SAN DIEGO – After three long days at the A3 Performance Invitational, the UCSB men’s swim tem emerged on top and the women finish third behind San Diego State University and UCLA.
Stellar performances in the breaststroke, individual medley and sprint freestyle events helped the Gauchos speed past their competition and put up some of the best times of the season.
Freshman Billy Mullis (1:46.36) earned the first UCSB points of the day, finishing second in the men’s 200 backstroke. Josh Smith (1:49.80) and Dylan Kubick (1:50.19) weren’t far behind him, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
Kimmie Kreuzberger (51.05) sprinted her way into the championship finals heat of the women’s 50 freestyle, finishing seventh. Lauren Vosseler placed second in the consolation heat, coming in at a time of 51.02.
Wade Allen (44.02) proved his dominance in the sprint events once again with a win in the men’s 100 freestyle. Chase Lemley (45.24) finished third, Lukas Paulauskas (45.82) in sixth, and Chris Dotson (46.02) in eighth.
Katie Records (2:13.56) took the win in the women’s 200 breaststroke, with Jiana Vargem (2:14.75) finishing in third and Alyssa Shew (2:18.39) in seventh.
The men’s 200 butterfly championship heat was one to make every Gaucho proud as the Gauchos finished first, second, third, and fourth. Mickey Mowry (1:44.84) sealed the win, followed by Chris Nolan (1:46.66), Richard Davison (1:49.24), and Andy Lau (1:49.68).
The meet concluded with the 400 freestyle relays. The UCSB women finished in fifth and the men finished in second.
After totaling scores from all three days, the Gaucho men emerged with a tremendous victory of 1911 points. The second place finisher was over 650 points behind them. The women ended the Invite with 875 points.
Despite fierce competition, the Gauchos displayed incredible potential for the rest of the season as we continue into December. Catch the Gauchos at their next meet on December 4-6 at the Texas Invitational.