BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Roadrunner men's swimming and diving team wrapped up the 2015-16 dual season by taking on No. 2 California on Thursday. The Bears took control of the meet, winning every swimming event, but the 'Runners hung around and eventually fell by a score of 119-113 at the Hillman Aquatic Center.
“When you swim number two in the country, you know what you are going to get,” said Chris Hansen, Director of Swimming for CSUB. “We knew Lovre Soric, Christopher Salcido, Bryce Timonera, and Mihael Vukic would race Cal well, and they did.”
One of the highlights for the 'Runners was seeing freshman Seth Knights go all out for his final meet of the season. “He had a couple small mistakes, but other than that, I was actually pleasantly surprised,” said Fran Cverle, Assistant Coach for the 'Runners and the coach who over sees Knights and the other sprinters. “He put in hard work throughout the season and it paid off in the end.”
Knights will not be joining the 'Runners at the Western Athletic Conference Championships at the end of February, so, today's dual was his shave meet. The freshman from Phoenix, Ariz. did not shy away from tough competition and managed to post personal bests in the 50 and 100 free. Knights' time of 21.34 in the 50 free helped him finish second on Thursday and improve his personal best by 0.43 seconds. A time of 47.51 also helped Knights improve his season best by almost a whole second in the 100 free.
With Thursday's meet being the last dual of the season for CSUB, the 'Runners celebrated their two seniors: Carson May and Terrell Mauldin. Mauldin, who hails from Murrieta, Calif., made a big splash in the final dual meet of his career. The senior won the 3-meter diving board to pick up his first victory of the season. Mauldin also cracked the CSUB Top 5 all-time list with a score of 307.57, more than 40 points better than his previous personal best.
Hansen was also proud of several of his top performers on Thursday: “Lovre had some good races today. His 200 IM and his 200 backstroke are great times for him right now. Chris' 100 free was good today and Seth put up a great time to help the 200 free relay team win at the end.”
Soric swam well against Cal, finishing third in the 200 IM (1:52.67), third in the 200 back (1:51.00), and helping Knights pace the 200 free relay team to a victory (1:25.13). Salcido, a freshman from Maryville, Tenn., also competed on the 200 free relay team and posted a time of 46.86 to finish second in the 100 free.
Houston, Texas will be the site of this year's WAC Championships and the 'Runners will join the rest of the conference, Feb. 24-27, to battle for the WAC title. For more information on the 2016 WAC Championships, visit the Championships page.
~GoRunners.com~
