LONG BEACH, Calif. – UC San Diego sophomores Julia Toronczak (Santee/West Hills HS) and Kevin Wylder were named Thursday as the Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference (PCSC) NCAA Division II Athletes of the Week for the week of Dec. 28-Jan. 3.
The duo were UCSD’s top performers in several home dual meets at the Canyonview Aquatic Center, primarily against NCAA Division I opposition.
Wylder, a native of Granite Bay, excelled for the fifth-ranked Triton men. He swept the freestyle sprints on Sunday, blazing to times of 20.93 in the 50 and 46.14 in the 100 to hit the wall first ahead of competitors from Division I Incarnate Word and Division II 19th-ranked Missouri S&T. Wylder also was part of both first-place relays, swimming the butterfly leg (49.75) of the 400 medley (3:26.12) at the start, before closing out his day on the victorious 200 free relay (1:24.32). Against Division I Grand Canyon and UNLV on Saturday, he went 1:52.54 for third in his first-ever 200 fly, and 50.40 in the 100 fly. UCSD as a team went 2-2 in the duals.
Toronczak stood out for the second-ranked UCSD women. She placed first in her specialty, the 200 backstroke, on all three days of competition: Wednesday in a long-course meet with PCSC rival Cal State East Bay (2:27.22 LCM), Saturday against top Division I foes Boise State, Grand Canyon, San Diego State and UNLV (2:01.49 SCY), and again Sunday against Division I Incarnate Word and San José State (2:01.04). Toronczak was also first Sunday in the 100 back in 57.77, as well asWednesday against East Bay (1:08.99 LCM), and swam a 1:54.93 in the 200 free on Saturday.
The PCSC includes programs from all three levels of the NCAA; Division I, II and III, as well as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and this season has begun to recognize male and female weekly standouts for each.
Toronczak and Wylder are UCSD’s sixth and seventh honorees for 2015-16. Senior tri-captain Cole Heale was an initial recipient back on Nov. 3, with junior Michael Cohn (Solana Beach/Grossmont College) and senior co-captain Colleen Daley following suit after the A3 Performance Invitational later that month, as well as divers Grant Crawford and Delainey Carlin (Carlsbad/Carlsbad HS) in December.
Wylder was also previously designated the PCSC Male Swimmer of the Week by CollegeSwimming.com back on Nov. 10.
The Triton men’s and women’s swimmers and divers head into one last home competition for 2015-16 this Saturday, Jan. 9, on Senior Day at the Canyonview Aquatic Center. The first event is slated for a 12 p.m. start, after 15 seniors are recognized beginning at around 11:40 a.m. Admission and parking are free.
Contingent upon the weather cooperating, UCSD Athletics plans to live-stream it’s first-ever swim meet, free in high definition, via its new platform, UCSDtritons.tv.
Swimming news courtesy of UC San Diego Swimming & Diving.