HOUSTON – The final night of the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Championships for swimming and diving came to a close, but not before the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners broke five more school records and added another WAC title to their resume.
“The women had a great meet,” said Chris Hansen, Director of Swimming at CSUB, after the Championships. “We were 25 points away from second place. That is big time. Michaela, Kelsey, Dylana, Carlee, Nicolette, and Chrisy took charge and scored a lot of points this week. I am super proud of this entire team!”
The Roadrunner women surprised the WAC, which chose CSUB to finish sixth in the pre-championship coaches' poll, by placing fourth. CSUB was only 25 points behind second-place NM State as the 'Runners were in the hunt for a top spot the entire meet.
On the men's side, Bakersfield finished sixth in the WAC Championships. The 'Runners scored 309 points and were only 35 points behind fifth-place North Dakota.
Women
Senior Michaela Paige narrowly missed out on making the A-finals in the 200 fly on Saturday morning. Paige's time of 2:04.29 in the prelim was a season-best, but was half a second shy of the A-final as she finished 10th. Freshman Lexi Cannon finished 20th with a personal-best of 2:10.64, almost two seconds better than her previous low time.
“Michaela had a disappointing prelim but came back strong to win the B-final and break her own CSUB record,” said Hansen. Paige dominated her B-final competitors, winning by almost five seconds and posting a time (2:00.15) that would have claimed the bronze medal had she been in the A-final. Regardless, Paige cemented her legacy in the CSUB record book. The senior lowered her own 200 fly CSUB record and will graduate with two school individual records (200 fly and 500 free) and as a member of three relay records (400 medley, 400 free, and 800 free).
Junior Dylana Milobar continued a great WAC meet by crushing the CSUB record (2:19.43) with her time of 2:18.11 in the 200 breast prelim. The native of Kamloops, B.C. qualified for the A-final in fifth while freshman Summer D'Arcy posted another personal best (2:20.86) to finish ninth. D'Arcy's time was good enough to put the Redlands, Calif. native into third all-time for CSUB.
In the 200 breast finals, Milobar lowered her own school record by two whole seconds (2:16.11) in a fifth-place finish, earning Second Team All-WAC honors. “Dylana shattered the school record again tonight,” said Hansen. “That was a big time swim for her.”
Senior Kelsey Lange and junior Paola Hernandez finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 100 free prelim, setting up a huge scoring opportunity for the 'Runners in the A-final. Senior Chrisy Vo also guaranteed points for the 'Runners by improving her personal best to 51.78 and qualifying 14th in the B-final.
In the evening's finals, the pair of A-finalists amped up the speed as Hernandez took the silver medal and Lange finished third (50.69) for bronze. Hernandez's time of 50.45 placed the junior third all-time for CSUB. “Paola, Kelsey, and Chrisy really showed up tonight,” said Hansen. “Their experience has been so valuable for us this meet.” Hernandez and Lange each earned First Team All-Conference for their performances on Saturday.
Another school record fell when CSUB's quartet of Paige, Hernandez, Vo, and Lange posted a time of 3:20.55 in the 400 free relay. The time was good enough to lower CSUB's record by half of a second and earn Bakersfield another WAC title. The 'Runners defeated the next closest team, Grand Canyon, by over 2.5 seconds to close the meet Saturday night.
In the 200 back prelim, Nicolette Goncalves posted a time of 2:03.12. The senior's mark was good enough for sixth overall and a spot in the A-final Saturday night. Junior Felicia Zamora also swam well, finishing 19th in the prelim while lowering her personal best in the event by three seconds (2:08.93). In the finals, Goncalves finished sixth, earning Second Team All-WAC honors and lowering her personal best time to 2:02.59. “I was so happy to see Nicolette's final swim be a best time,” said Hansen of his senior swimmer.
Freshman Sabrina Zavala posted a 1650 free time of 17:04.59 to claim fifth and earn Second Team All-WAC. “Sabrina was great tonight,” said Hansen. “We needed that from her. She came through at the right time. Her 1000 split (10:18.94) ranks her second all-time and her mile ranks third.”
Junior Carlee Burks finished 13th in the platform prelims with a score of 182.30. Burks went on to jump up to 10th with a second-place finish in the B-final, earning eight vital points for the 'Runners. The native of Bakersfield broke 200 points for the first time (201.35) in her career, narrowly missing out on the NCAA Zone E qualifying mark for platform diving.
Burks' season is not yet over as she will compete at the Zone E meet in early March. The Centennial High School graduate qualified on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards earlier this season. “Carlee finished 10th and those were much needed points for us,” said Hansen.
Men
Not to be outdone by the women's 400 free relay team, the men's squad of Lovre Soric, Mihael Vukic, Bryce Timonera, and Christopher Salcido also broke the school record. “This relay was one of the best relays this men's team has had. Lovre's lead-off leg was also a CSUB record in the 100 free.” Soric posted a lead-off time of 44.32, claiming the eleven-year-old school record (Piotr Gegotek, 2005) by just .02 seconds. CSUB's relay team finish third on Saturday with a time of 2:57.14, earning Second Team All-WAC honors.
Soric, a sophomore, also tied for ninth in the prelims of the 200 back on Saturday morning. The Croatian posted a time of 1:48.00 while fellow sophomore Mario Vasquez qualified for the B-final in 13th with a time of 1:49.34. “Mario trains so hard and I am so proud of him,” said Hansen. “He had a great meet.”
In the 200 back finals, Soric finished 14th with a time of 1:48.70. While the Croatian sophomore was a bit off in the event, he had a great first three days of the Championships and will be a leader for the up and comping 'Runner men's squad.
Vukic, a Croatian junior, lowered his personal best in the 100 free by one tenth of a second to 44.75 while qualifying for the B-final. Salcido, a freshman from Maryville, Tenn., was close behind at 44.91 to finish 18th while both 'Runners were less than three tenths of a second outside of the CSUB Top 5 in the event.
Vukic finished 13th in the final with a time of 44.81 while Salcido lowered his personal best to 44.63. “Chris swam the fifth-fastest time in CSUB history, pushing Mitchell Huxhold out,” Hansen said of his standout freshman who would later be pushed out of the Top 5 by Soric's 400 free relay split. “Chris had an amazing meet.”
Freshman Jake Chir led the 'Runners in the 200 breast prelims, posting a season-best time by over two seconds (2:05.72) while qualifying for the B-final in 15th. Fellow freshman Greg Lee improved his season-best time by almost three seconds (2:06.71), just missing out on the B-final in 17th. Chir went on to lower his personal best two more seconds (2:03.70) and earned rave reviews from his coach: “Jake's 200 breast was on point tonight. He had all personal best times this weekend.”
In the 1650 free finals, a pair of 'Runners earned Second Team All-WAC honors. Freshman Owen van Krimpen finished seventh with a time of 15:41.24 and senior Carson May was one spot behind with a time of 15:41.72. “It was great to see a freshman and senior score Top 8 in the mile today with Owen and Carson,” said Hansen.
Both the CSUB men's and women's teams have some NCAA B cuts floating on the bubble after the WAC Championships. The 'Runners will have to wait and see if they have any swimmers in the Top 30 of their events as invitations to the National Championships could be in the future for CSUB.
~GoRunners.com~
