SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara men's (5-0, 2-0) and women's (4-1, 2-0) swim teams both defeated UNLV in a dual meet on Saturday afternoon at Campus Pool. Santa Barbara's men's team won by a score of 140-117, while the women's team had a larger margin of 153-101 in what was the second meet in as many days against the Runnin' Rebels. Gauchos finished first in 20 of the 27 events Saturday, as well as in 33 out of the 44 events combined between the two days. The multitude of events on Saturday allowed the Gauchos an opportunity to display their depth, as 25 different swimmers had top-three finishes.
Head coach Matt Macedo was pleased with the way the team performed over the two days and viewed the two meets as good preparation for the grueling schedule ahead. "It was great to be back at Campus Pool after two months since our last dual meet. Coming off our winter training, our goal this weekend was to try and work on the little things that are so important in the championship season. Several races came down to the finish which is great race rehearsal for upcoming competitions, especially our conference championship where a few hundredths can make a big difference," said Macedo. He continued, "I thought we did a nice job getting back into the racing mindset and I'm especially pleased with how the group cleaned up mistakes today that were made in Fridays meet. We look forward to building on this momentum heading into a weekend of conference opponents on the road."
A key event for the women was the 100 Breast, in which seniors Heaven Quintana, Nicola Churchill, and Brittney Straw finished first, second, and third, respectively (1:04.91, 1:07.10, and 1:07.52). The men also took the top three spots in the 200 Fly. Dominic Falcon touched first (1:51.69), Zach Shenkin second (1:52.32), and Colin Casey third (1:53.35).
The Gauchos men's and women's 200 Medley Relays at the beginning of the meet were a sign of things to come, as the Gauchos "A" and "B" teams finished first and second in both (Women: 1:43.20 and 1:45.80; Men: 1:31.80 and 1:32.56).
Emily Boggess dominated freestyle events as usual, finishing first in the 1000 Free (10:11.86), 500 Free (4:57.77), and second in the 100 Free (52.09). Zoe Cosgrove and Emily Ward picked up two first-place wins each, Cosgrove in the 100 Back (55.41) and 200 Back (1:58.75), and Ward in the 100 Free (52.07) and 200 Free (1:51.87). In addition to Straw's third-place finish in the 100 Breast, she also finished first in the 200 Breast (2:22.60). Maelynn Lawrence and Bryn McGowan each secured first-place finishes as well, Lawrence swimming the 200 Fly in 2:04.23, and McGowan the 50 Free in 23.80.
Rounding out the effort for the Gaucho women were Rachel Forbes and Elena England, who each had one second and one third-place finish, as well as Gillian Flath and Molly McCance who each had second-place finishes.
On the men's side, senior Joe Lastelic picked up two first-place wins, swimming the 1000 Free in 9:27.36 and the 500 Free in 4:31.92. Falcon, Doug Nogueira, and Marcello Quarante, each had one first and one second-place finish. In addition to Falcon's first place win in the 200 Fly, he finished second in the 500 Free (4:33.63), Nogueira won the 100 Back (49.73) and got second in the 200 Back (1:51.25), and Quarante won the 100 Breast (57.58) and got second in the 200 Breast (2:06.93). Kian Brouwer took first in the 100 Free (45.58) and third in the 100 Fly (50.34), while Dan Marella finished first in the 200 Breast (2:03.86) and Riley Ferguson in the 50 Free (20.90).
Jolen Griffin, Tony Moore, Christian Martinez, and Zach Shenkin added second-place wins, while Oscar Jameson contributed a third-place victory.
The Gauchos will return to action when they travel to Stockton to take on University of the Pacific this Friday at 4:00 p.m.
