Oct. 17, 2008

Results

Stockton, Calif. - After one day of competition in the 2008 Pacific Tiger Invitational, the women's team finished in third place behind Washington State and Oregon State, but finished above Nevada by six points. In Friday's two-team field, the men came out behind California on Oct. 17.

Junior KC Albiston (Salt Lake City, Utah) was a large part of the women's success after she finished in the top five in a handful of events. KC's highest finish of the day came in the longest event, when she took a second-place finish in the 1650 Free with a time of 17:21.93, barely one second behind Rachael Krager of Washington State. The mile-long race featured 17 contenders, and freshman Jayme Swalin (Kenmore, Wash.) pulled up as the third-best with a time of 17:28.51 in the race.

Albiston took a spot in the top five again in the 400 IM, as three Pacific swimmers placed in the top 10. She led the pack with a 4:31.50 finish to solidify a fourth-place finish, in front of junior Melissa McGhee (Elk Grove, Calif.)'s eighth-place 4:34.60 race, which was only one-hundredth of a second faster than and Swalin.

Albiston next touched the wall with a 1:55.12 in the 200 Free to beat her fastest time during the 2007-08 season, and finished only one second before senior Jun Huang's (Guangzhou, China) 1:56.32 time. Albiston and Huang gave Pacific a 9-10 finish to place two Tigers in the top 10 out of 42 competitors.

Another strong showing came for the Tigers in the Women's 50 Free, as senior Jenny Lewis (Hesperia, Calif.) gave yet another second-place finish with her 23.87 speed. Also placing in the top 10 in that event was senior April Woo (Honolulu, Hawaii), who was the eighth swimmer of 39 to touch the wall in 24.75 seconds.

For the men, freshman Kevin Byers (Puyallup, Wash.) put forth one of the best showings with a strong third-place finish in the 400 IM, after he completed the race with a time of 4:11.15. Sixteen other men competed in that race alongside Byers.

Senior Stephen Quinn (Livermore, Calif.) gave Pacific another top-10 finish when he touched the wall with a time of 1:44.92 during the 200 Free. His eighth-place finish was the highest time for the Tigers, out of 37 overall swimmers.

And in the day's longest event, the 1650 Free, Pacific had a shot at team bragging rights, as the heat featured only Tiger swimmers. Senior Matt Lundy (Lafayette, Colo.), who set a school record in the event last season took first place with a time of 16:23.82. Behind him was sophomore Aljaż Ojstersek (Ljubljana, Slovenia), who competed in 2008 Olympic qualifiers, and touched the wall with a time of 16:49.11.

The Pacific Invitational will resume tomorrow, Oct. 18, immediately following the men's water polo match at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. The tentative start time is 12:30 p.m.

Day One Women's Scores:
1. Washington State - 452
2. Oregon State - 338
3. Pacific - 231.5
4. Nevada - 225.5

Day One Men's Scores:
1. California - 635
2. Pacific - 277