MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara women's swim team began closing a 37-point gap between themselves and first-place Hawaii Friday night at the MPSF Championships, bringing themselves within 13.5 points heading into the final day of competition. The men, with 442 points are out of contention for the team title but won two individual championships Friday. They sit in third and trail first-place Hawaii by 142 points.
Following the meet, Associate Head Coach Ellie Monobe said, "The Gauchos had a great showing tonight, but I'm most proud of the heart they showed." She continued, "We have a lot of work ahead of us but it's nothing this team is afraid of."
Highlights of Day 3 for Santa Barbara were individual championships by Emily Boggess in the 200Y Free (1:46.64), Dominic Falcon in the 400Y IM (3:47.66), and Jolen Griffin in the 100Y Back (47.48).
The 200Y Free was a key race for the women, as Emily Ward and Elena England took third and fifth place (1:47.50 and 1:48.94), while Boggess finished first. Ward also contributed a fifth-place finish in the 100Y Back (55.01).
Senior Heaven Quintana played a crucial role for the women's squad, finishing second in both the 100Y Fly (53.66) and 100Y Breast (1:01.13). Seniors Doug Nogueira and Joe Lastelic were key for the men, both with second-place finishes, Nogueira in the 400Y IM (3:49.80) and Lastelic in the 200 Free (1:37.23).
Freshman Zoe Cosgrove had a third-place finish in the 100Y Back (54.22), while Justin Nguyen touched third in the 100Y Back (47.80) and Kian Brouwer in the 100Y Fly (47.02).
Sophomore Dan Marella picked up a fourth-place finish in the 400Y IM (3:52.86), while Zach Dietz finished fifth in the 100Y Back (48.74). Jacquelyn Harris also finished fifth in the 100Y Fly (54.61).
The women will look to complete their comeback and win an MPSF Team Championship tomorrow, while the men will seek out more individual championships.
The final day of the MPSF Championship Meet will take place Saturday, with prelims at 8:00 a.m. and finals at 6:00 p.m. Click here for a schedule of events. Live results will be available on the Meet Mobile app and a livestream will be available here (subscription required).
