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WAC Swimming & Diving Championship in March 03, 2019 in Houston. (Photo by: Juan DeLeon)
Western Athletic Conference

Women's Swim & Dive

`Runners Set CSUB Mark in 200 Medley Relay



Houston, Tex. –  The CSU Bakersfield swimming and diving teams opened the 2020 WAC Championships on Wednesday evening at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston.  The Roadrunners posted two school records and added a top five time on an opening night that featured four relay swims and a pair of diving competitions.

The Roadrunner women got off to a fast start, when they set a school record of their own in the women's 200 medley relay.

Sophomores Tabea Mose and Autumn D'Arcy and freshmen Lindsey Sohoel-Smith and Mikayla Popham combined to swim a 1:40.38 and smash the old school record by more than a full second. The quartet finished just 0.44 seconds behind NM State to grab second-place in the event.

"Our women's 200 relay did a great job," Hansen noted. "We weren't sure about Linny's status heading into the meet, but she showed up and swam a great race. The other three were strong and they easily re-set the school record tonight."

A good night appeared to get even better when the `Runner women hit the wall more than four seconds clear of the field in the 800 Free relay. CSUB posted a 7:16.38 and easily outdistanced a California Baptist team that finished in 7:20.58.

However, a `Runner swimmer was ruled to have left the blocks 0.05 seconds too quickly and the team was disqualified.

"We had an unfortunate mistake on the second women's relay," explained Hansen. "We'll have to overcome that moving forward, but our women are an incredibly tough-minded group, and they know they swam a great race tonight. If they keep swimming like that, they'll make up a lot of ground over the next couple of days."

Kris Rogic set a school record in the 200 Free, swimming the lead-off leg on the men's 800 Free Relay team in a blistering time of 1:35.27. Mitchell Huxhold had held the 200 Free record for five seasons, before Rogic bettered the mark by 0.08 seconds.

Rogic's fast start rubbed off on his teammates, as the 800-relay team, which also featured Loren Gillilan, Ryan Brimer and Alex Dragan clocked the second fastest time in school history and finished third in the event.

Brimer's third-leg split was even faster than Rogic's. The junior posted a 1:34.40, the second-fastest split in the field, and was one of just three swimmers to post a sub-1:35.00 turn in the event.

"Kris and Ryan turned in two of the best 200 Free swims we've ever had," said CSUB Director of Swimming and Diving Chris Hansen. "I wasn't sure Mitchell's record would ever be broken, but Kris swam an excellent lead off leg and Ryan was the first CSUB swimmer to go 1:34.40 on a split in this event."

The men's team of Julio Alcantar, Dragan, Gillilan and Richie Campbell also grabbed a sixth-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:29.83. That time was good enough to beat the cut for the upcoming National Invitational Tournament.

"All four legs of the 200 relay were fantastic," said Hansen. "The front-end guys did an excellent job handing the race off to Gillilan and Campbell and they just missed a top-five time in CSUB history."

In diving action, Lauren Carson placed 14th on the women's side with a score of 217.45 on the 1 meter board.

On the men's side, Sam Stinson, Adam Estrella and Nate Cummins finished 9th, 11th and 12th, respectively. Stinson scored a 308.20 in the B-final, the sixth highest score of the day including the A-finals and preliminary rounds.  

The Roadrunner men sit in 5th place after one day of competition with 78 points, while the women are eighth with 37.

The CSUB swim teams are back in action tomorrow, with morning preliminary competition and evening finals in the 200 Free Relay, the 50 Free, the 500 Free and the 200 IM, while the men and women divers will compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, respectively.
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Players Mentioned

Lauren Carson

Lauren Carson

Diving
5' 8"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Lauren Carson

Lauren Carson

5' 8"
Sophomore
Diving
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