`Runner Men Continue Strong Swimming On Day 3 Of WAC Meet

HOUSTON, Texas – The Roadrunner men's swimming and diving team has had a long weekend of competition, but is staying strong as it wraps up the third of four days at the Western Athletic Championships.

CSU Bakersfield's Head Coach, Chris Hansen, was impressed with how well the freshmen continued to perform: "We were off in a couple of events tonight, but the freshmen stepped up and led the night. I am proud of these young freshmen and all the drops we had today, but I'm expecting the men to be better tomorrow." Kris Rogic, Ryan Brimer, and Loren Gillilan were some of the freshmen leading the way for the men's team.

Competing in one of the fastest heats in the nation, Rogic was able place third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 48.13. With this time, the native of Croatia was able to break his own CSUB record by .62 seconds. Colorado native Gillilan had an impressive finish in tonight's 100 butterfly, posting a time of 48.03. His mark made him CSUB's second best all-time and earned him Second Team All-WAC honors. Brimer dropped a tremendous amount of time (5.31 seconds) from his prelim time. The native of Santa Clarita, Calif. placed ninth, scoring big points for the `Runners in the B-final.

According to Hansen, the breaststroke and individual medley was a bit shaky, but still had some solid swims. Lovre Soric improved from his prelims time and pulled through in A-finals with a time of 3:57.65, earning the senior Second Team All-WAC. Jake Chir was just short of his personal best time but still swam a great 100 breaststroke (55.44) that will set the junior up for his 200 breaststroke race tomorrow.

Today, CSU Bakersfield's divers competed in their first platform event at the WAC Championships. For how little experience both freshmen divers Adam Estrella and Andrew Huerta had, they still managed to give strong performances. Estrella placed 14th in prelims with a score of 185.75 and Huerta placed 15th with a score of 166.00.

"This was a good experience for them to really see where the other competition stands and see what they can improve on in their lists," said `Runner Diving Coach, Melissa Gore.

With the third day of competition finished, the `Runners can look forward to an eventful last day at WAC Championships on Saturday.

~GoRunners.com~

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Players Mentioned

Jake Chir: Breast/Free; 6' 0"; Junior

Lovre Soric: IM/Back; 6' 2"; Senior

Ryan Brimer: Free; 6' 2"; Freshman

Adam Estrella: Dive; 6' 1"; Freshman

Loren Gillilan: Sprints/Fly; 5' 11"; Freshman

Andrew Huerta: Dive; 5' 9"; Freshman

Kris Rogic: IM/Sprint; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jake Chir
: 6' 0"; Junior
: Breast/Free

Lovre Soric
: 6' 2"; Senior
: IM/Back

Ryan Brimer
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: Free

Adam Estrella
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: Dive

Loren Gillilan
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: Sprints/Fly

Andrew Huerta
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: Dive

Kris Rogic
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: IM/Sprint