The UCSB swim teams ended the dual meet portion of the 2008-09 season in strong fashion on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Big West Conference rival Pacific at Campus Pool. The Gaucho women defeated Pacific, 163-94, while the men posted a 167-85 victory over the Tigers.
With the wins, the UCSB women finish the season with a 6-3 dual meet record and the men conclude the year with a 5-2 record.
The Gaucho women got the meet rolling with a first place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The UCSB “A” team of Naomi Javanifard, Katy Freeman, Katie Ure and Anne Marie May touched the wall in 1:44.42. The men followed suit, picking up first despite the “A” and “B” relays both being disqualified. The Gaucho “C” relay of Ryan Garcia, Cody Miller, Jon Kraetsch and Joe Wood got the job done, clocking in at 1:37.39.
Pacific quickly recovered from its relay defeats and won both the men’s and women’s 1000 free. KC Albiston led the women, touching the wall in 10:25.79 and Matthew Lundy posted a time of 9:32.60 to take the men’s top finish.
The Gauchos responded by sweeping the next six events. Lindsay Gaudinier picked up the first of her two top finishes in the 200 free, posting a mark of 1:53.27. She later won the 500 free in a time of 5:03.37.
Chris Good won the 200 free (1:43.08) as the Gauchos swept the top three finishes in the event with Ethan Bradley and Kevin Ferguson finishing second and third, respectively.
In the 100 back, Ure and Javanifard went one-two. Ure’s winning time of 58.19 was a season-best and is the second-best mark that has been posted by a Gaucho in that event this season. The Gaucho men dominated the 100 back as all four UCSB swimmers finished before Pacific’s two in the event (only the top three swimmers from a team can score points). Bradley Matsumoto turned in the best time at 52.75.
Freeman (1:04.38) captured the women’s 100 breast top finish before Danny McClary and Travis Jepson finished the men’s 100 breast in a dead tie (57.97). McClary’s time is the third fastest by a UCSB swimmer in that event this season. Jepson doubled his win total later in the meet with a victory in the 200 breast (2:04.99).
Pacific’s Melissa McGhee broke up the Gaucho win streak momentarily with her first place finish in the 200 fly. She touched the wall in 2:06.96. On the men’s end, Chris Wiggin captured the 200 fly win with a mark of 1:54.29.
Next up were the sprint events, which the Gauchos dominated. Nadia Dwidar (24.16) and May (51.62) each edged out Pacific’s Jenny Lewis in the 50 and 100 free, respectively. For the men, Jeff Sudbury (21.08) captured the 50 free and Chris Peterson won the 100 (46.72).
Ethan Bradley followed with a first place in the 200 back (1:55.13) and Sara Nicponski dominated the 200 breast, turning in a time of 2:22.66.
In the men’s 500 free, Jimmy Gaston posted a season-best time of 4:39.34 to win the event. The Gauchos swept the 100 fly with Javanifard (57.73) and Scott Vogelgesang (51.34) taking top honors. In the final individual event of the meet, Kelsey Lewis (2:09.94) and Joe Plume (1:55.46) each placed first in the 200 individual medley.
The Gauchos punctuated their meet victories with dominating wins in the 200 free relays. The women’s “A” team of Courtney Bauer, Javanifard, Dwidar and May finished in 1:34.96, almost an entire four seconds faster than Pacific’s “A” team. The men’s “A” team of Kevin Kuhn, Chris Peterson, Matsumoto and Sudbury defeated the Tigers with a time of 1:23.32, finishing 5.20 seconds ahead of the Pacific “A” team.
Both of UCSB’s teams will be in action next at the 2009 Big West Swimming and Diving Championships being held Feb. 25 thru 28 at Long Beach’s Belmont Plaza. The Gauchos will be looking to defend their conference titles during the four-day event.
