LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Pacific men's and women's swimming and diving squads had a slow start to the morning, but rebounded in the evening, winning three events and securing a top three finish in the men's and women's 200 Free Relays and 400 Medley Relays.
"Our relay performances were pretty awesome and with the B-relays scoring at this meet I am really proud of how we placed, especially in the men's 200 Free Relay," said head coach Peter Richardson.
The day began with preliminary races in the 500 Free, 200 IM, and 50 Free. Individuals were then placed in scoring groups based on their preliminary times. Those who placed in the top eight in preliminaries were guaranteed to earn points for a top eight finish in the finals, while those swimmers that finished 9th-16th were also guaranteed points for their respective final finishes.
"Swimming fast in the prelims effects how a team scores and so teams that don't perform well in the preliminary races struggle to catch up and score points," expressed Richardson. "We came out flat in the preliminaries, but stepped up tonight which will hopefully show other teams what we can do."
Neil Franka, a senior from San Diego, highlighted the Tigers' performances as he broke a 12-year program record in the 200 Individual Medley. After clocking the fastest preliminary time of 1:47.72, Franka came out and not only shaved off over one second from his preliminary time, but broke former Tiger — Krzysztof Zoldak's — 2005 record of 1:46.84 by just two-hundredths of a second.
"I am extremely proud of Neil. He is a really hard working senior and glad he had such a good swim in the mid-season race," added Richardson.
Niles Biolley also scored in the 200 IM with a fifth-best time (1:50.20) in the A-final.
The 200 Free Relay opened the day for the men and women with the Pacific men's A squad, which including Stewart Harrison, Yahav Shahaff, Mason Miller and Miles MacKenzie, finished second behind UNLV's A squad with a time of 1:19.66. The Tigers' B team —Makoa Haneberg, Josh Owens, Erik Clemensen, Dylan Toy — also scored with a fourth place finish (1:20.30).
Pacific's 400 Medley Relay A team — Haneberg, Shahaff, Miller, MacKenzie — continue to shine, finishing third behind two UC Santa Barbara teams. The foursome registered a time of 3:14.48. The B team finished eighth with a time of 3:20.09.
Shahaff, MacKenzie, Miller, and Dylan Toy combined for 21 points in the 50 Free after securing four top-six finishes in the event. Shahaff led the group in second (20.19), Mackenzie was third (20.23), Miller was fifth (20.46), and Toy was sixth (20.48). Steward Harrison also scored in the event with a 10th place finish of 20.53.
Angela Gagliardo and Kenna Ramey earned top finishes in the 200 IM and 50 Free, respectively. Gagliardo won the A-final with a time of 2:03.06, bettering her preliminary time by more than two seconds. Kathleen Gani raced to a fifth-best time (2:07.24) in the B-final, while Isabella Green finished first in the non-scoring C-final with a time of 2:07.66.
"Today's 200 IM swim for Angela was outstanding as this is her first mid-season win. I am really proud of her," said Richardson.
Ramey posted a 23.11 finish in the 50 Free, bettering her Pacific invite time (23.75) that she recorded nearly three weeks ago. Cai Hong Singh was second in the B-final (23.82), while Rebecca Aguilar topped the C-final with a time of 23.80, which would have placed her among the top nine in the event.
Taylor Hosmer represented Pacific in the 500 Free A-final, placing seventh overall with a time of 5:04.01. Brigid McNally had a slower preliminary race than Hosmer which placed her in the B-final, which she finished second in (4:57.59). That mark would have placed her in a tie for sixth in the A-final.
In the relays the 200 Free Relay A-team —Singh, Ramey, Aguilar, Semaj Walker — was third (1:32.76) after improving on its seeding time by nearly four seconds. In the 400 Medley Relay the same team finished second (3:43.87), while the B-squad —Isabella Green, Elina Rosario, Gani, Meredith Lillie — was sixth (3:49.41).
In diving Alexis Albanese and Isabelle Huyhn competed in the 3-meter dive. Albanese was 12th (140.10) and Huyhn was 13th (106.25).
Day two of the UNLV Invite will include the 200 Medley Relay, 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 800 Free, and the men's and women's 1-meter diving. Fans can follow the results live here.
