SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara men's and women's swim teams wrapped up their shortened 2020-21 seasons Saturday on the final day of the MPSF Championship Meet at Cal Poly. The Gauchos men's squad finished in third place overall with 627 points and the women took fourth place with 530 points. Hawaii's women's squad wrapped up their fifth straight MPSF Team Championship, while BYU won the men's title, their first since 2016.
"This team was incredible to work with all week, all season really," said Head Coach Matt Macedo. "To finish just shy of last year's seven individual titles with all of the obstacles and uncertainty we faced is a testament to the dedication, sacrifice and commitment of this group of men and women."
Throughout the four-day meet, the Gauchos earned five individual MPSF Championships, eight second-place finishes, and 13 third-place finishes.
Highlights of the final day of the meet were individual championships in the 1650 Free (17:08.81) and 200 Fly (2:01.88) by sophomore Maelynn Lawrence and junior Alec Cullen's individual championship in the 200 Breast (1:55.41). Cullen already held the MPSF and UCSB records in 200 Breast but further improved his time with Saturday's swim.
Junior Molly McCance and freshmen Danielle Carter added second-place finishes on the women's side, McCance in the 200 Fly (2:01.95) and Carter in the 200 Back (1:57.94). Additionally, freshman Reagan Nibarger earned a third-place finish in the 100 Free (50.90). The women's 400 Free Relay squad of Paige Gambetta, Nibarger, Sydney Rouse, and Bryn McGowan finished fourth in 3:26.40.
"Lexi Fusari and Bryn McGowan continued to do a great job of guiding our women through a difficult championship season and I am proud of the way they raced in their final MPSF meet. I am impressed by Maelynn's excellent double and can't wait to see Danielle chase more victories in the coming years," said Macedo.
In addition to Cullen's 200 Breast, notable performances for the men's team were a second-place finish in the 1650 Free from freshman Gabe Nickels (15:40.36) and a third-place finish from sophomore Dominic Falcon in the 200 Fly (1:46.49). Santa Barbara also received fourth-place finishes from men's captain Dan Marella in the 1650 Free (15:46.85), Zach Dietz in the 200 Back (1:46.71) and Corban McIntosh in the 200 Breast (2:00.06). The men's 400 Free Relay team of Tim Lee, Dietz, Jackson Mason, and Ryan Levy finished fourth in the 400 Free Relay (2:59.04).
"Our men were led by Alec and Dom's first-place finishes along the leadership of Dan Marella," said Macedo. "To see Alec break his own conference record against such a strong group of breaststrokers after returning from injury was awesome. Dan was a phenomenal leader and for him to be able to race following his surgery in the fall was a highlight of a difficult season. Levy finished 4th in the 200 free and anchored four out of five relays including a very fast 43.8 split to finish the meet."
"As I said before the meet, I am incredibly proud of this group and appreciate everything the staff, administration, and Cal Poly did to make this meet happen," Macedo said.
The MPSF Championships wrap up the Gauchos' season.
