Press Release courtesy of Pacific Athletics
Mason Miller and Elina Rosario were selected the Men’s and Women’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) /TYR Athletes of the Week, respectively, it was announced Tuesday Oct. 18.
Both swimmers made their Pacific debut this last weekend.
Junior transfer, Miller was a member of four winning relay squads, winning both the 200 Medley and 400 Free relays against both California and Cal State Bakersfield. Friday against the Golden Bears, Miller swam to an individual first-place 20.81 in the 50 Free and was third in the 100 Fly (50.18).
Against Cal State Bakersfield Miller added second-place swims in the 50 Free (21.30) and the 100 Fly (49.86).
“Swimming eight events in two days is a difficult task and Mason was a member of four first-place relay finishes which showed his willingness to step up and showed a sense of toughness that our program appreciates,” expressed head coach Peter Richardson.
Against one of the toughest squads in the nation, Miller and teammates Makoa Haneberg, Yahav Shahaf and Stewart Harrison clocked a season-best of 1:30.72 in the 200 Medley Relay. IN the 400 Freestyle, Miller paired with Harrison, Dylan Toy and Miles MacKenzie to finish 1.43 seconds ahead of Cal’s “A” squad with a season-best 3:03.00.
In Bakersfield the 200 Medley Relay was identical to Friday’s foursome, but Miller paired up with four new swimmers — Josh Owens, Austin Crump and Danny Larson — in the 400 Free Relay, clocking a time of 3:04.52.
A freshman from American Canyon, Rosario turned in a successful collegiate debut at Cal State Bakersfield as she finished with the top time in the 100 Breast (1:04.63), placed second in the 200 Breast (2:22.63) and fourth in the 100 Fly (58.80).
Rosario was also a member of the winning 200 Medley Relay team, swimming a 50 Breast split 29.0 and combining for a first-place time of 1:45.72.
“I am not surprised by Elina’s performance. I see how fast she is and how hard she works everyday at practice,” said Richardson.
“In her first weekend she nearly swam her personal bests and so I think that is a good start to the year for the freshman,” added Richardson.
The Pacific men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to Chris Kjeldsen Pool next weekend to host their annual Pacific Invitational. The invite begins Friday (Oct. 27) night and will continue into Saturday (Oct. 28).