SAN ANTONIO, Texas-- The CSU Bakersfield women's swimming and diving team celebrated two more WAC titles on Saturday to close the Western Athletic Conference Championships. Kelsey Lange (Jr., San José, Calif., Santa Teresa HS) and the 400 free relay team both WAC Champions on the final day of competition.
The 'Runners finished fifth overall with 438 points but were just 9.5 points off the third-place team. “For the women to be that close to third with our numbers is pretty remarkable, really,” said Chris Hansen, Director of Swimming at CSUB. Northern Arizona ran away with the team title by scoring 666 points.
After becoming a WAC Champion in the 200 freestyle on Friday, Lange stayed hot by qualifying in first for the finals of the 100 free on Saturday. A total of five 'Runners advanced to the B-final or better while Paola Hernandez (So., Lompoc, Calif., Cabrillo HS) joining Lange in the A-final by qualifying third.
In the final, Lange and Hernandez were neck and neck the entire race but Lange edged her teammate to earn the gold medal and her second individual WAC title of the meet. Lange's final time was 50.59 - fourth-best all-time CSUB - while Hernandez finished just a hair behind at 50.90 to earn the silver medal. The 'Runners earned a total of 50 points towards the team score thanks to four more swimmers earning points in the B-final.
In the final women's event of the evening, the CSUB 400 free relay team repeated its 2014 performance and earned its second straight WAC title. The quartet of Hernandez, Lauren Kaufman (Sr., Renton, Wash., TCU), Nicolette Goncalves (Jr., Mississauga, Ontario, Erindale Secondary School) - who stepped in for an injured teammate -, and Lange finished the race in a time of 3:22.82 which is the second-fastest time for CSUB all-time. “I was really proud of the relay team!” said Hansen. “Nicolette was great as she stepped in to take Michaela's place. With the 100 free win and the relay win, that makes Kelsey a four-time WAC Champion!”
Dylana Milobar (So., Kamloops, B.C., Valleyview Secondary School) lowered her 200 breast prelim time of 2:24.46 to 2:19.65 in the B-final in which she finished first. The sophomore's time was just .22 seconds off of the CSUB all-time record (2:19.43) set by Rachel McCall in 2011 and lowers Milobar's own personal best by .01.
Lucy Sanderson (London, England, Kelley College) finished 10th in both the 200 back and the 200 fly on Saturday to earn 14 points for the 'Runners. “Lucy had a really good day,” said her coach. “It was good to see her step up and play.” Sanderson's time of 2:03.24 in the 200 back snuck the sophomore into third all-time for CSUB in the event. She also lowered her CSUB fifth-best all-time mark in the 200 fly by .13 (2:06.23).
A few 'Runners made NCAA “B” cuts at the WAC Championships, so, the season is not necessarily over for all of the CUSB swimmers. The CSUB divers will also keep going as multiple women qualified for the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships which will take place Mar. 9-11 at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
~GoRunners.com~
