HOUSTON — A second school record fell and three all-time top five times were achieved by the CSUB men's swimming and diving team Thursday at the Conference USA Championships in the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of University of Houston.
The 400 medley relay team of Luka Leskur, Chad McKenzie, Matt Parsonage and Malcolm Reid closed out the second night of competition by placing second in 3:16.49, which is an NCAA “B” qualifying time and breaks the CSUB school record of 3:17.62 set in 2004 by Seth Dawson, Greg Mroz, Bobby Dmytrow and Piotr Gegotek.
“It's bittersweet because we can't go (to the NCAA Championships), but this was a big time swim for us,” said Head Coach Chris Hansen. “And we only lose one person off this relay team (next year).”
In addition to three record breaking relay, the Roadrunners got all-time tip five marks from three individuals. In the 50 free, Reid swam a 20.41 in Thursday's preliminaries, which ranks as the third fastest time in CSUB history. Later, in the championship finals, Reid posted a 20.52, placing sixth overall.
McKenzie and Jake Priest both made the championship finals in the 200 IM, and both entered CSUB's top five list. McKenzie placed fourth in 1:48.72, the second fastest time in school history, and Priest placed fifth in 1:49.29, the fourth fastest time in school history. Both times were also NCAA "B" cuts
Four Roadrunners achieved personal best times in the 500 free, led by Keenan Natyzak's 4:36.67 in his preliminary heat. The sophomore, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury for the past month, used the PR time to qualify for the championship finals, where he finished eighth in 4:41.41.
“After not being able to swim for the past month, Keenan really sucked it up tonight and got into the top eight,” said Hansen. “He's in a lot of pain, but the whole team is grateful.”
Vance Elmore and Bobby Klagge reached the consolation finals with personal best times of 4:39.78 and 4:41.62, respectively, in their preliminary heats. Nick Cavazos also swam a personal best time of 4:48.62.
A second quartet of Roadrunners set personal best times in the 50 free, led by Reid's top-five mark. Parsonage earned a berth in the consolation finals with a PR 20.84 preliminary time. He finished 13th overall in 20.95. Dan Wickensheimer (21.36) and Mark Silvius (21.52) also lowered the persona best times.
Through 14 events, Bakersfield sits in third in the team standings with 191 points. Southern Methodist (313 points) leads the field, followed by University of Hawaii (259). University of North Dakota (123 points) is fourth and East Carolina (112 points) is fifth.
“Our level of excitement great and we really want to stay in the top three,” said Hansen. “We couldn't be happier about where we sit right now.”
Friday's slate consists of the 200 free relay, the 400 IM, the 100 fly, the 200 free, the 100 breast, the 100 back and men's three-meter diving.
