LA JOLLA, Calif. - Coming off a weekend that featured two wins against NCAA Division I squads, the top-ranked UC San Diego swimming and diving team competes at Cal Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 21, the final dual of the Tritons' season prior to conference championships.
The meet gets underway at noon at the Lancer Aquatics Center in Riverside.
“I am very excited to see what our team can do in our last meet before the conference championships," said UCSD co-head coach Matt Macedo. "We had a strong showing last weekend and our team is ready to finish out duals with some in-season best times."
Last Saturday, the Tritons traveled to Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles where the women defeated LMU and the men took down Cal State Bakersfield, which was ranked eighth in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Division I Poll.
UCSD finished 1-2-3 in five events on the men's side. Adam Rice won the 100 butterfly as well as the 200 IM while Eric Owens picked up victories in both breaststrokes.
The Triton women swept all three podium spots in the 1000 freestyle and the 200 IM. Bethany Dong won the distance race and Alex Henley touched first in the 200 IM. Henley also won both backstroke events while Emily Adamczyk took the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and Anji Shakya claimed victory in the 200 and 500 freestyles.
Cal Baptist competed in a tri-meet last week with Concordia and Fresno Pacific in Fresno. The Lancers defeated the Eagles on both the men's and women's sides, but lost to the host Sunbirds.
Last season, UC San Diego and Cal Baptist went at it on Jan. 22 at Canyonview Pool in La Jolla. The Triton men won by a score of 163-137 and the women came from behind to top the Lancers 152-146. Overall, the UCSD men accumulated nine first place finishes and the women recorded six wins.
The final race of the day, the 400 freestyle relay, was the difference in the women's contest. Behind 144-137, UCSD's A squad of Anju Shimura, Henley, Amber Tan and Shakya touched first, while the B team of Olivia Fountain, Megan Thomas, Natasha Nguyen and Jessica Ferguson placed second, giving the Tritons 15 points and the six point victory over CBU.
Henley also won the 200 free and 200 fly and Neda Nguyen won both breaststroke lengths.
For the men, Triton distance ace Matt Herman won the 500 and 1000 freestyles while Tyler Runsten and Patrick Cohen finished 1-2 in the three-meter dive.
"The meet was very competitive last year and this is the first time we will travel to their pool, so it will certainly have a different feel this year," said Macedo. "We want to send our seniors out with a win at their last dual meet as a Triton!”
"This will be a great opportunity to race one more time before conference championships," said UCSD co-head coach Corrie Falcon. "We have had an incredible dual meet season and I'd love to finish it off with another pair of wins."
The Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference Championships will be held Feb. 8-11 at the Splash La Mirada Regional Aquatic Center in La Mirada.
- UCSDtritons.com -
