The UC San Diego women earned a dominant win over Cal State East Bay in dual meet competition to conclude 2015. They won all but one event to end the meet with a 190-71 win.
UC San Diego:
LA JOLLA, Calif. – The second-ranked UC San Diego women’s swim team won 13 of 14 events and eased past NCAA Division II foe Cal State East Bay, 190-71, in a dual meet at the Canyonview Aquatic Center Wednesday.
The meet was a rare one for the Tritons in the long-course meters seen in international and Olympic competition, as opposed to the standard short-course yards utilized in college swimming.
With the result, the Tritons moved to 2-1 on the dual season. The visiting Pioneers, receiving votes just outside of the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Division II poll, are now 3-1. Wednesday marked the third dual meeting between the schools, all in La Jolla, with UCSD having previously taken a 132-67 decision on Jan. 5, 2013, and won by a 146-59 score on Dec. 21, 2013. The latter dual was also the last time the Tritons competed long course. East Bay placed third behind UCSD at the 2015 Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference (PCSC) Championships.
UCSD had four swimmers touch the wall first in a pair of individual events in junior Jaimie Bryan, senior Maddy Huttner, sophomore Julia Toronczak (Santee/West Hills HS) and fifth-year senior Dari Watkins. Bryan swept the breaststroke events, going 1:16.20 in the 100 before 2:46.04 in the 200. Toronczak did the same with the backstroke, timing 1:08.99 in the 100 and 2:27.22 in the 200.
Huttner led a 1-2-3 Triton sweep in the 200-meter freestyle that featured a very close finish, as she came from behind (2:15.36) to narrowly edge freshman teammate Reagan Eickert (2:15.38) and junior co-captain Natalie Tang (2:16.47).
Watkins similarly aided in a 1-2-3 effort for UCSD in the 200 butterfly, posting a mark of 2:23.68 ahead of freshman Lindsey Miller (2:33.91) and fellow senior Caitlyn Lozano (2:37.76). She was later fastest in the 400 free (4:43.67).
Fourth-year senior Naomi Thomas made her season debut after missing the first three meets, including last month’s A3 Performance Invitational, with an injury. The All-American took the top spot in the 100 fly late in the meet in 1:06.45.
The remaining UCSD individual winners were Tang (27.57), who barely touched out senior co-captain Colleen Daley (27.87) in the 50 free, and sophomore Stephanie Sin, who took command of the day’s longest race, the 800 free (9:37.85).
Freshman Vivy Hua was the lone first-place finisher for Cal State East Bay, in the 100 free (1:01.47).
Toronczak, Bryan, sophomore Jayna Wittenbrink and freestyle anchor Daley went 2:03.92 in the meet-opening 200 medley relay.
The foursome of Tang, Daley, Sin and Huttner went 4:09.21 to take the 400 free relay to close out the contest. Eickert, the anchor for UCSD’s ‘B’ squad, caught fellow freshman Cassidy Humphrey of the East Bay ‘A’ (4:14.53) over a dramatic final stretch for second place in 4:14.24. Eickert’s 100-meter split of 1:01.97 was in fact the fastest of the anchor legs, even compared to Huttner’s 1:03.26.
UCSD earned maximum points in the 200 free, 200 fly and both relays.
The UCSD men’s and women’s swimmers and divers all jump right into action to begin the new year this Saturday, Jan. 2, and Sunday, Jan. 3, with dual meets against multiple opponents visiting the Canyonview Aquatic Center. Those competitions are slated to begin at 1 p.m. and 11 a.m., respectively. Admission and parking are free.
Cal State East Bay:
LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay swim team returned to action from the holiday break on Wednesday and suffered a 190-71 dual meet defeat on the road at UC San Diego, which entered the week ranked No. 5 in the nation.
The Tritons captured victories in 13 of the day’s 14 events, with East Bay’s win coming thanks to freshman Vivy Hua. The Fremont native captured the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:01.47. Hua also had a solid third-place swim in the 100 butterfly, clocking in as the Pioneers’ top finisher in 1:08.24.
“Vivy had a nice win in the 100 free, she beat out some very good swimmers in that race,” said head coach Ben Loorz.
Sophomore Claire Beaty, who broke own school record in the 200 breaststroke two weeks ago in Santa Rosa, was impressive with a pair of second second place finishes. She swam the 200 breast in 2:49.55, and turned in a time of 1:20.50 to best a pair of Tritons in the 100 breast.
The Pioneers also got two runner-up performances each from junior Madison Hauanio and senior Rachel Shimizu. In addition to a third place finish in the 50 free, Hauanio was runner-up in the 200 backstroke, topping two UCSD swimmers with a time of 2:31.61. She defeated five Tritons in the 200 individual medley, out-touching Lindsay Miller by 19 hundredths of a second for second place.
Shimizu had a strong day for East Bay in the distance events. She and Hannah Cutts took second and fourth place in the 400 free, turning in times of 4:47.92 and 4:51.54, respectively. In the 800 free, Shimizu (9:44.31) and Kayleigh Davidson(10:03.48) placed second and fourth for the Pioneers.
Junior Mariam Lowe scored second-place points in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall in 1:12.17. She bested freshman teammate Miranda McDonnell, who placed third in the event.
Senior Arolyn Basham led the way for CSUEB in the 200 butterfly, finishing in fourth place with a time of 2:40.22.
Hua was the third Pioneer to touch the wall in the 50 free, as Hauanio (27.99) and senior Alyssa Littlefield (28.17) took third and fourth place, respectively. Littlefield also took fourth in the 100 free with a time of 1:03.55.
Freshman Cassidy Humphrey (2:17.95) paced the Pioneers in the 200 free, out-touching teammates Jande Monteon(2:18.04) and Cutts (2:18.90) to take fourth place overall.
The Pioneers notched third place finishes in both relays at UCSD’s Canyonview Aquatic Center. Lowe, Beaty, Humphrey, and Littlefield swam the 200 medley relay in 2:07.37. In the 400 free relay, Hauanio, Cutts, Hua, and Humphrey combined for a time of 4:14.53.
“We got beat pretty well by one of the best squads in the nation,” Loorz commented. “But I want our team to race against the best and have a clear understanding of what it tales to be at the top of Division II.”
Next up, East Bay rings in 2016 back in Northern California with a dual meet against Division I squad San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 1 p.m. at the SJSU Aquatic Center.
Swimming news courtesy of UC San Diego and Cal State East Bay Swimming & Diving.
