UC Santa Barbara Men, Hawaii Women Win MPSF Championships

MOUNTAIN PACIFIC SPORTS FEDERATION – MEN/WOMEN

• Wednesday February 15th – Saturday February 18th
• Rose Bowl Aquatic Center – Pasadena, Calif.
• Defending Champion: BYU (men), UC- Davis (women)
• Results

MEN’S TEAM SCORES

1. UC Santa Barbara -831
2. Brigham Young – 666
3. Hawaii – 636
4. Pacific – 593
5. Cal Poly – 503

The UC Santa Barbara men managed to take home the win at these championships with 831 points to take down both Brigham Young and Hawaii.

The Santa Barbara men won five individual events and added a win in the 800 freestyle relay to add to their overall point total. In the 800 free relay, their first win of the meet, the UCSB men put up a time of 6:21.50 to better the previous meet record and start off the meet on a strong note.

Following the relay, Logan Hotchkiss won the 500 freestyle in 4:18.75. Wins by Dylan Kubick in the 400 IM (3:47.18), Yoessef Tibazi in the 100 fly (47.24), Billy Mullis in the 100 back (47.00), and Chris Nolan in the 200 fly (1:46.55) backed up the strong start to give them the overall win.

Despite the UCSB dominance, Aydin Metin of Hawaii was arguably one of the top swimmers of the meet. Metin won the 200 IM in a time of 1:44.66 and the 200 backstroke in a time of 1:41.92. Metin was also a part of Hawaii‘s winning 200 medley relay, bronze medal winning 800 freestyle relay, winning 400 medley relay, and third place finishing 400 medley relay. On top of his two wins he was also second in the 100 back.

Yahav Shahaff of Pacific had the most individual wins of any male swimmer at the meet. He began his individual races with a 19.61 in the 40 freestyle to claim gold. In the 100 breaststroke he was a 52.62 to better the previous meet and pool record. His final win was in the 200 breaststroke where he went a 1:58.26.

Other Event Winners

• Eric Muir (BYU) – 1 meter
• PAC – 200 free relay – 1:19.19
• Preston Jenkins (BYU) – 200 free – 1:35.40
• Kevin Dreesen (BYU) – 3 meter
• Jonas Gutzat (Hawaii) – 1650 free – 15:21.45
• Payton Sorenson (BYU) – 100 free – 43.49
• Johan Sandell (Hawaii) – Platform
• PAC – 400 free relay – 2:55.98

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES

1. Hawaii – 717
2. UC Santa Barbara – 623.5
3. California Davis – 593
4. Brigham Young – 501.5
5. Pacific – 463.5
6. Cal Poly – 314
7. San Diego – 313.5

In the women’s competition there were several meet records broken and even one longstanding pool record broken. While Hawaii ended up taking home a fairly decisive victory, UC Santa Barbara wasn’t too far behind them in the overall competition.

Arguably, the top swimmer at the competition was Franziska Weidner from Hawaii who went on to win three individual events and set one meet and pool record. Weidner’s first individual win came in the 200 IM where she was dominant with a 1:56.32 performance. That time bettered the meet record, and the pool record set by American Olympic gold medallist from the 198 Olympic Games, Tracy Caulkins, way back in 1976.

Weidner went on to demonstrate her freestyle prowess in both the 200 and 100 in order to secure two more individual gold medals. She was a 1:46.67 in the 200 and a 48.58 in the 100. Weidner was also a large contributor to Hawaii‘s relay efforts, helping secure wins on the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays. Weidner was also on the silver medal winning 400 medley relay. The 400 freestyle relay that Weidner was on managed to break the meet record with a time of 3:19.03.

Besides Weidner, Solie Laughlin of UC – Davis stood out as one of the top swimmers at the meet. Laughlin managed three individual wins, two of which were meet records. Laughlin’s first win came in the 400 IM where she dropped a 4:10.86 for a new meet record. She backed that up with a 53.93 in the 100 back before finishing off the meet with a 1:55.37 200 back for another meet record. Laughlin was also a large part of UC-Davis’s 400 medley relay winning bronze.

Besides the two standout swimmers, there were also several meet records that fell. UCSB managed to take down the meet record in the 200 medley relay with a 1:38.99 and Bryndis Hansen of Hawaii broke the 50 free meet record in 22.38.

Madison Sthamann of Hawaii secured to wins on the diving board, winning both the 3 meter and platform events. In both events, Sthamann managed to dip under the NCAA D1 ‘A’ cut.

Other Event Winners

• Emily Boggess (UCSB) – 500 Free – 4:44.91
• Monica Gavaris (Hawaii) – 1 meter
• Kenny Ramey (PAC) – 100 fly – 53.80
• Anna Dahl (BYU) – 100 breast – 1:01.23
• UCSB – 400 medley relay – 3:38.76
• Phoebe Hines (Hawaii) – 1650 Free – 16:20.89
• Bri Jurries (USD) – 200 breast – 2:13.15
• Heaven Quintana (UCSB) – 200 fly – 1:58.73