HOUSTON – UC San Diego captured three podium finishes on the first day of Big West Championship. The Triton women's 800 Freestyle Relay are back-to-back event championships, earning the win with a 7:11.42 time. On the men's side UC San Diego finished third in both the 200 Medley Relay (1:25.64) and 800 Freestyle Relay (6:30.21).
 
The men currently stand in fourth place out of six teams after today's competition with 64 points, Hawai'i sits in first with 125. For the women the Tritons finished sixth, with 40 points, out of seven teams. UC Santa Barbara leads the women's side with 70 points.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Junior Asia Kozan, sophomore Sydney Niles, senior Sophia Bell, and sophomore Edana Huang finished in first place in the 800 Freestyle Relay, capturing UC San Diego's first Big West Championship victory of the 2025-26 season. The relay team beat out the nearest competitor by over 5 seconds. Freshmen William Seymour, junior Adrian Bellido, sophomore Hunter Cehelnik, and junior Zach Elian also captured a podium finish, earning third place in the men's 200 Medley Relay (1:25.64). Following them in the men's 800 Freestyle Relay, freshman Landon Egeland, senior Aidan Rikic, senior Luigi Franco, and sophomore William Miller placed third. The relay team finished with a 6:30.21 to earn the podium placement.
 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will continue Best West competition tomorrow, Feb. 12 in Houston, Texas, preliminaries begin at 8 a.m. PST, 10 a.m. CT. Another round of championship finals will begin at 4 p.m. PST, 6 p.m. CT.
 
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 in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 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 NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.