HOUSTON, Texas ? The UC San Diego swimming and diving teams continued their strong showing at the 2009 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday. There were four relay events on the agenda during the second day of the National Championship competition and Coach Scott McGihon's UCSD squad left University of Houston's CRWC Natatorium with new school records in every one of them.
That relay excellence helped maintain the Tritons' hold on third place in the women's division and lifted the men into sixth place at the halfway point of the four-day meet. The UCSD women have now collected 199 points, well back of first place Drury's 285.5, but within seven of second place Wayne State. UC San Diego has never finished higher than third nationally at the Division II level. The Triton men have chalked up 121.5 points, within easy striking distance (16.5 pts.) of fourth place. Wayne State sits at the top of the men's team totals with 232.5 points, followed by Drury with 218.
“You can't be an elite team or score well in a championship meet if you don't have strong relays teams,” said McGihon. “They have double the point value, but they also say a lot about your depth. You need a lot of different people who can do a lot of different things. Our relay teams demonstrated our depth tonight.”
On the women's side, UCSD opened the night with a silver medal effort in the 200 freestyle relay, with the quartet of Anju Shimura, Ashtyn Douglas, Errin Deters and Aubrey Panis touching in 1:32.16 to knock down the oldest existing women's relay mark by more than a second and a half. The women closed out their night with a sparkling 3:44.64 swim in the 400 medley relay, the team of Alex Henley, Jenn Sims, Kendall Bohn and Deters taking over three seconds off the standard set in 2008.
Deters, quietly having a huge meet, was excited to be part of both record-breaking groups. “It's always more thrilling because you're there with teammates,” said the senior from Laguna Hills. “In the individual races, it's something for you, but when you're part of a relay team, you're really doing it for the other three as well as the whole team.”
The men were equally as impressive. The foursome of Sam Stromberg, Todd Langland, Blake Langland and Dan Perdew came home third in the 200 freestyle relay, turning in a time of 1:20.90 in the final after blazing to a 1:20.02 in the prelims. Perdew and Todd Langland returned in the concluding 400 medley relay, joining Steven Hardy and Juan Pablo Carrillo for a fifth place finish in 3:17.44. For leadoff man Hardy, tonight's race carried added significance. After being disqualified for a false start in Wednesday night's 200 medley relay, he wanted to come back strong.
“I just wanted to come out and swim my race,” said the Salt Lake City senior, who put the Tritons right on the lead after his opening leg. “Last night is in the past and none of us can do anything about that. I represented my team the best I could. We dropped five seconds from last year's time so I'd say we're all happy.”
Day two was certainly not only about the relays. The Tritons scored chunks of points in the 200 freestyle, producing new school marks in both the men's and women's races. Panis, the senior from Anaheim, lowered her own school record in the prelims and returned to do it again in the final, going 1:50.69 while placing fifth. In the same event, Deters was seventh, Douglas 11th and Shimura 14th. Another senior, Kneif Lohse turned the same back-to-back record trick on the men's side. He wound up sixth in a blanket finish, clocking 1:37.80 in the final. Sophomore Brandon Maryatt took 10th.
Freshman Henley, third in Wednesday's 200 individual medley, notched sixth Thursday in the 400 individual medley, shaving more than two seconds off her prelim time, covering the distance in 4:24.48, the second best time in UCSD history.
Three Triton swimmers reached the consolation finals in the 100 butterfly. Sims was 10th (56.24) and Bohn 15th while Perdew claimed 16th (49.90) on the men's side.
“It was another very solid day with a slew of school records and personal best times,” said McGihon. “From top-to-bottom we swam well. Even the individuals who didn't make it back to the evening session had quality races.”
Although the times continue to drop and records are broken with regularity, the quest to move up in the team standings has not gotten any easier.
“Division II is becoming a lot faster and getting closer to Division I,” said Hardy in an overview of the first two days. “Times that would have won in the past won't even get you to the finals now. The competition is not going backwards.”
