BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – CSU Bakersfield's women's swimming and diving team cruised to a 184.5-114.5 victory in its home opener on Saturday. The Roadrunners downed Northern California foe Pacific in front of 40+ former `Runners on alumni weekend.
"A lot of seniors from last year and the year before were here," said Chris Hansen, CSUB's Director of swimming, "so, most of our sophomores and up knew a lot of the people who came to watch. I think the alumni really helped provide a great atmosphere for our team."
Hansen went on to say he was pleased with the performance on Saturday: "I felt great about the results. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a lot closer and we were going to have the uphill battle on the women's side. Jayssie Haynes is swimming out of this world. Maddie Cosgrove, Morgan King, Sabrina Zavala, and Gabi Liedy really set the tone for the women."
After the `Runner women lost the opening relay, Liedy and Zavala got CSUB back on track with a 1-2 finish in Event 3, the 1000 free. Liedy, a senior transfer, lowered her season-best time by seven seconds to 10:32.62 while Zavala, a junior, finished close behind at 10:33.95.
In the next event, Haynes, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif., helped the `Runners go 1-2-3 in the 200 free. Haynes took the victory at 1:53.43 while Alisa Cooke (1:55.50) and Darya Samiee (1:57.58) finished out the sweep.
Later in the meet, a 1-2-3-4 sweep of the 200 fly helped the `Runners get more separation on the Tigers. Cosgrove, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif., took the win with a time of 2:07.98. Taylor Budshaw (2:10.95), Lexi Cannon (2:11.60), and Lucy Peltz (2:15.93) rounded out the Top 4 in the event.
King, a sophomore sprinter, edged Cooke for a victory in the 50 free with a time of 24.56. Cooke was a mere 0.21 seconds behind to help CSUB extend their lead. King would later add a victory in the 100 free (52.78) while Cooke finished third with another strong time of 53.57.
Sophomore Alyssa Madero picked up a win in the 200 back (2:06.63) before Haynes (5:02.65) and Zavala (5:12.68) finished first and second in the 500 free. Haynes also won the 200 IM (2:07.97) on Saturday for a total of three individual wins.
On the springboards, CSUB went 1-3-4 on the 1-meter and 1-2-3 on the 3-meter to earn big points. Junior Hannah Chernabaeff won both events with scores in the low 200s while senior Donna Rotella raised her season-best on the 3-meter board by over 30 points to 199.50 to finish second.
The `Runners will return to action next Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev. CSUB is set to square off against UNLV on Oct. 21.
~GoRunners.com~
