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The UC – Santa Barbara Gauchos have added a pair prospects from both ends of the state, getting verbal commitments from Southern Cal’s Nicola Proctor and Northern California’s Melissa Mullis.
Nicola ‘Niki’ Proctor heads north from the general Los Angeles area, where she swims for Star Aquatics and Redlands High School out of Redlands, CA.
Proctor is a breaststroke specialist who could also turn out to have conference scoring potential in the 100 fly.
Proctor’s Top Times
- 100 yard breast: 1:04.30
- 200 yard breast: 2:22.64
- 100 yard fly: 57.35
She’s coming off a big summer that saw her hit lifetime-bests in all three of those events – 1:13.8 in the 100 breast, 2:45.0 in the 200 breast and 1:05.9 in the 100 fly.. If she can transfer that improvement over to short course, she should be an instant scorer at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Her 100 breast time already would have made the B final last season.
“I chose UCSB because of the great work ethic of the team and the coaches,” Proctor told SwimSwam. “The intensity in their practices is amazing and they love what they do. I found that I can really relate to the swimmers on the team. They are so welcoming and are wonderful group of people. I am very excited to get into the pool next year and work my hardest to contribute to this team!”
Mullis, on the other hand, comes out of the Davis Arden Racing Team (DART) in northern California, and also swims for Vacaville High School, which is between San Francisco and Sacramento.
She’s a backstroker and IMer and should also be an immediate upgrade to the Gaucho roster. A 9th-place finisher at the CIF San Joaquin Section meet, Mullis has a time that would have scored last year in the 200 back, and would have been right on the scoring bubble in the 100 back and 400 IM.
Mullis’s Top Times
- 100 yard back: 58.06
- 200 yard back: 2:03.59
- 200 yard IM: 2:09.00
- 400 yard IM: 4:32.00
Mullis has a family connection to UCSB – her brother Billy, who is a sophomore on the Gaucho roster and was named MPSF Freshman of the Year last spring.
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