LOS ANGELES – On the road at USC for a double dual meet vs. the hosts and the University of Denver Pios, the UC San Diego men and women swim squads were felled by their opponents.
Dropping to the Pios and No. 20 Trojans, the Triton men scored 124 points against Denver's 138, and posted a final score of 87 points to USC's 175.
The Triton women competed head-to-head with the No. 10 Trojans to finish with a score of 108 to 144. The Denver women did not compete in the dual meet.
ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE
Kicking off the individual swims,
Juli Arzave swam the 1000 yard freestyle to come in second with a time of 10:17.46.
Aneta Wyzga then took third in the 200 yard freestyle. Taking second in the 100 yard breaststroke,
Katja Pavicevic posted a time of 1:02.86.
Sanne Dequine took third for the Tritons in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:08.13.
In the 50 yard freestyle,
Mackenzie Lee took third with a time of 23.80, finishing within .48 seconds of the Trojan leaders. In the following event,
Aneta Wyzga took third in the 100 yard freestyle touching the wall 0.01 seconds behind second place. Pavicevic took another second-place finish in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:15.14. Arzave tallied another second-place finish in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:59.20.
Sophie Francis finished behind Arzave with a time of 5:01.90.
Posting the first Triton women first-place finish,
Jordan Phillips posted a time of 57.52 and was followed by Dequine and
Sandy Li to sweep the 100 yard butterfly.
Emma Keith-Brown took first in the 400 yard IM with a time of 4:30.24, only 0.05 seconds ahead of her teammate
Sabrina Bennani.
Finishing the meet with a victory, the 200 yard freestyle relay team made up of Phillips, Wyzga,
Josette Odgers, and
Tina Reuter took first with a time of 1:34.65.
ON THE MEN'S SIDE
The Tritons' first victory came in the 200 yard freestyle when
Ivan Kurakin took first by 0.5 seconds. In the 100 yard backstroke,
Nathan Lee posted a 50.12 to take second, only 0.17 seconds behind first. Finishing a tenth of a second behind third,
Andrija Petkovic took third for the Tritons in the 100 yard freestyle.
Robby Griswold took third in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 1:50.66. Kurakin tallied another first-place finish in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:33.34, a full two seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Chad Morrison took second in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 48.88.
QUOTABLE
Battling the rain and cold, head coach
Marko Djordjevic commented, "despite the weather, we still had some great performances."
He noted Kurakin's double wins in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle events and added, "it's always great to see our women win relays over nationally ranked programs."
UP NEXT
The Triton men return home to Canyonview Aquatic Center on Jan. 20 to host Cal on Friday in dual meet. On Saturday, Jan. 28, both squads will host the annual Triton Invitational.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
