, who won the 100 and 200 freestyles in 2004, touched with a time of 20.75 while Trujillo touched at 20.62. Mark Soho placed fourth in the consolation final with a time of 20.99.
William Baier and Avery Wickham took 10th and 15th, respectively, in the 1,000 freestyle with times of 9:34.82 and 9:37.07.
The men’s 200 medley relay team suffered a setback in the prelims as they were edged out of the championship final by two–tenths of a second. However, the group of Matt Jones, Carl Crawford, Mansoor Al-Mansoor and Trujillo recovered well to finish first in the consolation finals.
On the women’s side, Merylie Giguere finished second in the consolation final of the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.97. Donna Gregory was 20th overall at 24.47.
The CSUB women closed out the day with an eighth place finish in the 200 medley relay. The team of Erin Craft, Tina Woodward, Stephanie Carter, Donna Gregory made it to the finals with a season–best time of 1:47.96.
Thursday features the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay, along with the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 400 individual medley and the finals of the women’s 1-meter diving competition.
California State University, Bakersfield Athletic Department
9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311-1022
Phone: (661) 654-3071 • FAX: (661) 654-2376
