BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - CSU Bakersfield senior Rachel McCall (Calgary, Alberta, National Sport School) cruised through the water to pick up two first-place finishes to lead the Roadrunner women's swimming and diving team in a 173-114 loss to UC Davis at the Hillman Aquatics Center on Saturday.

McCall recorded an all-time personal best in the 500-yard freestyle, breaking the 5-minute barrier with a winning time of 4:59.40. She also took first place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.12, beating out UC Davis' Sarah Winters by over four seconds. McCall's 4:59.40 mark in the 500 free is the second-fastest in CSUB history.

"Rachel McCall emerged as a stud. The 1:52 is big time right now, her 4:59 is a personal best time ever. I am already sad that she is graduating," said CSUB head swimming coach Chris Hansen. "These times for Rachel really put her in sights for conference titles and qualifying for the NCAA championships."

CSUB's Jordan Reed (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., Liberty HS) swept the diving events, winning the 1-meter competition with a score of 215.6 and taking the 3-meter competition with a score of 236.15. Also posting victories for CSUB were Lily Donahue (Jr., Portland, Ore., Boise State) in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:09.83, Madison Goodvin (Fr., Bakersfield, Calif., Frontier HS) in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:20 and the 400 free style team of McCall, Isabell Nystrom (Stockholm, Sweeden, Limestone College), Katrina Thomas (R-Sr., Bakersfield, Calif., Golden Valley HS) and Sara Brady (Tehachapi, Calif., Bakersfield College) with a time of 3:42.41.

Nystrom also had a strong showing in the 500 freestyle, posting a time of 5:03.90 to take second place. The mark was a personal best and is sixth fastest in CSUB history.

After the meet, Hansen was extremely pleased with CSUB's performance, saying he doesn't remember the Roadrunners ever competing with the Aggies so closely.

"We have never looked this strong against UC Davis. We won races, we raced against them and I guarantee their coach was shocked," Hanson said of his squad, which has less swimmers than Davis'. "These are times these girls should have been doing all along. They are so motivated and psyched this year and that is why they are getting these times. These girls want to swim so bad, they want to compete against these schools so bad. If we had 10 more people on our team, we would have beat UC Davis. These ladies are on track to shock people."

The CSUB women's swimming and diving team will be joined by the Roadrunner men's squad for their final home meet of the season on Saturday against Cal Baptist and Loyola Marymount at the Hilman Aquatics Center. The meet will begin at 1 p.m. and it will be senior day for the Roadrunners.

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