Fresno State continued its winning streak in a tri-meet on Saturday, The women defeated Fresno Pacific 168-127, while also conquering UC Santa Cruz with a dominating 249-49 decision. The Fresno Pacific men and women each picked up victories over UC Santa Cruz as well.
Fresno State:
FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State swimming and diving team defeated UC Santa Cruz 249-49 and Fresno Pacific 168-127 at the Fresno State Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs (4-1) are currently on a four-meet winning streak as they prepare for next week’s A3 Performance Invitational in East Los Angeles, hosted by UC San Diego.
During the double dual meet, the ’Dogs placed first in 18 of 24 individual events, three of four relays, and all four diving events.
Fresno State junior Shelbie Holden took both 1-meter dives (292.75 points) and freshman Irina Nikolaeva took both 3-meter dives (280.20 points). Both divers qualified for NCAA Zones, which will be held in March 2016 in Atlanta, Ga. Senior Lacie Ruth placed third in all dives with a 1-meter score of 226.10 and a 3-meter score of 234.50.
The Bulldogs started the meet off by placing first against UC Santa Cruz in the 400 Medley Relay and second against Fresno Pacific with a time of 3:52.55 with the group of junior Esme Gullick, senior Brooke Rodriguez, junior Tarryn Rennie and senior Leah Hatayama.
Fresno State’s 200 Freestyle Relay team consisting of Hatayama, Rodriguez, sophomore Katelin Britton and junior Kali Conlon placed first against both schools with a time of 1:36.25.
Bulldogs that swept their individual events against the Banana Slugs and Sunbirds are senior Danielle Powers (1000 Freestyle), Hatayama (50 & 200 Freestyle) and freshman Ugne Mazutaityte (200 Backstroke & 500 Freestyle).
Fresno Pacific:
FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific women’s swimming & diving team went toe-to-toe with crosstown rival Fresno State on Saturday, as the Sunbirds won 8-of-14 swimming events. The women narrowly fell to the Bulldogs, while the men and women both defeated UC Santa Cruz at Fresno State Aquatics Center.
“We had an excellent meet today that was very representative of what we have been doing in training so far this season,” said head coach Josh Christensen. “This year we’ve made some huge jumps in our level of training as a program and it was nice to see us apply that in a meet setting.”
The Sunbirds posted 13 swims that rank in the top-10 in Division II this season on the day.
“For the women, this was our best-ever showing against Fresno State,” noted Christensen. “To win 8-of-14 swimming events and go 1-2 in two races really speaks to the level of swimming we have going on in our program.”
Daria Belova and Bavindeep Basra led the Sunbirds on the day, as Belova set a new school record in the 100 fly and Basra earned two wins. Belova swam a 55.82 in the 100 butterfly to best her previous school record. It marked the second quickest time in Division II this season. The sophomore also won the 100 breaststroke (1:04.23) and the 200 breaststroke (2:17.36). Basra won the 400 IM (4:30.66) and the 200 butterfly (2:07.85).
“Daria and Bavi are our leaders on the women’s team and they got it done today,” said Christensen. “I’m really proud of our whole women’s team and it’s great to see them continue to grow and gain confidence.”
The women started the day with a win the 400-medley relay. The team of Olga Melnikova, Belova, Madison McGinnisand Samantha Woo swam 3:50.00, which is the quickest time in D2 this season. Melnikova also went 57.57 in the 100 back for a win and touched at 2:03.49 in the 200 back for second, while McGinnis went 56.65 in the 100 fly behind Belova.
The women defeated UC Santa Cruz 188-93 and fell to the Bulldogs 168-127.
On the men’s side, the trio of Maxim Shcherbakov, Wesley Coles and Luka Barisic led the Sunbirds to victory.
Shcherbakov touched at 54.05 in the 100 breaststroke, which is the fastest time in Division II this season. The sophomore also became the first to finish under 2:00 minutes in D2 in the 200 breaststroke this season with a time of 1:59.68 for a victory. Coles swam 1:51.07 in the 200 butterfly and went 50.04 in the 100 fly to earn a pair of victories, while Barisic went 20.94 in the 50 freestyle for a win. His time marked the sixth quickest in the nation. The sophomore also won the 100 freestyle at 47.45.
“Max obviously put up some pretty serious swims that exceed my expectations for this point of the season,” said Christensen. “He’ll go faster later in the season, but those times would probably lock up an NCAA spot. Wesley was also very good with his two fly swims and it was great to see Luka pop some very solid 50 times. He’s becoming the guy that we know he can be.”
The Sunbirds defeated the Banana Slugs 187-104.
“We have about four weeks to continue to train and prepare for our mid-season invitational in Santa Rosa, where we plan to qualify some student-athletes for the NCAA Championship.”
The Sunbirds are back in action at the Christmas Invite on Dec. 17-19.
Swimming news courtesy of Fresno State and Fresno Pacific Swimming & Diving.