Teams: UC Davis at Cal Poly; at UC Santa Barbara
Records: Aggies, 9-2; Mustangs, 2-2; Gauchos, 5-3
Where: Anderson Aquatic Center, San Luis Obispo – Calif.; Campus Pool, Santa Barbara – Calif.
When: Friday at 2 p.m.; Saturday at 11 a.m.
Who to watch: Freshman Liliana Alvarez has quickly found her stroke at the collegiate level.
The San Anselmo, Calif. native won both breaststroke events against CSU Bakersfield last Saturday.
Did you know? Cal Poly has struggled against UC schools this year. The Mustangs have yet to beat a University of California institution this season.
Preview: The UC Davis swim and dive team is out to prove that the Aggies are the real equestrians of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
UC Davis is set to take on the Cal Poly Mustangs this Friday and UCSB on Saturday.
This weekend’s slate of meets will be the Aggies’ last before the MPSF Championships at the end of February. Therefore, coach Barabara Jahn wants her team to think title thoughts.
“This is considered another meet to prepare for the conference Championships,” Jahn said.
The swimmers hope to keep the momentum going this weekend with a chance to improve their record to 11-2 overall.
UC Davis is coming off a great Senior Day win against California State Bakersfield.
Senior Linda Hermann, one of eight Aggie seniors who were honored in a pre-meet ceremony, finished first in the 200-freestyle in a time of 1:56.04 and won the 200-backstroke with a time of 2:07.16.
Junior Kayleigh Foley’s wins over the Roadrunners came in the sprint freestyle events. Foley led an Aggie sweep of the 50-freestyle, finishing first in a time of 23.94.
Alvarez was victorious in both breaststroke events, winning the 100-breast in a time of 1:04.25 and edging senior teammate Heidi Kucera in the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:23.16.
Jahn believes the Cal State Bakersfield meet emphasized the strength of the Aggies up and down the lineup.
“Our depth on the roster is a big deal this year. It allows us to compete deep into a meets,” Jahn said.
– Ron Hooper
