February 18, 2006
Long Beach, Calif. Pacific men's and women's swimming finished fourth at the Big West Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Senior Laura McDonald (Riverside, Calif.) and sophomore Ja-Neil Bragg (Manteca, Calif.) shared Female Co-Athlete of the Year honors with UC Irvine's Chelsea Nagata, while sophomore Krzysztof Zoldak took home Male Athlete of the Year honors.
UC Santa Barbara took both the men's and women's titles, and Gaucho head coach Gregg Wilson took home both Coach of the Year honors.
The final day of action saw McDonald shave nine seconds off the school record in the 1650 Free, swimming a time of 16:24.87 to take home the title. Sophomore Sarah Gutierrez (San Jose, Calif.) finished in third place, in a time of 17:26.19.
Senior Katy Burrill (Fresno, Calif.) finished third in the 200 Back, recording a season best time of 2:05.30.
In the 100 Free, Bragg (Manteca, Calif.) took home her third Big West title of the year, swimming a season best 51.12. Freshman Jenny Lewis (Hesperia, Calif.) also scored for the Tigers, placing sixth in a time of 52.11.
Three Tigers placed in a row in the 200 Breast, as freshman Summer Halwas-Morgan (Spokane, Wash.), junior Melissa Banks (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and sophomore Ziada Jardine (Cape Town, South Africa) finished seventh, eighth, and ninth
In the 200 Fly, sophomore Kristin Okazaki (Auburn, Wash.) was Pacific's high finisher, placing fifth, in a time of 2:03.71.
In the final event of the meet, the 400 Free Relay, Lewis, senior Jennifer Radecke (Alameda, Calif.), senior Liz Plume (Hillsborough, Calif.), and Bragg took home fourth place in a time of 3:28.63.
On the men's side, freshman Matt Lundy (Lafayette, Col.) finished fourth in the first event of the day, the 1650 Free, in a time of 15:47.10.
Sophomore Wojciech Betlej (Mielec, Poland) took home the crown in the 200 Back in a time of 1:45.95, while junior Kenny Yamamoto (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) finished sixth, swimming a time of 1:49.43.
The Dunn brothers, sophomore David and senior Thomas (Morgan Hill, Calif.) finished first and fourth in the 200 Breast. David swam a career best 1:59.29, just eighth hundreths of a second off the school record, in taking home the title.
Zoldak finished out his individual events with a fourth place finish in the 200 Fly, recording a time of 1:51.37.
In the final event of the meet, the 400 Relay, D. Dunn, junior Casey Lowdermilk (Parker, Col.), Zoldak, and Betlej finished fourth, in a time of 3:04.32.
Team Results
WOMEN
UC Santa Barbara - 785.0
UC Davis - 756.0
UC Irvine - 722.5
Pacific - 615.0
Cal Poly - 249.5
Cal State Northridge - 247.0
MEN
UC Santa Barbara - 821.0
UC Davis - 733.0
UC Irvine - 644.5
Pacific - 615.0
Cal Poly - 293.0
Cal State Northridge - 292.5
Women's Co-Athletes of the Year
Ja-Neil Bragg, Pacific
Laura McDonald, Pacific
Chelsea Nagata, UC Irvine
Women's Freshman of the Year
Katy Freeman, UC Santa Barbara
Women's Coach of the Year
Gregg Wilson, UC Santa Barbara
Men's Athlete of the Year
Krzysztof Zoldak, Pacific
Men's Freshman of the Year
Scott Weltz, UC Santa Barbara
Men's Coach of the Year
Gregg Wilson, UC Santa Barbara
