Cal Poly Finishes Fourth at MPSF Championships

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Swimming and Diving Championships concluded this past Saturday, and the Cal Poly Mustangs women’s team finished fourth.

Senior distance swimmer Lacey Buck took the 1,650-yard freestyle title, swimming the event in 16 minutes, 39.53 seconds. Buck won the swim by more than 10 seconds. Sophomore Taylor Riley and junior Taylor Spivey also swam the longest event in the meet, and placed twentieth and twenty-fifth, respectively.

The Mustangs had three finalists in the 200 backstroke. Sophomore Amanda Maffris placed fifth with a 2:00.95. She was closely followed by senior Gloria Benefield and junior Katrina Anderson, who recorded times of 2:01.03 and 2:01.87, respectively.

Sophomore Jill Jones was the lone finalist for the Mustangs in the 100 freestyle. She finished seventh with a time of 51.29. Sophomores Andrea Voigt and Rachel Cleak swam in the consolation finals and placed tenth and eleventh.

In the 200 breaststroke, junior Angela Haven took third with a 2:14.03, a time that earned her a NCAA B-Cut. Senior Kylie France also swam the event and came in tenth.

Another third place finish for Cal Poly came from freshman Belen Enguidanos in the 200 butterfly. Maffris also swam in the finals, and got eighth. Buck competed in the consolation finals of the event and took thirteenth place.

The Mustangs finished off the meet with a fourth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. Cleak, Jones, and Voigt joined senior Amy Morales to record a time of 3:25.59.

The Mustangs finished fourth in the team standings with 539.5 points. Brigham Young University won the conference title with 732 points. UC Santa Barbara finished second with 699 points, and UC Davis squeaked by Cal Poly to take third with 546 points.

Local Swimmers Headed to Senior Nationals

Puma swimmer Zachary Stevens prepares for a race at the 2011 Junior Nationals, where he qualified for Olympic Trials. Stevens will be traveling to Atlanta, Ga., to compete in the AT&T winter National Championships.

A number of swimmers from San Luis Obispo will travel to Atlanta, Ga., for the U.S. Senior Nationals swim meet, which is being held this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

The AT&T Winter National Championships, which is usually competed in the short course yards format, is going to be competed in long course meters, due to the fact it is an Olympic year (the Olympic Trials and Olympics are held in long course meters).The venue for the meet is the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.

Nine Cal Poly Mustangs will be competing in the meet.

Representing the Mustang men is distance swimmer Konrad Antoniuk. Antoniuk, an electrical engineering sophomore, will swim the 1500-meter freestyle and 400 freestyle.

The only other male Cal Poly swimmer is senior Aaron Mckinnon, who is swimming the 200 and 50 freestyles.

Seven Mustang women will also be making the trip. Junior Angela Haven is entered in the most events, with four: the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, 200 individual medley, and 100 butterfly.

Senior Kylie France is also swimming the 200 breaststroke, in addition to the 400 individual medley and 200 butterfly. Joining her in the 200 butterfly will be teammates Gloria Benefield (senior) and Belen Enguidanos (freshman).

Benefield is also slated to swim the 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly. Sophomore Rachel Cleak will join her in the 100 butterfly, while junior Katrina Anderson will swim the 200 backstroke.

Senior Amy Morales is entered in the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle.

Cal Poly swimmer Konrad Antoniuk will swim the 1500 and 400 freestyles this week in Atlanta.

Two swimmers from the Puma Aquatic swim team will also take to the water in Atlanta. 16-year-old Zachary Stevens will swim the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, while teammate Amelia Schachter, 17, will compete in the 100 breaststroke.

San Luis Obispo Swim Club and former Cal Poly swimmer Zachary Cutts will also swim the 200 breaststroke.

These local talents will be sharing the pool with some of the biggest names in the sport, including Ryan Lochte, Nathan Adrian, Melissa (Missy) Franklin, Elizabeth Beisel, Dana Vollmer, and Kosuke Kitajima.

The Winter Championships is the last major national competition before the 2012 US Olympic team Trials, which will take place in Omaha, Neb., next June and July.

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