MONTEREY PARK – On the final day of the MPSF Championships at East Los Angeles College the Gauchos weren’t able to make up any ground and finished fourth place overall.
UC Davis was able to hang on and win first place with 673.5 points, BYU finished second with 635.5 and Hawaii came in third with 610.
Sophia Yamauchi earned the honor of MPSF Swimmer of the Year making it two Gauchos to win in back-to-back years. She had an impressive meet winning the 200 IM, 200 breaststroke, and contributed to wins in the 200 and 400 medley relay.
The highlight of the day came in the 200 breaststroke where three Gauchos advanced to the championship final. Yamauchi continued her meet success coming away with a first place finish in an NCAA ‘B’ cut and season-best time of 2:12.29. She knocked off meet record holder in the event Liliana Alvarez of UC Davis, who edged out Yamauchi in the 100 breaststroke on Friday. Also advancing to the finals in the 200 breaststroke was Carissa Metcalf who came in third (2:13.87) and Paige Bradley who finished fourth (2:15.00). Both times were season-bests for them.
In the first event of the day, the 1650 freestyle, Heren Alanis finished third place with a season-best time of 16:50. 99. Micaela Velasquez marked her own season-best time of 17:27. 30 on her way to a thirteenth overall finish.
A pair of Gauchos, Marissa Neel and Allie Knight, advanced to the championship final in the 200 backstroke finishing third and fourth, respectively. It was tight between the two of them and Neel’s time of 1:59.68 was her best of the season. Knight finished with a time of 1:59.84.
In the 100 freestyle, Katie Tomkinson touched the wall in fifth place (50.81) in the championship final. In the consolation final, Kimmie Kreuzberger would finish ninth overall with a season-best 50.98.
Andrea Ward advanced to the championship final in the 200 butterfly but would finish eighth in 2:09.94 despite having the third best qualifying time. Anne Peanasky finished fifteenth overall in 2:06.74 after advancing to the consolation final.
Kreuzberger, Tomkinson, Ward and Yamauchi led UCSB to a third place finish in the 400 free relay in a season-best time of 3:22. 44.
Platform diving wrapped up the meet and Hannah Tomp, Monika Terry, and Tripti Singhal all advanced to the Consolation final. Tomp finished ninth (184.45), Terry came in eleventh (179.20) and Singhal finished twelfth (173.85).
That wraps up team competition for UCSB, next up is the NCAA Championships which will be held in Indianapolis, Ind. from Mar. 21-23.
