MONTEREY PARK, Calif. -- The UC Davis women's swimming and diving team began the defense of its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship with a second-place finish in the 800 free relay and a pair of top-eight finishes on the 1-meter board, as the first day of competition came to a close at East Los Angeles College and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center on Wednesday night.

Juniors Lucy Lafranchise and Audrey DeNeffe got the scoring started in Pasadena, California, earlier in the day, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in the championship final of the 1-meter board. Lafranchise, who was third after the preliminary round, scored a 247.30, while DeNeffe, who was sixth after the first round of dives, finished with a 241.75, to place behind champion Aimee Harrison of Hawai'i.

Sophomore Serena Yee finished second in the consolation final, and 10th overall, with a score of 237.00, following by Shannon Stewart in 13th (227.10), Angeline Proshak in 14th (226.90), and Hanna Tears in 15th (216.50).

Harrison scored a 291.10 to win the event, and place a 1-2-3 sweep of the event for the Rainbow Wahine. Lauren Hall (266.05) and Monica Gavaris (263.80) rounded out the podium for Hawai'i.

In the poll at East Los Angeles College, The Aggies opened with a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay, with the quartet of Hilary Hunt, Hailey Ferko, Hilvy Cheung, and Samantha Shellem, touching in a season-best time of 1:41.04, but it wasn't enough to out-race Hawai'i, who was eight-tenths of a second faster, winning the event with a time of 1:40.24.

UC Davis made up ground in the second relay of the night, finishing second in the 800 free relay with another season-best time. The team of Shellem, Robin Lampron, Marissa Brown, and Kirsten Brand, touched in a time of 7:18.02 to better their previous season-best time by almost three seconds. The Rainbow Wahine, however, was just over two seconds faster, touching in a time of 7:14.88, to win the event.

Day two begins on Thursday at 10 a.m. with the prelims of the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free, with the finals of those events, plus the 200 free relay, to follow at 6 p.m.

Live scoring is available at http://swimresults.takeitlive.tv/bp/MPSF2015/ with live video also available at http://takeitlive.tv/15tl013/.

2015 MPSF SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Monterey Park, Calif. - East Los Angeles College (Swimming)
Pasadena, Calif. - Rose Bowl Aquatics Center (Diving)
Feb. 18, 2015

(Winners plus UC Davis student-athletes)

TEAM SCORES (after day one - relay points only)
1. Hawai'i - 80 points
2. UC Davis - 64
T3. UC Santa Barbara - 60
T3. Pacific - 60
T5. Cal Poly - 54
T5. San Diego - 54
7. BYU - 32

WOMEN'S 1-METER DIVING - 1. Aimee Harrison (Hawai'i), 291.10; 5. Lucy Lafranchise (UC Davis), 247.30; 7. Audrey DeNeffe (UC Davis), 241.75; 10. Serena Yee (UC Davis), 237.00; 13. Shannon Stewart (UC Davis), 227.10; 14. Angelina Proshak (UC Davis), 226.90; 15. Hanna Tears (UC Davis), 216.50.

WOMEN'S 200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY - 1. Hawai'i "A" (Ranit, Uekawa, Mcnulty, Alkhaldi), 1:40.24; 4. UC Davis "A" (Hunt, Ferko, Cheung, Shellem), 1:41.04.

WOMEN'S 800-YARD FREE RELAY - 1. Hawai'i "A" (Webster, Oestringer, Weidner, Alkhaldi), 7:14.88; 2. UC Davis "A" (Shellem, Lampron, Brown, Brand), 7:18.02.