Hawaii Men, Women Sweep MPSF Championships

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) – Men and Women

• Wednesday, February 20 – Saturday, February 23
• La Mirada Aquatics Center, La Mirada, California (swim)/Marguerite Aquatics Center, Mission Viejo, California (dive) (Pacific Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: UCSB men (2x) & Hawaii women (2x) (results)
• Final Results
• Championship Central

Day Four

The University of Hawaii women’s swimming and diving team won their third consecutive and fourth all-time MPSF team title, while the men won their first MPSF Swimming and Diving Championship. Brigham Young University swept the diving titles. A total of 15 (9 men, 6 women) championship records were broken over the 4-day meet, including 5 on the final day.

Men’s Recap

UC Santa Barbara senior Logan Hotchkiss closed out his final conference meet with his second-straight 1650 win, after placing second his first two years. Hotchkiss stopped the clock at 15:00.49, more than a pool length ahead of runner-up Joseph Lastelic (15:18.65). Cal Poly sophomore Alexander Nikolaev kept the Gauchos from achieving a sweep of the podium, taking third in 15:28.08.

Hawaii senior Metin Aydin won his third consecutive 200 back conference title and came the closest he’s ever been to breaking the meet record. After finishes of 1:41.92 and 1:41.52 in 2017 and 2018, Aydin went 1:41.02 in 2019 to come within .06 of Jake Taylor’s 2016 meet record of 1:40.96. The Rainbow Warriors swept the podium this year, with junior Kane Follows (1:41.51) and freshman Talon Lindquist (1:44.71) coming in behind Aydin.

BYU senior Payton Sorenson won the 100 free with a new meet record of 42.24. Cal Poly senior Zachary Allen (43.10) and UC Santa Barbara sophomore Justin Nguyen (43.24) rounded out the podium. Sorenson also won this event in 2016 and 2017.

UC Santa Barbara Alec Cullen broke the meet record in the 200 breast in prelims with 1:55.72. He then won the final in 1:56.54 ahead of Hawaii juniors Josh Parmenter (1:56.66) and David Springhetti (1:57.42).

Pacific senior Angel Alcala wrapped up his final conference meet with a title in the 200 fly (1:45.31). It was a dramatic win, as he came from 3rd at the 150 to win by .24 over Cal Poly’s David Hudson (1:45.55). BYU freshman Javier Nicolas had led throughout the race but faded on the final 50. He wound up third in 1:46.62.

Hawaii’s Johan Sandell set a meet record in platform diving with 449.80 points. It was his third consecutive conference title and his highest score by 45.40 points. Sandell placed 32nd in prelims at NCAAs last year. The divers finishing 2nd through 7th (Hawaii’s Octavio Lucero, 360.90, and Lucas Cooperman, 347.80; BYU’s Kimble Mahler, 332.75; Hawaii’s Max Burman, 332.95; and BYU’s Nathan Gonzales, 308.10, and Morgan Cooper, 306.00) also qualified for the NCAA Zone meet.

UC Santa Barbara’s Kian Brouwer (44.25), Justin Nguyen (43.02), Hotchkiss (43.83), and Mason Tittle (43.01) closed the meet with a 2:54.11 win in the 400 free relay. The Gauchos won a thriller by holding off Hawaii, whose Reed Wynn closed in 42.53, by .01. Adam Franz, Maxime Cadiat, Aydin, and Wynn combined for 2:54.12. BYU’s Sorenson, Kenneth Stirling, Jared Shaw, and Levi Jensen took 3rd in 2:54.58.

Men – Final Team Scores –

1. University of Hawaii 788.5
2. UC Santa Barbara 688
3. Brigham Young University 673
4. Cal Poly 446.5
5. University of the Pacific 401.5
6. UC San Diego 362.5

Women’s Recap

Hawaii junior Phoebe Hines kicked off the final session with a new meet record in the 1650 free, lowering her own record (set last year with 15:54.31) to 15:45.68. Hines, who placed 12th at 2018 NCAAs in the mile, went 15:41.35 at Art Adamson Invitational earlier this season. UC Santa Barbara sophomores Emily Boggess and Rachel Forbes went 16:20.96 and 16:49.72, respectively, for second and third places.

UC Davis senior Solie Laughlin, followed Hines with a meet record of her own, going 1:53.45 to win her fourth-consecutive MPSF title in the 200 back. Laughlin broke the meet record as a sophomore with 1:55.37, lowered it to 1:55.22 as a junior, and took another 1.8 seconds off the mark in her final championship meet. Karolina Hajkova of Hawaii was runner-up in 1:55.19, which was also under the old meet record. BYU freshmen Brynn Sproul (1:58.19) and Makayla Cazier (1:58.49) placed 3rd and 4th.

BYU freshman Gwen Gustafson claimed victory in the 100 free with 49.61, the only sub-50 in the field. Hawaii sophomore Anna Kotonen and UC Davis junior Mia Facey tied for second place with 50.10.

Pacific junior Angela Gagliardo avenged her second-place finish from 2018 with a 2:13.24 win in the 200 breast. Gagliardo came from behind to touch out Hawaii sophomore Kionna Clayton, who’d been up by 1.81 seconds at the 150. Third place went to defending champion Amelia Feick of Cal Poly (2:14.14).

UC Santa Barbara junior Heaven Quintana led a 1-2-3 Gaucho sweep of the 200 fly. It was her third consecutive title in the event, and the third time in a row her classmate Madelyn Johnson was runner-up. Quintana finished with 1:58.90 to Johnson’s 2:00.17. Freshman Dora Seggelke was 3rd in 2:01.08.

Victoria Moretti of Hawaii won platform diving with 265.85 points. BYU’s McKaela Call (254.65), Hawaii’s Monica Gavaris (242.65), and BYU’s Kennedy Cribbs (237.30) and Adia London (231.85) all qualified for the NCAA Zone meet along with Moretti.

Hawaii closed out the meet with a solid win in the 400 free relay behind Bryndis Hansen (50.01), Kasey Schmidt (50.29), Mia Tedesco (50.15), and Anna Kotonen (49.29) who combined for 3:19.74. The UC Davis quartet of Jamie Pincin, Mia Motekaitis, Iris Brand, and Mia Facey was runner-up (3:21.10). University of San Diego’s Danielle Taylor, Mackenna Briggs, Alexa Philips, and Kailyn Evans were just behind in 3:21.67.

Final Team Scores – Women

1. University of Hawaii 781.5
2. University of California, Davis 613.5
3. UC Santa Barbara 544.5
4. Brigham Young University 525.5
5. University of the Pacific 342
6. UC San Diego 304.5
7. Cal Poly 264.5
8. University of San Diego 262