Stanford Men Debut at Pacific Invite as UC-Santa Barbara Wins Men’s and Women’s Competitions
The Stanford men opened their season with strong efforts during Friday’s morning and evening sessions at the Pacific Invitational, winning every event contested. The Cardinal did not return Saturday, allowing UC-Santa Barbara to catch up and pull out the win with 918.5 points, ahead of Stanford (800), Pacific (757.5) and Seattle (682). Santa Barbara dominated the women’s meet, scoring 1436 points to beat Pacific (894) and Seattle (698).
The Stanford men’s team of Finn Harland, Zhier Fan, Rafael Gu and Jonathan Tan won the 200 medley relay in 1:26.87, and the Cardinal continued wracking up event wins after that. Henry McFadden, fresh off his second World Championships appearance for the United States, topped the 500 free in 4:28.60, and Gibson Holmes was the winner of the 200 IM (1:49.42). Tan clocked 19.80 to finish atop the 50 free before Jason Zhao, Andres Dupont Cabrera, Gu and Tan won the 200 free relay convincingly in 1:19.67.
In the meet’s second session Friday, Gu came out on top in the 100 butterfly (47.33), followed by Ray Liu winning the 400 IM (3:56.44). McFadden’s second triumph came in the 200 free (1:38.36) before Daniel Li was the winner of the 100 breaststroke (53.54) and Hayden Kwan won a tight 100 backstroke (49.40). Tan, McFadden, Liam Custer and Henry Morrissey got the better of the Stanford “B” team in the 800 free relay, 6:41.46 to 6:42.03.
Stanford did not compete in Saturday’s session, which began with Pacific’s Garrett Taylor going 16:11.74 to win the 1650 free. Seattle’s Danielis Kverderis, Brendan Ryan, Kyle Lewis and Hawkins Wendt took the 400 medley relay in 3:21.43, and later individual winners included Ryan in the 100 IM (51.52) and 200 breast (2:03.35), UCSB’s Taisei Saito in the 200 back (1:50.83) and Seattle’s Keanu Lee in the 200 fly (1:51.92). The 400 free relay went to UC-Santa Barbara’s team of Mason Wendler, Noah Wagner-Jauregg, Rob Carpenter and Elek Zettle in 3:02.68.
In the women’s competition, UC-Santa Barbara started off strong as Hazel Derr, Ashley Ray, Samantha Banos and Caitlin Brown won the 200 medley relay in 1:43.58. Lelia Symington topped the 500 free (5:07.78), and Banos was first in the 200 IM (2:05.11). Pacific’s Lilliana Noriega grabbed first in the 50 free (23.80), but the team of Brown, Ray, Eugenie Lanilis and Banos came back to win the 200 free relay (1:35.33).
Banos picked up her second individual win in the 100 fly (55.15), and teammate Amelie Ogilby won the 400 IM (4:27.96). Pacific’s second victory came courtesy of Josie Fields in the 200 free (1:53.45). Ray was first in the 100 breast (1:03.73) before UCSB teammates Derr and CoCo Quill tied atop the 100 back in 56.82. The 800 free relay went to UCSB’s Banos, Ellie Schomberg, Annie Andres and Callie Kowalchick (7:41.16).
Saturday brought a win from Pacific’s Christina Agiomamitou in the 1650 free (17:16.47) before Santa Barbara’s Derr, Ray, Sammie Hall and Brown topped the 400 medley relay in 3:50.18. A third win for Banos came in the 100 IM (58.28), and Derr’s second victory occurred in the 200 back (2:04.16). Fields provided Pacific’s fourth and final win in the 100 free (51.90) before two more wins from UCSB swimmers, Lucy Huang in the 200 breast (2:23.80) and Banos in the 200 fly (2:02.58). The meet concluded with Lanilis, Kowalchick, Brown and Banos combining for a time of 3:28.86 in the 400 free relay.
