The Aggies prevailed over Pacific in a home meet at the Schaal Aquatic Center 176.5-106.5. With the win, the team maintains a 5-2 record this season.
The Aggies opened the meet on a strong note, winning the first nine events against the Tigers to create a sizable advantage. Sophomore Hilary Hunt and junior Haley Porter captured two events each, while six different Aggies won their individual events to seal the victory.
Hunt posted top times in the 100-yard (58.00) and 200-yard (2:04.75) backstroke events, while Porter captured the 50- and 100-yard freestyles with times of 24.41 and 53.44 respectively.
In addition, junior Liliana Alvarez captured the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.28 and sophomore Marilyn Carey clocked a 10:26.58 in the 1000-yard free. Junior Megan Leung posted 2:06.08 in the 200-yard butterfly and junior Samantha Shellem swam the 200-yard free in 1:52.39.
“The game kind of came down to the wire,” said head coach Barbara Jahn. “We could have had a larger lead, but we were definitely in racing mode.”
Senior Bridget Bugbee and junior Katie Edwards rounded out of the 200 free. Junior Sabrina Cochrane and sophomore Lauren Damian posted the next fastest times in the 100 back. Junior Karley Troup and sophomore Sam Rados finished second and third in the 200 fly, respectively.
While the swimmers were competing against the Tigers, the Aggie divers were wrapping up the final day of competition in the Bruin Diving Invitational. Because UC Davis could not compete with a split squad Saturday afternoon, the diving teams performed at the Bruin Invitational at the Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles.
Freshman Lucy Lafranchise earned 18 points for the Aggies by achieving the top scores in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events. She posted a new season-high mark by scoring a 272.05 in the three-meter competition.
Freshmen Hanna Tears and Audrey DeNeffe finished second and third, respectively, in the one- and three-meter diving events.
On the second day of the Bruin Diving Invitational, four Aggies competed on the one-meter board. Sophomore Shannon Stewart led all of the Aggies by finishing 35th with a score of 199.60. Tears and LaFranchise placed 41st and 42nd, with junior Lauren Jesse finishing 48th.
The swimming and diving team will face Cal State Bakersfield in the second home meet on Saturday at the Schaal Aquatics Center and the graduating class of 2013 will be commemorated.
VEENA BANSAL can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
