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Mark Nessia/Mark Nessia Photography

Women's Swim & Dive

Four More School Records Fall at NIC

Weekend Competition Cancelled at National Invitational Championship

Cleveland, Ohio – Kris Rogic and Loren Gillilan finished second and third in the 200 IM, respectively, and the Roadrunners also set three school relay marks on the opening day of the National Invitational Championship at the Robert Busbey Natatorium on the campus of Cleveland State University.  It was also the final day of both the NIC and an historic CSU Bakersfield's swimming and diving season. Following the conclusion of the Thursday's evening session officials with the NIC and the Collegiate Swim Coaches Association of America made the decision to cancel the remainder of the event due to national concern surrounding the COVID-19 virus.
 
"The last few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster and this team has handled it with great maturity," said CSUB Director of Swimming Chris Hansen. "It's a shame to see the season end this way, with so many questions unanswered and so many of our swimmers posting their best times of the season, but these decisions are always made in the best interests of our athletes."
 
In another strong performance, Rogic set a school record in the 200 IM during preliminary swims and entered the finals as the overall top seed in the event. He was even faster in the evening swim, bettering his CSUB standard by more than half a second and finishing in second place with a swim of 1:45.48.

"Kris is on fire right now and was definitely tracking towards and Olympic cut," Hansen added. "It would have been great to see him get that cut this weekend, but we'll move forward and try to give him more opportunities to get to Tokyo over the next few months."
 
Gillilan was right on his heels, grabbing a second spot on the podium for CSUB with a finals time of 1:48.81. The junior's morning swim of 1:48.52 moved him into fourth place on CSUB's All-Time Top-5 in the event.
 
Gillilan added a fourth-place finish in the 50 Fly, missing out on the podium by just 0.28 seconds. The defending champion in the event, he swam a season best time of 21.56 during the morning prelims.  
 
Sophomore Autumn D'Arcy finished second in the women's 50 Fly, shaving 0.27 seconds off of her preliminary time to clock a finals time of 24.09. She finishes her record-breaking sophomore season with 24 individual wins. A week ago, she was named as the Western Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Year.
 
Mikayla Popham placed sixth in the women's 500 Free. Popham finished in a time of 4:52.30, a quarter of a second faster than her WAC Championship swim earlier this month. Popham is the fourth CSUB swimmer set to compete in Olympic Trials this summer, as she is set to compete in her native Australia in June.  
 
Senior Richie Campbell qualified for the A-Finals in the 50 Free and added a seventh-place finish for CSUB. He posted a personal best of 20.39 in his final individual swim as a Roadrunner.
 
The `Runners added trio of school record performances in relay competition on Thursday.  
 
Rogic and Campbell joined Ryan Brimer and Noah Hickman on the men's 200 Free Relay. The `Runner quartet finished second, clocking the second fastest time in school history in the discipline with a 1:20.05.
 
The Women's 200 Free Relay team of Popham, D'Arcy, Ellice Richman and Maddie Cosgrove finished fifth in a school record time of 1:32.64. Cosgrove, a senior, anchored the record-setting swim in the final race of her CSUB career.
 
Bakersfield's Rogic, Dragan, Gillilan and Brimer closed out the meet, setting a new school mark in the 400 IM with a time of 3:12.64. Rogic bettered his school-record mark in the 100 Back (47.08) to stake CSUB to an early lead in the race.
 
With the team portion of the Bakersfield schedule concluded, individual pursuit of the 2020 Olympics continues for four `Runner swimmers.
 
Gillilan and D'Arcy turn their attention to the US Olympic Trials in June, where both will swim the 100 Fly, while Rogic and Popham begin preparations for the European Championships and the Australian Trials later this summer.   

"We tell our athletes at the beginning of every season to swim each race as if it might be their last," Hansen noted. "I never expected things to end like this, but it is a reminder to make the most of every opportunity we do get to compete."

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Players Mentioned

Ryan Brimer

Ryan Brimer

Free
6' 1"
Junior
Richie Campbell

Richie Campbell

Sprint
6' 2"
Senior
Loren Gillilan

Loren Gillilan

Sprints/Fly
6' 0"
Junior
Noah Hickman

Noah Hickman

Sprints
5' 9"
Junior
Kris Rogic

Kris Rogic

IM/Sprint
6' 1"
Junior
Maddie Cosgrove

Maddie Cosgrove

Fly/Free
5' 9"
Senior
Autumn D

Autumn D'Arcy

Fly/ IM
5' 9"
Sophomore
Mikayla Popham

Mikayla Popham

Free/IM
5' 9"
Freshman
Ellice Richman

Ellice Richman

Fly/Free
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ryan Brimer

Ryan Brimer

6' 1"
Junior
Free
Richie Campbell

Richie Campbell

6' 2"
Senior
Sprint
Loren Gillilan

Loren Gillilan

6' 0"
Junior
Sprints/Fly
Noah Hickman

Noah Hickman

5' 9"
Junior
Sprints
Kris Rogic

Kris Rogic

6' 1"
Junior
IM/Sprint
Maddie Cosgrove

Maddie Cosgrove

5' 9"
Senior
Fly/Free
Autumn D

Autumn D'Arcy

5' 9"
Sophomore
Fly/ IM
Mikayla Popham

Mikayla Popham

5' 9"
Freshman
Free/IM
Ellice Richman

Ellice Richman

5' 9"
Freshman
Fly/Free
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