BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield men's and women's swimming and diving teams will close out February with their most important meet of the season. The Roadrunners will travel to Houston, Texas to take on the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Feb. 24-27.
The 2015 Championships saw the 'Runner men finish fifth of seven teams while the ladies placed fifth of eight. Chris Hansen, CSUB's Director of Swimming, believes both teams have a shot to finish among the top three teams in the conference.
“I truly believe the women can do something really special,” Hansen said. “We have won the 400 and 800 free relays the last two years, the question is, can we go a third year having graduated Lauren Kaufman and Delise Batiza? I think we can.”
Hansen is looking to a group of upperclassmen to lead CSUB's women's squad this week: “Michaela Paige has seemed to stay healthy after her surgery and seniors Nicolette Goncalves and Chrisy Vo are more than ready to take the voided spots. If we can add another relay event victory, continue having Kelsey Lange and Michaela Paige winning individual events and have Carlee Burks continue diving the way she has been, I really think we can battle for top three. We have a really strong top group of Paola Hernandez, Dylana Milobar, Burks, Paige, Lange, Vo and Goncalves. It's the rest of the women we need to depend on. If they all step up, we might just shock the top teams.”
On the men's side, Hansen expects his youthful squad to impress the WAC: “We have so many talented people on this very young team. The team is really going in blind with Lovre Soric and Brayden Greenwald being the only two returning top 8 finalists on the entire team. Like the women, we really have a chance to battle for a top three finish.
“We will need to rely heavily on our freshman,” said Hansen, who has enjoyed watching the young group excel this season. “Jake Chir, Justice Kramer, Christopher Salcido and Owen van Krimpen will need to play a big part on scoring points that we lost to graduation with Mitchell Huxhold and Gabriel Bertrand. Transfer Bryce Timonera and Junior Mihael Vukic will also play a very important role. I have been waiting all year for this team to come together and do something big. This just might be the time.”
The WAC Championships will begin Wednesday morning with the women's 1-meter diving and the men's 3-meter. Prelims for both diving and swimming events will take place each morning while finals will take place each afternoon. Just like last year's Championships, the finals of each night will be live streamed for free via the WAC Digital Network.
For links to live stats, the video stream for each night's finals, and more information on the WAC Championships, visit the Championship Central here. Come back to GoRunners.com at the end of each day of competition for full results and a recap.
~GoRunners.com~
