Rogic Third at NIC; Milin, Popham Reach Event Finals

Elkhart, Ind. – Kris Rogic placed third in the 50 Backstroke, while Antonio Milin and Mikayla Popham each earned final swims on the opening night of the National Invitational Championships, hosted by the Collegiate Swimming & Diving Coaches' Association of America at the Beacon Health Aquatic Center in Elkhart, Ind. The trio combined for five finals swims, Thursday evening, as the Roadrunners kicked off the national event in style.

"The (NIC) continues to grow and its great to see CSUB student-athletes thriving against top competition," said CSUB Director of Swimming Chris Hansen. "We had great swims from everyone today, but Kris and Mikayla stood out and were especially fast. As a group we were faster today than we were at our conference meet and that's a great sign for our development."

Rogic's 50 Backstroke swim was the highlight of the night. The Bakersfield senior clocked a 22.18 in the A-Final to finish the event in third place. Ten minutes later he swam to an 18th-place finish in the B-final of the 200 Individual Medley.

Rogic also led off the Men's 400 Medley Relay, posting a blistering 47.67 on his 100 Backstroke leg, jump starting the relay to a seventh-place finish and the third-fastest time in school history (3:14.30). Milin, Loren Gillilan and Ryan Brimer also swam in the event.

Milin reached the B-Final in the 50 Breaststroke and the A-Final in the 50 Freestyle. His preliminary time in the 50 Freestyle placed him second fastest in school history with a time of 20.10. He was seventh in the event during Thursday night's final.

Popham led the CSUB women, reaching the A-Final of the 50 Freestyle and placing seventh overall with a final swim of 23.00.

She also posted a 22.97 to lead off the 200 Freestyle relay, the fastest 50 Freestyle swim of her Roadrunner career. In the process, Popham became just the second Bakersfield women to swim the event in under 23:00 and now trails only the legendary Loni Burton in the event's history at CSUB.

After one day of racing, the CSUB are 12th-place with 82 points, while the women rank 23rd. Both teams will be back in action tomorrow, with fourteen Roadrunner's in action over the weekend.

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Players Mentioned

Ryan Brimer: Free; 6' 1"; Junior

Loren Gillilan: Sprints/Fly; 6' 0"; Junior

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

Antonio Milin: Breast; 6' 0"; Sophomore

Mikayla Popham: Free/IM; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ryan Brimer
: 6' 1"; Junior
: Free

Loren Gillilan
: 6' 0"; Junior
: Sprints/Fly

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

Antonio Milin
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: Breast

Mikayla Popham
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: Free/IM