ST. GEORGE, UTAH – Pacific traveled its men's and women's swim teams to compete in the three-day Utah Tech Invite. They capped off a strong day one of racing with nine new personal best times and four NIC cuts across multiple events.
The Tigers opened the day with 13 season bests during Thursday morning's prelims, while seven Tigers went for a new personal best. 19 Tigers in total cataloged new top times across three events.
Opening the meet with the 500 free,
Ellie Macphail earned a season best 5:13.11, while
Jordyn Gonzales swam a personal best 5:08.32. On the men's side, both
Ethan Cole and
Aidan Vulgas earned season bests in the same event, with Cole clocking a 4:36.96 and Vulgas finishing also sub-five with 4:59.57.
The Tigers put up 12 new top times for 12 different swimmers in the 200 IM prelim.
Noemi Melendez,
Patty Torres,
Annelise Thomas,
Paige Sondgeroth,
Emma Hooper and
Kelly Kermoian all raced with an edge. Sondgeroth clocked a 2:05.61 enroute to a season best, while Thomas came in with a 2:07.18.
Kermoian went for a personal best 2:09.35, while
Emma Hooper earned one as well with a 2:11.84. Torres moved to a 2:12.68 and Melendez came in with a 2:10.29 to go for a new season best.
In the 50 free,
Alexia Ferguson (24.12) and
Leland Baltazar (20.97) each clocked new season bests in the event, while
Madison Rishwain raced a new personal best, finishing with a 26.62. Ferguson later broke that in the 50 free final, earning a 23.96 finish.
In the men's 200 IM prelim, six Tigers earned new top times, while adding two NIC cuts from
Mitchell Hopper and
Aidan Vollmar. Vollmar earned a 1:50.55 while Hopper finished with the top time of the prelim with a 1:49.65
Kyle Capili and
Jacob Sotelo raced to new bests, Capili coming in at 1:54.01 and Sotelo at 1:57.70 in the 200 medley.
Aidan Scott and
Alex Kurotori found success in the same event, recording a 1:51.36 and 1:51.81 respectively.
Kermoian later went for a new personal best in Thursday's 200 IM finals clocking a 2:08.29. Hopper and Kurotori also recorded new personal bests in the 200 IM final coming in at 1:48.79 and 1:51.43 respectively.
In the 200 free relay, Sondgeroth cataloged a personal best 50 split as the lead off, with Hopper doing the same in the men's 200 free relay.
The Tigers ended the night with the 400 medley relay, where Baltazar and Kermoian each went for new bests for their 100 back splits. The men's team earned two NIC relay cuts to cap off a strong day of racing, earning the nod in both the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay.
The Tigers return to action tomorrow for day two of the Utah Tech Invite.
