ST. George, Utah- The Pacific men's and women's swim teams kicked off the first day of the MPSF Championship with the 200 medley and 800 free relays, garnering two National Invitational Championship cuts in the 800 free relays. The first full day of racing starts tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 22, with prelims starting at 9 a.m. PT/10 a.m. MT.
 
"Incredible first session for the Tigers," head coach Katelyne Herrington said. "The team continued to prove we are a better team than last year, dropping time and swimming faster in each relay tonight. I couldn't have imagined a better start to our weekend."
 
The women took to the water first opening with the 200 medley relay. The Tigers took eighth with a 1:42.83, beating their mark last year by nearly half a second. Sophomore Diana Chan led off with a 26.12 in the 50 back. Junior Paige Sondgeroth clocked a 28.79 in her 50 breast split. Senior Caitlin Tan cruised with a 24.31 in her 50 fly, while junior Noemi Melendez brought the Tigers home with a 23.61 in the 50 free.
 
The men followed shortly after, finishing in sixth, up a place from a year ago, with a 1:28.55. Junior Leland Baltazar led off with a 22.44 50 back split, while sophomore Ethan Cole came in at 25.40 in the 50 breast. Senior Aidan Vollmar rattled off a 21.33 in the 50 fly, while senior Dylan Parente cruised in with a whopping 19.38 split in the 50 free. 
 
In the 800 free relay, the women finished in sixth, clocking a 7:27.57. Dropping 6.16 seconds from their seeded time and improving three seconds from last year, the Tiger women were led off by juniors Alexia Ferguson and Jadyn Phillips. Chan and junior Jordyn Gonzales anchored the final 400 yards. The four earned the first National Invitational Championship qualifier time in the event this season for the women.
 
The men finished off the night for the Tigers with a fifth place finish in the 800 free relay. Junior Mitchell Hopper led off a 1:36.48, with Parente behind him with a 1:38.18. Vollmar clocked a 1:38.98 split while senior Aidan Scott anchored with a 1:39.39 as Pacific finished with a 6:33.03, dropping 7.89 seconds off their entry time and a full eight seconds from their time a year ago. The men also earned their first NIC qualifier time in the event this year.
 
The Tigers return to action tomorrow morning with the 500 free, 200 medley and 50 free prelims. The morning concludes with the 200 free relays. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. PT with their respective finals starting at 5 p.m. PT.
 
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