CSUN meet domination follows Blue & Gold home meet
By Krista Hajjar — sports@theaggie.org
After a success at the Blue & Gold meet, the UC Davis women’s swimming & diving team looks forward to their upcoming season filled with exciting invites and more home meets than ever. The Blue & Gold meet is an unofficial competition of various distances, during which the team captains draft their own teams and lead the meet.
Each team showed up in fun outfits repping either blue or gold as they got ready for a friendly competition. Head Coach Matthew Macedo explained what he looks forward to during the meet every year.
“[The] Blue [&] Gold is always a fun way to kick off our season,” Macedo said. “It is fun to see our captains wear their coaching hats, and we usually see some exciting races and a close final score.”
Not only does the Blue & Gold meet help the UC Davis Aggies kick off the season, but the event also gives the opportunity for first-year students to compete on a college level and get a feel for a dual-meet environment before starting their actual season.
However, the weekend fun for the swim team didn’t end with the Blue & Gold meet — right after, the team had their annual alumni meet where previous generations of Aggie athletes returned to the Davis lanes to rep the blue and gold once again.
With such a fun and energetic start to the season, the team was ready for their meet at the California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) Sprint Classic. On the first day of competition, UC Davis competed in 14 events across both swimming and diving, placing within the top five in nine of the 14 events. They finished their first day in Bakersfield placing fourth overall with a total score of 327.50, outsourcing CSUB and Pepperdine University.
The Aggies had some great highlights from the meet: Katherine Lim, a first-year animal science major, made an incredible debut by securing first place in the three-meter dive, scoring a 267.65; Priscilla Nguyen, a third-year biological sciences major, placed second in the same event, scoring a 240.20.
Katie McLain, a fourth-year communications and international relations double major, gained points for the Aggies on the first day of competition. McLain placed third in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 30.10 seconds and helped bring the team to fourth place in the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay. McLain also lended a hand in the team’s second-place win in the 200-yard freestyle relay with fellow teammates Christy Douglas, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, Sophi Mackay, a second-year communications major, and Naomi Beogholm, a second-year electrical engineering major.
The final win for the Aggies came in the 200-yard individual medley. Brynne Graham, a second-year mechanical engineering major, took second place with a time of 2:07.08, and Sam Rhodes, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, followed close behind with a time of 2:07.52.
The Aggies gave a strong performance in Bakersfield — one that will hopefully be continued throughout the season. If the UC Davis women’s swimming & diving team has more meet outcomes like this, they could have a successful season that might even be enough to take them to the championships.
By Krista Hajjar — sports@theaggie.org
