LONG BEACH, Calif.--The CSU Bakersfield swimming teams got off to a solid start at the Arena Invitational Thursay night.
Michaela Paige (Fr., Lompoc, Calif., Cabrillo HS) broke the school record in the 500 freestyle when she recorded a time of 4:55.66 in the finals of the eventto finish 19th overall.
Delise Batiza (So., San Ramon, Calif., Oregon State) also qualified for the finals in the 500 where she finished 28th in the fourth fastest time in school history (4:59.26).
In relay action, the 200 free squad of Ali Gillespie (So., Huntington Beach, Calif., Oregon State), Lauren Kaufman (So., Renton, Wash., TCU), Christy Vo (Fr., Portland, Ore., Reynolds HS), and Louise Westergren (Sr., Malmo, Sweden, Pro Civtas HS) were 11th in a time of 1:35.21 which is the fourth quickest in school history.
The 400 medley relay of Jeanette Dove (Jr., Fontana, Calif., UC Santa Cruz), Gillespie, Nicolette Goncalves (Fr., Mississauga, Ontario, Erindale Secondary School), and Kelsey Lange (Fr., San Jose, Calif., Santa Teresa HS) tallied the third fastest time in school history, 3:52.28, to place 12th.
Counting times recorded in the preliminaries, a total of six Roadrunner peformances will be found in the All-Time CSUB Top 5.
"Our women really impressed tonight," said CSUB director of swimming Chris Hansen. "I think the team was upset that they weren't included in the midmajor poll that came out today. I think they are going to use this weekend to prove that they belong."
The CSUB men, who are ranked ninth in the current MidMajor Division I poll, earned its top finish in the 200 free relay when Joao Foresto (R-Sr., Marilia, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Cristol Rei HS), Mitch Wurm (Sr., Mesa, Ariz., Dobson HS), Fran Cverle (Jr., Zagreb, Croatia, Limestone College), and Alex Daneke (R-Sr., Lodi, Calif., UC Davis) came home eighth (1:23.43).
The 400 medley relay of Daneke, Brett Emery (Fr., Sacramento, Calif., Bella Vista HS), Dan Wickensheimer (Sr., Fort Wayne, Ind., Bakersfield Stockdale HS), and Cverle were ninth (3:24.40).
Wurm was 20th in the 50 free (:20.88). Dennis Cassidy (So., Whittier, Calif., La Serna HS) was 24th in the 500 freestyle (4:37.32). Cverle recorded a personal best time in the 50 free of :20.29 which occured in the non-scoring final.
"Fran had a great day and swam really well," said Hansen. "Overall, the team were inconsistent and will have to step up,"
The Arena Invitational continues Friday with prelims starting at 9 a.m. and finals getting underway a 6 p.m.
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