LONG BEACH – The UCSB swimming teams continued competing at the second day of the 2010 Big West Championships at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach on Thursday.
Looking to recapture their Championship Titles, the Gauchos had a great day.
In the 500 freestyle prelims, Emma Hunt touched first for UCSB coming in third place overall with a time of 4:59.23. Meagan Brown came in fourth with a time of 5:00.15, a personal best. Astrid Amsallem finished seventh with 5:04.29, another personal best for the Gauchos. All three women came in the top ten in the 1,000 freestyle during yesterday’s competition.
The UCSB men also had a strong showing in the 500 freestyle prelims Thursday as Joe Plume finished second with a time of 4:29.64. Not far behind was Scott Vogelgesang who touched third with a time of 4:29.69.
In the 200 individual medley prelims, Jessica Scwalb was the first to tap the wall for the Gauchos coming in fourth overall with a time of 2:03.52 for the women’s team. Finishing right after her was freshman Emily Adamczyk at 2:04.38, a personal best by nearly three seconds. Brittany Borowitz came in 13th with a time of 2:07.13, while Kelsey Lewis came in 14th 2:07.18. Last, but not least, was Mariana Prutton touching right after Borowitz and Lewis in 15th with a time of 2:07.66.
UCSB had the most swimmers in the top 16 spots in the prelims.The 200 individual medley prelims for the men went just as well with five swimmers from Santa Barbara making the top 16. First was senior Danny McClary touching third with a time of 1:50.71. Fourth place went to Tim Freeman in a time of 1:51.02. Sophomore Evan Simoni touched in sixth place with a personal best of 1:51.83. Right after Simoni was freshman Brandon Shilling with a time of 1.52.07, coming in seventh. Walt Gault rounded out the dominant Gaucho foursome with a 13th place finish and a time of 1:54.57.
The 50 freestyle prelims was all UCSB. For the women’s team, eight swimmers finished in the top 16 spots with senior captain and All-American Ann Marie May upholding her dominance in this event with a time of 22.60. The time qualifies May for NCAA B-cut standards. Currently, May has the fourth fastest time in the nation in this event.
Kendall Kneely was the next Gaucho to whack the wall, coming in third with a time of 23.10; Naomi Javanifard came in fifth with a time of 23.46; freshman, Katie Stover placed seventh with a time of 23.54; coming in eighth was Sasza Loehry with a time of 23.66; Katie Tomkinson was next, coming in ninth with a personal best time of 23.77; senior Courtney Bauer came in tenth with a time of 23.80; and last but certainly not least for the Gauchos was another senior, Katie Ure with a time of 23.95, touching 11th.
The men did just as well in the 50 freestyle prelims with five Gauchos finishing in the top 16. Chris Peterson and Kevin Kuhn touched one-two with times of 20.14 and 20.21 and both receiving B-cut times for the NCAA.
Dan Morris touched fourth for the Gauchos with a time of 20.55. The next swimmer for UCSB to touch the wall was Kevin Ferguson coming in fifth with a time of 20.56. Next, coming in sixth with a time of 20.73 was freshman Ryan Hanni. Jon Kraetsch was the last Gaucho to finish in the top 16 with a time of 20.79 and placing ninth.
The women ended the day with a second place finish in the 400-medley relay thanks to Javanifard, Adamczyk, Ure and May coming in with a time of 3:44.19.
The men ended their day with a first place finish in the 400-medley relay with Ferguson, Freeman, McClary and Peterson coming in with a time 3:14.74. This time qualifies them for the NCAA B-cut.
The women’s team is seated first with 114 points while the men’s team is currently seated fourth with 89 points.
The UCSB swim teams continue the competition with 400 Individual Medley prelims, 100 butterfly prelims, 200 freestyle prelims, 100 breaststroke prelims, 100 backstroke prelims, and 200 free relay prelims tomorrow.
