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.

MPSF Day Three

This past Friday was the third day of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Swimming and Diving championships, and the Cal Poly women’s team continued to tear up the water at East Los Angeles City College.

Senior Kylie France led off the finals session Friday night with a second place finish in the 400-yard individual medley. France finished in 4 minutes, 19.07 seconds, which was just under the NCAA B-Cut. Sophomore Amanda Maffris was also a finalist in the 400 individual medley, and placed fifth with a 4:21.17.

In the 100 butterfly, senior Gloria Benefield finished seventh with a time of 56.31. She also placed fourth in the 100 backstroke with a 56.20. She was followed closely by teammates Katrina Anderson (a junior) and Amy Morales (a senior), who placed sixth and eighth, respectively.

In the 200 freestyle, Cal Poly had two swimmers in the consolation finals. Sophomores Jill Jones and Andrea Voigt finished ninth and eleventh, respectively. In the bonus heat of the event, two more Mustangs, sophomore Danielle Wong and junior Taylor Spivey, also competed.

Junior Angela Haven earned a fifth place finish in the 100 breaststroke, with a time of 1:03.11.

The Mustangs finished off the session with a third place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. Morales and Jones teamed with sophomores Rachel Cleak and Kelsey Engel to post a 1:34.46.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., the Mustang women divers finished off their meet with the 1-meter event. Sophomore Meaghan O’Meara scored 241.5 points to place sixth, and sophomore Sami McIntyre tallied 212.40 points to earn eighth.

The Mustangs finished Friday in third place, with 342.5 points. They trailed Brigham Young University (490.5) and UC Santa Barbara (482).

MPSF Day 2

The Cal Poly women’s swimming and diving team made up a lot of ground in the team standings after their performances yesterday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.

Senior Lacy Buck qualified first in prelims in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 51.83 seconds. In finals she swam a 4:54.27 to finish fifth.

Also scoring in the 500 freestyle was senior Kylie France, who swam the event in 4:57.17.

In the 200 individual medley, junior Katrina Anderson and Angela Haven finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Anderson posted a time of 2:04.93, and Haven finished in 2:05.23. Junior Chrissy Thomas placed tenth in the event with a time of 2:03.96.

Senior Amy Morales was a top eight finisher in the 50 freestyle, and recorded a time of 23.63. Sophomores Jill Jones, Andrea Voigt and Kelsey Engel also scored in the shortest event of the meet.

Cal Poly finished fourth in the 400 medley relay. Haven and Voigt teamed with  senior Gloria Benefield and sophomore Rachel Cleak to post a time of 3:45.62.

Sophomore divers Sami McIntyre and Meaghan O’Meara placed fourth and seventh in the 3-meter diving event, respectively.

After the first day of competition (only the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay were swum on Wednesday, the first day of competition) Cal Poly was in last place out of nine teams. After Thursday’s events, Cal Poly is now in fourth in the team standings, with 167.5 points. They trail UC Santa Barbara (258), Brigham Young University (244.5), and UC Davis (185).

The MPSF Swimming and Diving Championships continues today, and concludes on Saturday.

For live results, click here.

Winter Nationals Day 3

The the third and final day of the 2011 AT&T Winter Nationals Championship saw more swimmers from San Luis Obispo take to the water and compete against the best swimmers in the country.

Puma Aquatic swimmer Zachary Stevens swam the 200-meter breaststroke in 2 minutes, 23.61 seconds. San Luis Obispo Swim Club and former Cal Poly swimmer Zachary Cutts swam in the same event and posted a 2:25.32.

Also in the 200 breaststroke were Cal Poly swimmers Angels Haven and Kylie France. Haven, a junior, finished in a time of 2:39.35. She was followed by her senior teammate, who swam the event in 2:46.31.

Junior Katrina Anderson and senior Gloria Benefield swam the 200 backstroke in 2:20.06 and 2:20.07, respectively.

Belen Enguidanos, a freshman, competed in the 200 butterfly and posted a 2:18.01. She was followed by Benefield and France, who swam the event in 2:21.05 and 2:24.94, respectively.

Sophomore Rachel Cleak was the lone Mustang in the 100 freestyle, which she swam in 58.58.

The final Mustang to swim in Atlanta was distance swimmer Konrad Antoniuk. The sophomore swam the 1500 freestyle and hit a time of 16:15.60 to close out the weekend in Atlanta.

For complete results of the 2011 AT&T Winter National Championships, click here.

Winter Nationals Day 2

Swimmers from the San Luis Obispo area took to the water this morning in Atlanta, Ga., on the second day of the 2011 AT&T Winter National Championships.

Puma Aquatic swimmer Zachary Stevens swam the 100-meter breaststroke in 1 minute, 4.94 seconds. The 16-year-old will swim the 200 breaststroke on Saturday.

His teammate, 17-year-old Amelia Schachter, also swam the 100 breaststroke. She posted a time of 1:13.28.

Five Cal Poly swimmers also competed Friday morning.

Junior Angela Haven swam two of her four total events Friday. She started her day off by swimming the 100 breaststroke in 1:15.61. Later in the session, she put up a 1:05.94 in the 100 butterfly.

Two of her teammates joined her in the 100 butterfly. Senior Gloria Benefield posted a 1:03.86, and sophomore Rachel Cleak swam it in 1:04.67.

Senior Kylie France swam the 400 individual medley in 5:07.94.

Senior Aaron Mckinnon competed in the 200 freestyle, swimming it in a time of 1:56.68.

The meet will conclude tomorrow.

For live results, click here.

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.

For complete psych sheets, click here.