The Tigers soared back into the spotlight this Sunday to finish the annual Pacific Invitational at the Chris Kjeldsen Pool, where they hosted Simon Fraser University and the University of Nevada.
The men's and women's swim teams had standout showings this Saturday and Sunday, with the men and women winning their duels against Simon Fraser 206-107 on the men's side and 162-153 for the women's squad. Notably, the women's team returned from a 20-point deficit to Simon Fraser to take victory this Sunday. The Tigers, however, fell short in the women's duel with Nevada, with a score of 181-131.
In the beginning stages of the meet, the women's team placed second in the 400 Yard Medley Relay, with a time of 3:59.07 from Sophomores
Jordyn Gonzales,
Paige Sondgeroth,
Noemi Melendez and
Alexia Ferguson. The men followed with a first place finish in the 400 Yard Medley Relay with a time of 3:28.18 from Sophomore
Leland Baltazar, Freshman
Bridger Sink, Sophomore
Mitchell Hopper and Senior
Dylan Parente.
Sophomores
Jadyn Phillips and
Kelly Kermoian took third and fourth place in the women's 500 Yard Freestyle, with times of 5:13.73 and 5:19.33, respectively. Freshman
Ethan Cole took first place in the men's 500 Yard Freestyle with a finishing time of 4:43.34, Junior
Alex Kurotori in second place with a time of 4:50.13, and
Gabe Windmiller in fourth place with a time of 4:53.27.
In the women's 200 Yard Backstroke, Gonzales placed first with a time of 2:08.54, Freshman
Diana Chan in third with a time of 2:10.40, and Senior
Jessica Clark in fifth with a time of 2:11.94. On the men's side, Junior
Aidan Scott led the 200 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:55.90.
Ferguson placed fifth in the women's 100 Yard Freestyle with a time of 53.57, followed by Fitzpatrick with a first place finish at a final time of 47.13, and
Mitchell Hopper in third with a final time of 47.43 - missing second place by just 0.07 seconds.
Freshman
Katie Honey placed fourth in the women's 200 Yard Breaststroke with a final time of 2:33.92, while on the men's side, Freshman
Bridger Sink placed first and Senior
AJ Dolan placed third, with times of 2:08.34 and 2:13.56, respectively.
As the meet went on, the Tigers continued to perform, placing third and fourth in the women's 100-Yard Butterfly. Junior
Taylor Moultrie and Melendez finished within a second of each other, at times 58.98 and 59.68, respectively. The men placed third and fifth in the men's 100 Yard Butterfly, with finishing times of 53.57 from Freshman Matthew Honeck and 55.09 from Frankie Fitzpatrick.
The Tigers remained strong, finishing first, third, fourth, fifth, and seventh in the women's 200 Yard Individual Medley and finishing first, second, third, fourth and fifth in the men's 200 Yard Individual Medley. Kurotori placed first on the men's side with a time of 1:56.11, followed by Senior
Jonathan Tan in second with a time of 1:56.74, Junior
Aidan Vollmar in third with a time of 1:56.80, Parente in fourth with an exhibition time of 1:57.66 and Scott in sixth with an exhibition time of 1:59.15. On the women's side, Sondgeroth finished with a time of 2:07.75 - exceeding second place by nearly seven seconds - and was followed by Freshman
Annelise Thomas in third with a time of 2:14.71, Gonzales in fourth with a time of 2:14.85, Sophomore Ellie MacPhail in fifth with an exhibition time of 2:15.29 and Clark in seventh with an exhibition time of 2:15.86.
The women then placed second in their 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, finishing time of 1:37.66 from Sondgeroth, Ferguson, Melendez, and the new canon-leg, Freshman
Deanna Brazil. Parente, Fitzpatrick, Kurotori, and Baltazar finished first in their 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, with a final time of 1:24.64, nearly five seconds ahead of second place.
The Tigers went out with a bang on both the men's and women's sides in the day's final event - the grueling, sixty-six lap 1650 Yard Freestyle. On the men's side, Cole placed first with a final time of 16:32.38, followed by Windmiller in fourth with a final time of 17:15.32, and Junior
Aidan Vulgas in sixth with an exhibition time of 17:42.47. On the women's side, Gonzales placed second with a final time of 18:15.37, and Kermoian placed fourth with a final time of 18:43.38.
After an impressive two days, the Tigers have secured victory over Simon Fraser, just missing Nevada by fifty points on the women's side. New and old athletes showed out, and the coaching staff is excited to continue developing each individual.
The Tigers compete again on October 21st at 4 p.m. at Fresno State and will host CSU Bakersfield at their next meet at noon on Saturday, November 5th, at the Chris Kjeldsen Pool.
