UC Santa Barbara Sweeps Cal Poly in Only Dual Meet of Season

Courtesy: UC Santa Barbara Athletics

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Competing in their first meet in almost a year, the UC Santa Barbara men’s and women’s swim teams won dual meets against rival Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Saturday. Both teams won emphatically, as the men beat the Mustangs 174-114 and the women won 171-120. Reigning MPSF Freshman of the Year Dominic Falcon led the men, ending the day with three individual first-place finishes. Freshman Danielle Carter and junior Molly McCance cleaned up on the women’s side, each earning three individual first-place finishes. Santa Barbara dominated the women’s 100 Free and men’s 200 Breast events, taking the top three spots in both. The Gauchos also swept the relays, touching first in all four, including in the 200 Medley Relay in which the men took first and second.

Falcon finished first in the 200 Fly (1:48.85), 500 Free (4:36.15), and 200 IM (1:53.60). Fifth-year senior Ryan Levy had a strong showing as well, taking individual first-place finishes in the 100 Free (46.43) and 200 Free (1:40.43), while also anchoring the first-place 400 Free Relay team. Junior Alec Cullen added two first-place wins of his own in the 100 Breast (56.17) and 200 Breast (2:02.47). Other first-place finishers on the men’s side were sophomore Daniel Pry in the 200 Back (1:52.38) and junior Timothy Lee in the 100 Fly (50.02).

On the women’s side, McCance placed first in the 200 Fly (2:03.78), 100 Free (53.48), and 500 Free (5:09.48). In what was Carter’s first collegiate meet, she touched first in the 100 Back (54.85), 200 Back (2:02.00), and 100 Fly (57.48). Freshman Katie Nugent and Paige Gambetta also impressed in their collegiate debuts, Nugent winning both the 100 and 200 Breast (1:06.78 and 2:24.10) and Gambetta taking first the 200 Free (1:55.03) and second in the 200 Back (2:06.25). Senior captain Bryn McGowan earned first place honors in the 50 Free (24.48), junior Dora Seggelke in the 200 IM (2:11.12), and sophomore Maelynn Lawrence in the 1000 Free (10:45.48).

The Gauchos will continue to train for this years’ MPSF Championship meet which is tentatively scheduled for mid-February.

Courtesy: Cal Poly Athletics

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Hosting its first in-person dual meet of the season on Saturday at Anderson Aquatic Center, the Cal Poly men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams had a combined total of seven first place finishes and 16 second place finishes on the afternoon against UC Santa Barbara.

The Mustang men had five guys finish first in individual events while the women had two of their own. However, the Cal Poly men’s team fell to the Gauchos 174-114 while the women’s team also lost 171-120.

For the Cal Poly men, freshman Kieran McNulty won the 1,000-yard freestyle event with a time of 9:31.19. He also finished second in the 500-yard free with a time of 4:38.88.

Senior Gennady Sytnik came in first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.21, missing breaking his personal best in the event by 1-100^th of a second. Sytnik also finished in the 200-yard back with a time of 1:52.82.

Junior Brandon Toland took first in the 50-yard free with a time of 20.74.

Sophomore Brian Wong had two second-place finishes on the day. He placed second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:50.02 and in the 100-yard fly with a time of 50.38. Sophomore Ryan Iannaccone also had a second-place finish coming in the 100-yard free with a time of 46.77

The other two first-place finishes for the Cal Poly men came from senior Noah McKinley in diving. Competing just against his fellow Mustangs, McKinley won the 3-meter dive with a score of 268.72 and the 1-meter dive with a score of 240.15.

For the Cal Poly women, junior diver Joelle Weltner had the two first-place finishes. Also competing just against her teammates, Weltner won the 1-meter dive with a score of 246.15 and the 3-meter dive with a score of 254.18.

Senior Stephanie Backlund had a pair of second-place finishes to highlight her day. She placed second in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:56.69 and in the 500-yard free with a time of 5:15.37.

Sophomore Samantha Rankin also had a couple of second-place finishes. She finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.94 and in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:11.97.

Also posting second-place finishes on the afternoon for the women were sophomore Kaia Anderson in the 1,000-yard free with a time of 10:46.20, senior Sascha Keir in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.72, senior Avery Newman in the 200-yard breast with a time of 2:24.12, and sophomore Erin Kim in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.76.

In the team relay events, the Cal Poly women’s “A” team of Keir, Rankin, Kim, and sophomore Sophie Jackson finished second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:48.47.

In the women’s 400-yard free relay, the Mustang “A” team of senior Alyssa Kjelsberg, Kim, Backlund, and freshman Lauren Gleason finished second with a time of 3:36.51.

In the men’s 400-yard free relay, the Cal Poly “A” team of Iannaccone, junior Grant Brehm, freshman Justin Mills, and Toland finished second with a time of 3:09.31.