Through 10 events, the Sunbirds are second on the men’s side and third in the women’s standings.
For the women, day one was highlighted by the 200 freestyle relay of Madison McGinnis, Samantha Woo, Daria Belova and Olivia Hynes taking first with a time of 1:37.00.
Individually, Belova placed second in the 200 IM at 2:05.88, which is third quickest in program history, while Bavindeep Basra took fourth with a touch of 2:07.71, good for fourth quickest all-time at FPU. Both swims were personal records.
The Sunbirds also received strong swims from Woo, who took second in the 50 freestyle final at 24.40, and the 400 yard medley relay team of Olga Melnikova, Belova, McGinnis and Woo, which placed second at 3:52.90
FPU has 222 points behind CSUEB’s 284 and CBU’s 322.
On the men’s side, Luka Barisic and Austin Hussain provided a spark for FPU as they took first and second in the 50 freestyle, respectively. Barisic swam 20.70 for an NCAA B standard qualifying mark, while Hussain touched at 21.51.
Wesley Coles also won the 500 freestyle with a touch of 4:33.30, which is an NCAA B standard qualifying mark, while Maxim Shcherbakov had a strong swim in the 200 IM and finished second at 1:53.27.
FPU’s relay teams capped the night off with two victories, the first coming from Barisic, Hussain, Coles and Blake Hollis winning the 200 freestyle relay with a mark of 1:24.03. Barisic, Shcherbakov, Coles and Hussain then won the 400 medley race at 3:17.70, which is an NCAA provisional standard qualifying mark, to wrap up day one.
The men have 277 points and trails CBU’s 374 points.
FPU is back in action on Friday with the finals beginning at 5 p.m.
Swimming news courtesy of Fresno Pacific Swimming & Diving.
