LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego swimming and diving squads compete this week at the MPSF Conference Championships that will be held Wednesday to Saturday. The diving programs will compete in Mission Viego, Calif. while the swimming competitions will be hosted by Utah Tech University in St. George, Utah.
 
The Triton women look to defend their title from last season. 2022 was the first time UC San Diego won the MPSF Conference Championships. The team toppled the Hawai'i dynasty by 12.5 points as the Rainbow Wahine were looking for their seventh conference title in the past eight years.
 
Heading into the championship meet, Juli Arzave, Katja Pavicevic, and Tina Reuter hold four individual MPSF-leading marks in the pool. Arzave and Pavicevic have earned MPSF Swimmer of the Week honors five times this season with Pavicevic taking the honors four times.
 
DETAILS
MPSF CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 15 thru Feb. 18
Prelims begin at 10 am daily
Finals begin at 6 pm daily
Watch ($) | Live Results
Utah Tech University – St. George, Utah
 
As UC San Diego continues to transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, the MPSF Conference Championships will prepare the Tritons to compete at CSCAA National Invitational Championships.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC San Diego's women's swim and dive teams finished their regular season with a win over University of San Diego in afternoon dual across town.
 
The Tritons took 11 of 14 events. In the 50 yard freestyle, Josette Odgers, Francesca Falzon Young, and Mackenzie Lee swept the podium, all finishing within 0.01 of each other with Falzon Young and Lee tying. Another sweep came in the 100 yard IM with Katja Pavicevic leading Emma Keith-Brown and Chloe Braun.
 
Yue posted another victory in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:04.02 followed by Sandy Li and Sophia Bell. Aneta Wyzga won the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 52.81 with Lee and Falzon taking third and fourth. Sweeping the 200 yard backstroke, Barthel led with a time of 2:03.63 and Jordan Phillips followed with Kawamura taking third.
 
LEE EARNS SECOND MPSF WEEKLY RECOGNITION
On Wednesday afternoon, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced UC San Diego's Nathan Lee as the Swim and Dive male athlete of the week for his outstanding performances on Friday, Jan. 20 and Saturday, Jan. 21 in a dual meet against No. 2 Cal and at the Triton Invitational vs. No. 2 Cal and UNLV.
UC San Diego sophomore Nathan Lee  won a pair of 200 IM swims (1:50.82; 1:50.02) as well as a 200 back race (1:48.21) as the Tritons were in a competitive dual against No. 3 California in the Friday and Saturday afternoon competitions. In the Triton Invite with Cal and UNLV, he added two fourth-place swims in the tri-meet's 100 back (49.09) as well as in the dual's 200 medley relay (23.36 back leg).
This is Lee's second time earning weekly honors from the conference this season and this is the 20th time a Triton has earned MPSF weekly honors.
 
PAVICEVIC SNAGS FOURTH MPSF WEEKLY RECOGNITION
On Wednesday afternoon, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced UC San Diego's Katja Pavicevic as the Swim and Dive female athlete of the week for her stellar performances on Friday, Dec. 30 vs. No. 16 Wisconsin and Jan. 2 vs. MPSF opponent CSU Bakersfield.

Hosting the Big 10 Badgers, UC San Diego's swim and dive captain, Pavicevic earned three first-place finishes with a new facility record and scored a total of 29 points. Leading off the meet with a win, the 200-yard medley relay team posted a 1:42.67 time and the captain swam a 28.38 split. In the 50 yard breaststroke, she posted a new facility record with a time of 29.36 and now holds both the Canyonview record and team record in the 50 yard breaststroke. Her final first place finish was in the 100 yard breaststroke. 

Three days later, the captain led the Tritons to a dominant victory over the 'Runners at CSU Bakersfield with a final score of 192 to 99. Pavicevic took first in three events once again swimming the 200 medley relay, the 100 yard breaststroke, and the 200 yard breaststroke. Snagging 29 points for the Tritons once again, Pavicevic came within a second of the UC San Diego team record in the 100 yard breaststroke. In the 200 yard breaststroke, Pavicevic finished three seconds ahead of the next closest swimmer. 

This is Pavicevic's fourth time earning weekly honors from the conference this season and this is the 19th time a Triton has earned MPSF weekly honors.
 
ARZAVE TAKES MPSF WEEKLY HONORS
On Nov. 11, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced UC San Diego's Juli Arzave as the Swim and Dive female athlete of the week for her record-breaking performances on Friday and Saturday, in a women-only dual meet vs. conference opponent, No. 9 Cal on Nov. 4 and a double dual meet vs. Pepperdine and UC Santa Barbara.

Hosting No. 9 Cal women, a hometown product, Arzave took first place with a facility record in the 1000 freestyle (10:08.32). The next day in a double-dual against UCSB and the host Pepperdine, Arzave won the 1650 free (16:57.92) and 500 free (5:01.21), before taking first again in the later session 500 free with an MPSF season-best (4:52.45).

This is Arzave's second time earning weekly honors from the conference, and she is the 18th Triton to earn MPSF weekly honors. Last week, Katja Pavicevic earned MSPF weekly honors with Nathan Lee earning MPSF male swimmer honors the previous week, taking the conference awards three weeks in a row.
 
