The UCSB women’s swim and dive team split a pair of dual meets on Saturday, defeating Northern Arizona, 182-98, while simultaneously falling to UNLV, 161-137, at the Rebel’s Buchanan Natatorium. Meanwhile, the men were defeated, 160.5-99.5 by UNLV.
“There were a lot of good performances, but not enough of them,” said head coach Gregg Wilson. “We had a good meet, but needed to have a really good meet.”
The Gaucho women’s meet was highlighted by standout performances from the freshmen.
Freshman Andrea Ward won the 1,000 freestyle in 10:14.97 and then took first in the 500 free later in the meet with a time of 5:00.84. Freshman Sophia Yamauchi was also a double event winner, taking first in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.88) and the 200 breaststroke (2:16.7).
Allie Knight also had a great meet. The freshman took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.75 before taking first in the 200 back (2:02.78) and the 400 individual medley (4:27.92).
Freshman Mariah Tharp had a first-place finish in the 100 free. She touched the wall in 52.64 seconds.
The closest race of the afternoon was the women‚s 50 free, which was decided by .01 seconds. Kendall Neely was out-touched by Rachel Dixon and took second in 24.19 seconds.
Neely helped the Gaucho women end the meet on a high note as she, Tharp, Anne Peanasky and Yamauchi won the 200 free relay in 1:34.76.
On the men‚s side, it was the juniors that led the way. Junior Chris Peterson finished first in both the 50 (20.34) and the 100 free (44.44). His classmate, Kevin Ferguson, won the 200 back in 1:51.20 after being out-touched by UNLV’s Cody Roberts in the 100 back by .07 seconds. Ferguson finished second in the event with a time of 49.81.
Junior Ryan Garcia was also impressive. He won the 200 butterfly in 1:53.11 as the Gauchos swept first through third in the event with Max Horrell and Randy Aakhus touching second and third, respectively. Garcia also placed second in the 200 back behind Ferguson with his time of 1:52.40 and then rounded out the meet with a second-place finish in the 400 IM (4:07.33).
UCSB will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 29 when it hosts its final home meet of the season. The Gauchos will take-on Pacific and the UC Davis women in an 11 a.m. meet at Campus Pool.
