Courtesy: UC Davis Athletics
FRESNO, Calif. — Junior Mia Motekaitis won all three of her individual events and led off the winning ‘A’ squad in the 200-yard medley relay, leading UC Davis to a 152-147 victory over host Fresno State in collegiate swimming and diving dual action at the Aquatic Center Friday afternoon.
Motekaitis combined with Tori Kaleta, Jay Jay Eaton and Dani Fasan to a 1:43.29 winning time in the opening relay. She then captured the 200 freestyle at 1:49.25, led a 1-2 UC Davis exacta in the 100 free with a 51.61, then completed her day with a 4:58.23 in the 500 freestyle. Motekaitis was the only swimmer from either team to crack the five-minute barrier in the 500. This was her first competition of any kind since November 2019, and her first appearance in the 500 free specifically since the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in her freshman season.
Mia’s younger sister, freshman Elle Motekaitis, was among the other UC Davis event champions on the day. Elle claimed the 1,000 free with a college-debut time of 10:34.45. Fasan won the 50 free at 23.73 and finished second behind Mia Motekaitis with a 51.75 in the 100 free. Eaton then picked up a win in the 100 fly with a 56.38, less than three-tenths ahead of FSU’s Mackenzie Hutler. Another freshman, Kailee Ruiz, scored her first collegiate win with a 2:05.29 time in the 200 individual medley, edging Bulldog Eydis Kolbeinsdottir by a 0.56 margin.
After building the initial lead, the Aggies never trailed in the team scoring throughout the dual, although Fresno State gained some ground with three straight wins in the 100 back, 100 breast and 100 fly. However, UC Davis managed to sweep the 2-4 scoring in each of those events with Caroline Eckel (57.57), Kaleta (1:05.52) and Eaton (2:07.88) posting respective runner-up finishes. The Bulldog divers gained some ground by sweeping the top four places in each of the one- and three-meter boards, claiming the maximum 32 points from that end of the pool.
The Aggie win marks the eighth straight in the series between the two teams, while the six-point margin of victory is the smallest since the two battled to a 144-139 thriller in 2017.
Friday’s meet marked the first UC Davis action of the 2020-21 season, which had largely been shut down due to COVID-19 protocols. Following the meet, the Fresno State aquatics staff honored Aggie head coach Barbara Jahn, who announced her retirement at the beginning of the season.
SWIMMING & DIVING: UC DAVIS AT FRESNO STATE
Winner plus UC Davis entrants listed.
TEAM SCORES – 1. UC Davis, 152; 2. Fresno State, 147.
200 MEDLEY RELAY – 1. UC Davis ‘A’ (M. Motekaitis, Kaleta, Eaton, Fasan), 1:43.29… 3. UC Davis ‘B’ (Eckel, Nowack, Ma, Ruiz), 1:48.02; 5. UC Davis ‘C’ (Greenberg, Riely, Chu, Scobey), 1:52.33.
1,000 FREESTYLE – 1. Elle Motekaitis, UC Davis, 10:34.45… 3. Kathryn Bockman, 10:50.05; 4. Allison Hodge, 11:13.60.
200 FREESTYLE – 1. Mia Motekaitis, UC Davis, 1:49.25… 6. Leah Timmerman, 1:55.62; 7. Eloise Engs, 1:58.29.
100 BACKSTROKE – 1. Athena Clayson, FSU, 54.53… 2. Caroline Eckel, 57.57; 3. Olivia Greenberg, 58.57; 4. Sophia Sebastian, 58.78; 5. Julie Kwan, 58.82.
100 BREASTSTROKE – 1. Keren Wasserman, FSU, 1:04.97… 2. Tori Kaleta, 1:05.52; 3. Rachel Pride, 1:05.58; 5. Noel Riely, 1:07.74; 6. Theresa Nowack, 1:08.01.
200 BUTTERFLY – 1. Mackenzie Hutler, FSU, 2:05.99… 2. Jay Jay Eaton, 2:07.88; 3. Amanda Wilson, 2:08.92; 5. Jessica Chu, 2:15.81.
50 FREESTYLE – 1. Dani Fasan, UC Davis, 23.73… 4. Kailee Ruiz, 24.09; 6. Taylor Scobey, 26.35.
1-METER DIVING – 1. Silvia Alessio, FSU, 247.58… 5. Kendall Menard, 218.18; 6. Reanna Agah, 204.08, 8. Talia Mickelsen, 160.80.