PAVICEVIC EARNS MPSF WEEKLY RECOGNITION
On Nov. 2, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced UC San Diego's Katja Pavicevic as the Swim and Dive female athlete of the week for her stellar performance on Saturday, Oct. 29 in a women-only dual meet vs. conference opponent, UC Davis.

On the road at UC Davis, UC San Diego's swim and dive captain, Pavicevic earned three first-place finishes and scored a total of 29 points. Leading off the meet with a win, the 200-yard medley relay team posted a 1:41.60 time (NIC 'A' cut) and the captain swam a 28.1 split. In the 100-yard breaststroke, she finished almost three seconds faster than second place with a NIC 'B' cut. In her final first-place finish, Pavicevic posted a 2:13.48 time in the 200-yard breaststroke, which was five seconds ahead of her competitors and a NIC 'A' cut.

LEE EARNS MPSF WEEKLY HONORS
On Oct. 26, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced UC San Diego's Nathan Lee as the Swim and Dive male athlete of the week for his outstanding performance on Saturday, Oct. 23 in a dual meet against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Hosting CMS for the Tritons home opener, the Washington product earned 26 points for the Tritons swimming in three events. Taking first in the 100-yard backstroke, Lee posted a 50.37 time to swipe nine points from CMS. He then posted another first-place finish in the 400 IM with a final time of 4:01.7. With these two times, Lee earned two NIC-B cuts. Swimming the lead-off backstroke leg (23.74) in the 200-yard medley relay, he helped the Tritons take second and four more points from CMS.
 
2021-22 SEASON RECAP
While the team is still unable to compete in postseason championships for the NCAA, the Tritons competed at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships last spring. Between both sides, seven team records were set, and the women's 200-yard freestyle relay team set a CSCAA NIC meet record.
 
At the MPSF Conference Championships, the Triton women posted a 712.5 score to edge out Hawai'i, the returning champions, by 12.5 points. After the women's win, head coach Marko Djordjevic was named the MSPF Conference coach of the year. Due to their outstanding performance in the water and the classroom, UC San Diego had 34 scholar-athletes earn MPSF All-Academic honors.
 
ATTENDING THE MEETS
Admission to UC San Diego home swim meets is free, but parking permits are required seven days per week on campus. For UC San Diego Parking information, click here.

COVERING THE TRITONS
Media members wishing to cover a UC San Diego game in-person at Canyonview Aquatic Center this season must notify a member of the Athletics Communication staff no later than noon the day before the meet.
 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will return to Greensboro, N.C. for the CSCAA National Invitational Championships that will take place March 9 thru March 11.

FRESH FACES
UC San Diego welcomed 15 newcomers to its roster for the 2022-23 season, including eight women and six men. 9 swimmers join the squad from California with Washington, Texas, New York, Brazil, Canada, and France represented.
 
RETURNING TALENT
UC San Diego returns 39 scholar-athletes for the 2022-23 season. Among the top returners, are three fifth years: Ivan Kurakin, Tina Reuter, and Jordan Phillips. The upperclassmen returners include Katja Pavicevic, Juli Arzave, Miranda Renner, Andrija Petkovic, and Luke Pusateri. Sophomore Nathan Lee leads the team's returning underclassmen.
 
CAPTAINS
Captains for the 2022-23 season are Cade Brower and Katja Pavicevic.
 
MPSF CONFERENCE
The Tritons enter year three of competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference and their second as a Division I program. The conference features all Division I schools including BYU, Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Hawai'i, Pacific, San Diego (women), UC Davis (women), UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara.
 
Currently, the Triton women are the defending MPSF Conference champions. The Triton men finished fourth at the 2022 championships.
 
MPSF CONFERENCE RELOCATES CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
For the first time in the conference's 13-year history, the MSPF Conference championships will leave California to be held at Utah Tech in St. George, UT.
 
The Human Performance Center is Utah Tech's swim facility which recently opened in the fall of 2019. The HPC features a six-story, 155,000-square-foot building, which includes ample academic and recreational space with a 25-yard collegiate indoor pool (spectator capacity of 750) and several multi-purpose rooms.  

ALUM TRAVIS MILLER RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE ALL-TIME BEST
UC San Diego alumnus Travis Miller '94 was recognized in the College of Swimming and Diving Coaches Association's list of the 100 Greatest Men's Swimmers and Divers. 
 
To celebrate CSCAA's 100th year as the nation's first college coaches' organization, they constructed a list of the top 100 greatest college swimmers and divers. Out of 973 finalists drawn from nearly three thousand nominations, Miller secured one of the 100 selections.

To read more, click here.
 
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
 
UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS LAUNCHES WEEKLY PODCAST
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast, Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department as the program transitions to NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference. New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on Twitter @Tritoncast.
 
SWIM AND DIVE ON TRITONCAST

Episode	Published	Guest(s)	Listen Link
24	9/9/20	Katja Pavicevic, Junior Worlds/Pan Pacific	Listen
26	12/23/20	Adam Burgasser '96, National Champ	Listen
59	9/7/22	Ciara Franke '21, Water Polo/Swim	Listen
64	10/12/22	Miranda Renner, FINA Worlds	Listen

GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO SWIM & DIVE
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdswimdive.

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, click here.
 
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.