BAKERSFIELD, Calif.-- The Roadrunner men's swimming and diving teams cruised to a victory over Cal Baptist at the Hillman Aquatics Complex on Saturday. CSU Bakersfield dominated the distance events on their way to a 180-120 win over the Lancers.
“We had a fantastic meet today,” said Chris Hansen, Bakersfield's Director of Swimming. “Mitchell Huxhold, Mihael Vukic, and Lovre Soric all won some events today. Dennis Cassidy and Mario Vasquez were swimming in off events because we are down a breaststroker. They both did really well in those events and they scored points.” The Roadrunners trained hard leading into the meet as they had some time off from competition after an outstanding showing at the A3 Performance Invitational.
Huxhold (Sr., Escondido, Calif., San Pasqual HS) and Vukic (So., Zabok, Croatia, Louisville) led CSU Bakersfield as both earned wins in each event they entered on Saturday. The senior from California won three events and helped the 400 free relay team to a first-place finish with a time of 3:11.53. To open his individual events, Huxhold coasted to an easy win in the 1000 free in a performance that impressed his coach: “This was probably Mitchell's best dual meet of the year so far. The 9:29.35 in the 1000 free was a cruise, so that was good to see.” The time lowers Huxhold's season-best in the event by four seconds.
To prove his endurance and talent, Huxhold only had the women's 200 free to recover before he jumped back in the pool and won the men's 200 free (1:41.71). He would later finish off his strong day with a first-place finish in the 500 free (4:37.26). He and his teammates dominated the distance events as he, Bryant Fascio (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif., Rancho Cucamonga HS), and Gabriel Bertrand (Sr., Tibro, Sweden, Nykopingssimg Gymnasium) swept the 500 free while Fascio and Carson May (Jr., Covina, Calif., Damien HS) helped Huxhold sweep the 1000 free.
Vukic dominated the 100-yard events, picking up wins in the 100 free (46.47) and the 100 fly (50.52). The sophomore from Croatia had to throw on the brakes in the 100 free as his first split was an impressive 21.91. Vukic would go on to not only help the 400 free relay team to a win, but also aid the 200 medley relay team which won (1:34.19). Fellow Croatian Soric (Fr., Zagreb, Croatia, X. Gimnazija Ivan Supek) also picked up a pair of wins for the 'Runners as he took the 50 free (21.81) in his first go at the event this season as well as the 200 IM (1:56.83).
In the diving events, Tyler Greenwald (So., Henderson, Nev., Coronado HS) placed second for the 'Runners on both boards. Greenwald scored 256.05 in the 1m before earning 263.62 points in the 3m event. Both were season-high scores for the sophomore, improving his previous best by at least 10 points in each event.
“As long as the men get one more win, we will solidify a winning season,” said Hansen of his team which improved to 4-1 on the year. “It was fun. I couldn't be happier with the result.” The Roadrunner men will return to action next month when they take on WAC foe UNLV here at the Hillman Aquatics Complex on Jan. 6.
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