100 FREESTYLE – 1. Mia Motekaitis, UC Davis, 51.61… 2. Dani Fasan, 51.75; 6. Eloise Engs, 54.53; 7. Elle Motekaitis, 54.84.
200 BACKSTROKE – 1. Athena Clayson, FSU, 1:57.44… 3. Caroline Eckel, 2:07.11; 4. Olivia Greenberg, 2:07.64; 5. Julie Kwan, 2:09.30.
200 BREASTSTROKE – 1. Keren Wasserman, FSU, 2:18.75… 2. Rachel Pride, 2:19.22; 3. Sophia Sebastian, 2:21.44; 4. Tori Kaleta, 2:22.82; 6. Noel Riely, 2:25.34; Exh. Theresa Nowack, 2:28.20; Exh. Taylor Scobey, 2:33.83.
500 FREESTYLE – 1. Mia Motekaitis, UC Davis, 4:58.23… 3. Leah Timmerman, 5:11.27; 4. Kathryn Bockman, 5:11.91; 6. Elle Motekaitis, 5:17.52.
100 BUTTERFLY – 1. Jay Jay Eaton, UC Davis, 56.38… 3. Ashley Ma, 56.88; 4. Amanda Wilson, 58.98; 6. Allison Hodge, 1:02.32.
3-METER DIVING – 1. Yuliya Tikhaya, FSU, 308.10… 5. Kendall Menard, 228.45; 6. Talia Mickelsen, 211.05; 7. Reanna Agah, 202.65.
200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – 1. Kailee Ruiz, UC Davis, 2:05.29… 3. Sophia Sebastian, 2:08.17; 5. Olivia Greenberg, 2:09.51; 7. Julie Kwan, 2:10.63; Exh. Leah Timmerman, 2:13.00.
200 FREESTYLE RELAY – 1. Fresno State ‘A’ (Clayson, Guryeva, Melia, Cutler), 1:33.34… 2. UC Davis ‘A’ (Fasan, E. Motekaitis, Eckel, Ruiz), 1:35.49; 4. UC Davis ‘B’ (Engs, Ma, Wilson, Bockman), 1:39.08.
Courtesy: Fresno State Athletics
FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State swimming and diving team dropped a close dual 152-147 to the UC Davis Aggies on Friday afternoon at the Fresno State Aquatics Center.
Quotes:
Jeanne Fleck, Fresno State head coach
“We had a great meet. We are missing six swimmers at the moment. We are bare bones right now, but we competed today. I am so proud everyone for rising to the occasion and doing what they needed to do today. This was a great meet for us to close the regular season with.”
SWIM HIGHLIGHTS
- In the 200 Medley Relay, Clayson, Wasserman, Cutler and Guryeva logged second place with a time of 1:44.30.
- In the 1000 Free, Maya Gulvady chalked a second place finish (10:36.20).
- In the 200 Free, Samarah Melia finished second with a time 1:51.00.
- In the 100 Back, Athena Clayson logged the first place finish of the day with a time of 54.53.
- In the 100 Breast, Keren Wasserman took the top time (1:04.97).
- In the 200 Fly, Mackenzie Hutler logged the top spot with a time of 2:05.99.
- In the 50 Free, Tonya Guryeva finished in second place with a time of 2:07.88.
- In the 100 Free, Guryeva took third place with a time of 51.86.
- In the 200 Back, Fresno State took the top two spots Clayson (1:57.44) and Cutler (2:05.28).
- In the 200 Breast, Wasserman notched the top time (2:18.75).
- In the 500 Free, Melia finished in the second place spot with a time of 5:00.31.
- In the 100 Fly, Hutler landed the second best time (56.65).
- In the 200 IM, Eydis Osk Kolbeinsdottir finished in second place (2:05.85).
- In the 200 Free Relay, Fresno State (Clayson, Guryeva, Melia, Cutler) took first place (1:33.34) to finish the meet.
DIVE HIGHLIGHTS
- In the 1-meter diving, Fresno State took the top three spots – Silvia Alessio (247.58), Emilie Hingray (233.78) and Yuliya Tykha (219.75).
- In the 3-meter diving, Fresno State also took the top three spots – Yuliya Tykha (308.10), Ashley Martinez Vargas (275.70) and Emilie Hingray (244.58).
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