LOS ANGELES, Calif.-- The Roadrunner women's swimming and diving team put up solid times and scores against UC San Diego and Loyola Marymount as the 'Runners split on Saturday at the Burns Aquatic Center. The ladies picked up a 158-134 win over LMU while falling to UCSD 172-128.
After the meet, Chris Hansen, Bakersfield's Director of Swimming, was pleased with his team's performance: “It was a great win against LMU. Carlee Burks, Delise Batiza, and Paola Hernandez helped secure this win; however, Nicolette Goncalves, Audrey Willoughby, and Michaela Paige closed the deal. The women swam great today. UCSD has a much bigger team than we do and this hurts us every year.”
Hernandez (So., Lompoc, Calif., Cabrillo HS) and Batiza (Sr., San Ramon, Calif., Oregon State) gave the 'Runners big points with Top 3 finishes in five individual events. The sophomore would add two more wins on Saturday to the pair she earned earlier in the week. Hernandez won the 200 free in a time of 1:54.63 before taking the 100 free (52.77) as well. She would also finish third in the 200 IM (2:08.24) while Batiza added points from a second-place finish in the 200 back (2:08.49). The senior also earned her fifth win of the season in the 1000 free with a time of 10:28.08, her second-best of the year.
Paige (Jr., Lompoc, Calif., Cabrillo HS) added vital points for the 'Runners, placing second in two events, the 200 fly (2:06.98) and the 500 free (5:10.96). The 400 free relay quartet of Paige, Lauren Kaufman (Sr., Renton, Wash., TCU), Kelsey Lange (Jr., San José, Calif., Santa Teresa HS), and Hernandez picked up a win with a time of 3:32.47 while the anchor would also finish third in the 200 IM (2:08.24).
In the diving events, the Roadrunner women dominated UCSD's divers en route to 1-2-3 sweeps on both boards. The trio of Burks (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Centennial HS), Melissa Gore (So., Taft, Calif., Taft Union HS), and Sarah Barker (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Saint Bonaventure) impressed with solid scores while Burks won in both events. Her scores of 257.15 and 274.40 in the 1m and 3m, respectively, were both second-bests for the season.
The Roadrunners will take next weekend off before returning to competition Sunday, Jan. 25, to face off against UC Santa Cruz at home. The dual is the final meet of the season before CSUB heads to San Antonio Texas for the WAC Championships.
~www.GoRunners.com~
