Houston, Texas - UC Davis swimmers established new team-best marks for the season in every event on Thursday as the Aggies kicked off the first day of the three-day Phill Hansel Invitational in Houston.
The Phill Hansel Invite features 11 teams from across the country.
Thursday's program included prelims and finals in the 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1-meter diving, as well a finals in the 200 Free Relay and 400 Medley Relay.
Nine Aggie swimmers and three divers advanced out of Thursday morning's prelims while both UC Davis "A" relay teams established new season's bests.
In the 500 Free,
Olivia Smith established a new lifetime PR by swimming 4:56.42 in prelims, only to improve by another three seconds to 4:53.83 in the evening's "C" final.
Kathryn Bockman added a second PR for the Aggies in the 500 Free finals, finishing in 4:59.99 for a new lifetime best.
Kyla Leacox began the day by shattering the team-best mark in the 200 IM by over six seconds in the prelims and improved again in the finals with a lifetime best 2:00.45. She was joined in the 200 IM finals by
Sophia Sebastian, who improved her time this season by over four seconds with a 2:06.95 in Thursday morning's prelims.
The Aggies advanced four swimmers to the evening's finals of the 50 Free with all four going under the previous team-best mark of 24.31set by
Mia Cunnan on Nov. 1 during prelims.
Jamie Pincin finished just off her lifetime PR during prelims, going 23.67 for a new team-best mark on the season. Cunnan also finished just off her PR time of 23.34 in 23.79 for a new season-best.
Anna Lee also dipped under the previous team-best with a 23.82 in prelims and
Cora McClelland's 24.01 finals time was a lifetime PR by .04 seconds.
Pincin, Leacox, Cunnan and
Dani Fasan teamed to set a new team-best mark in the 200 Free Relay with a 1:33.69 that betters the previous team-best by over two seconds. UC Davis' "B" relay team of Lee,
Sophie Murff,
Ashley Ma, and
Jessica Larson also got under the previous team-best by going 1:35.28.
The Aggies finished out the day in the pool by setting a new season mark in the 400 Medley Relay with McClelland, Lee, Fasan teaming with
Ashleen O'Brien to go 3:46.90.
On the 1-meter board, Syndey Wren improved from 226.40 in prelims to 255.25 in "A" final.
Taylor Hornberger improved from a 219.05 in prelims to 247.50 in the "B" final and
Katie Truong finished at 219.25 in the "B" final.
The Aggies will return to the University of Houston tomorrow morning for prelims and finals in the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back and 3-meter diving as well as finals in the 200 Medley and 800 Free Relays.
Full results from Thursday can be found
here as well as by visiting the swimming and diving schedule page on ucdavisaggies.com.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley.
The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
