Davis, Calif. — After the first day of the MPSF Championships, UC Davis finds themselves fourth in the team standings, with 60 points. Trailing only Hawai'i (80), UC San Diego (68), and UC Santa Barbara (62).
Highlighting the first day of action was a school record 200 medley relay time of 1:39.84. Albeit a third place finish, the significance of the time was the breaking of a school record that had been untouched since 2014. From an individual perspective, Caroline Eckel in backstroke posted a 24.86. Dani Fasan in breastroke had a 27.80. Julie Kwan raced to a 24.55 in fly, while Katie McLain rounded out the composition with a 22.63 in freestyle.
Another notable performance came in the 800 free relay as the Aggies time of 7:22.85 was two seconds better than their previous year's mark. With all four swimmers splitting faster than last year's meet, it was a marked improvement for Matt Macedo's squad. Some individual times included an Anna Lee 1:48.78 time, which puts her in the UC Davis all-time top 10 performers. She was followed up by Elle Motekaitis (1:50.82), Katie McLain (1:51.81) and Sam Rhodes (1:51.44).
With the fourth place standing currently, the Aggies will look to keep climbing the ranks as the MPSF Championships continue throughout the week.
DAY 2
Diving kicked off at the MPSF Championships in Mission Viejo Thursday. Six Aggies hit the diving boards in total with the first day of diving focusing on the 3-meter board. A huge success came from Mackenzie Young after she placed second in the final with a total score of 300.20. Etching herself in the history books, this score places her among the top-five for all-time Aggies in the 6-dive program for 3-meter diving. Also coming through with strong performances were Kendall Menard (229.00), Talia Mickelsen (211.15), Taylor Schwarz (210.40), and Melina Dimick (205.20) who competed in the consolation finals. Alexandra Robinson rounded out the divers for UC Davis with her score of 196.05 in the preliminary dives.
The relay team of Anna Lee, Dani Fasan, Kaite McLain, and Caroline Eckel opened the scoring for UC Davis in the 200-yard freestyle relay, taking third place and 32 points for the squad. In the 200-yard IM, Kailee Ruiz clocked in at 2:02.46 to improve upon her prelim time and grab fifth place in the A final, good for 14 points. Olivia Greenberg followed with her time of 2:02.79 in the B final of the event, adding six points for the Aggies. Lee racked up 14 points for UC Davis in the 50-yard freestyle with her fifth-place finish, touching the wall at 23.10.
DAY 3
Mackenzie Young grabbed sixth place in the preliminary round of the 1-meter championship, posting a score of 256.25. In the final, Young would place eighth in the event with a score of 225.60. Taylor Schwarz enjoyed a decent performance in the consolation final of the 1-meter dive, finishing fourth with a score of 233.65.
Kicking off an exciting day of Friday prelims, Anna Lee continued to impress by reaching the A Final in the 100-yard butterfly, clocking in at 54.84. Olivia Greenberg and Sam Rhodes reached the A Final of the 400-yard IM with times of 4:26.21 and 4:22.75 respectively. In the 100-yard backstroke, Caroline Eckel also solidified her spot in the A Final by touching the wall at 55.01
FINAL
At the conclusion of the MPSF Championship UC Davis recorded a total of 454 points, good for fifth place among the field of 10. Posting some of the best performances in the final day, UC Davis saw notable efforts from Anna Lee who posted the winning time of 53.73 in the 100 Fly, giving herself a final time to remember as she wraps up her career at Davis, as well as it being the only individual winning score for UC Davis in Utah.
Mackenzie Young also shined for the Aggies with a second place finish in 3-meter diving as she had 300.2 total points.
Kailee Ruiz took fifth place for UC Davis in the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.46 and had one of the best races of all the Aggies at the Championship.
Looking to build this momentum from a strong end of the season which saw UC Davis win five straight meets, and successful MPSF Championship in which many Aggies recorded school and personal best times, UC Davis has a lot to be happy with their 2022-23 season.
Full team final standings can be found below:
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Women
1. Hawai'i – 773.5
2. UC San Diego – 604
3. BYU – 592
4. UC Santa Barbara – 544
5. UC Davis – 454
6. CSU Bakersfield – 274
7. Pacific – 182
8. UC San Diego – 146.5
9. Cal Poly – 143
10. Incarnate Word – 108
#GoAgs
UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS. LAST UPDATED FEB. 18, 2023*
