LA MIRADA, Calif. – On the second day of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, five Cougars earned NCAA diving zone cuts while three swimmers earned BYU all-time best times at the La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center.
“We had a really good morning. All of our divers now have NCAA zone cuts and everyone did a job overall,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “We did a great job in prelims getting people to finals, and we had a lot of best times. It was much more difficult to swim in the cold at night, making it a lot harder to improve times, but they still did a good job. I’m proud of the team and excited for our next two days to do our best.”
During the second day of the championships, divers Bryce Farabee, Ryan Evans, Adia London, Morgan Mellow and Kaylie Jackson earned zone cuts, qualifying them for the NCAA Championships.
In addition, swimmers Gwen Gustafson, Jared Shaw and Connor Stirling all earned BYU all-time best times in their individual events.
Senior Payton Sorenson and Gustafson took first place in their 50-yard freestyle events. In prelims, Gustafson posted a time of 22.49, giving her a career-best time and BYU’s No. 1 all-time spot in the women’s 50-yard freestyle event. Both swimmers went on to finish first in the finals, Gustafson at 22.72 and Sorenson at 19.36.
Shaw and Stirling also shined in the men’s 50-yard freestyle prelims, placing in the top 10. Shaw posted a new personal best at 19.80, recording BYU’s No. 3 all-time best time in the event. Stirling followed with a time of 19.82, earning a career high for himself and BYU’s No. 4 all-time time.
The men and women both performed well in the 200-yard individual medley prelims. Mariah Lindsay and Lindsey Bertoldo recorded career-high times at 2:05.47 and 2:09.21, respectively. Tama Tuitama and Levi Jensen both posted personal bests as well with times of 1:48.19 and 1:48.91, respectively.
Several other Cougars recorded career-high times, including Ellie Smith in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:00.67 and Javier Matta in the 200-yard individual medley at 1:47.61. Katie Smith, Kali Brown, Alexa Walters and Madelyn Flower all swam their fastest times in the women’s 50-yard freestyle, while Josue Dominguez and Kunmi Ogunfeibo posted their own personal records in the men’s 50-yard freestyle.
BYU took two top-five finishes in the 200-yard freestyle relays. A team of Tiare Coker, Gustafson, Katie Smith and Ellie Brinton placed fifth in their relay with a time of 1:32.90. For the men, Shaw, Stirling, Dominguez and Sorenson secured second at 1:18.48.
In the 3-meter dive prelims, Farabee earned his first BYU zone cut and new personal-high score at 379.70. Ryan Evans also earned a zone cut with a score of 330.85 in the consolation finals. Morgan Cooper recorded a career-best in the finals at 379.80.
In the women’s 1-meter finals, Adia London placed fourth with a score of 280.95, earning a zone cut and a career best. In the consolation finals, Morgan Mellow and Kaylie Jackson posted their first zone cuts with scores of 278.25 and 269.90, respectively, while Kennedy Cribbs recorded a career-high score at 302.65.
The MPSF Championships continue tomorrow morning with swimming prelims at 9:00 a.m. PST, followed by finals at 4:30 p.m. PST. Diving will begin tomorrow with the men’s 1-meter and women’s 3-meter at 10:00 a.m. PST.