MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – Rafael Alfaro helped lead the way for BYU on the second night of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships Thursday night at East Los Angeles College.
“We had a lot of our best times tonight,” BYU head swim coach John Brooks said. “We also learned the lesson that you have to swim fast in the morning and at night. The guys have a battle on our hands against Santa Barbara and we’re ready for the last two days.”
After two days of competition the men are in second place with 266.5 points, three behind UC Santa Barbara who's at 269.5. The women are in sixth place with 123 points.
Alfaro, the senior from El Salvador, won the men’s 200-yard individual medley finishing in 1:46.27. His teammate and senior captain Hayden Palmer finished second with a 1:47.72. The Cougars just missed out on sweeping the top three spots in the event as junior Stephen Richards touched the wall in 1:47.75 to finish fourth. UC Santa Barbara’s Andres Castilleja finished third in 1:47.74.
True Freshman Luis Ventura came in second in the men’s 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:24.63.
Junior captain Jake Taylor finished second in men’s 50-yard freestyle (20.07) and Ciera Marsh Keller recorded a fourth-place finish in the same event for the women (23.26).
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team made up of Rainer Ng, Levi Jensen, Alfaro and Taylor finished third with a time of 1:21.25. Keller, Andrea Grant Richards, Alexandria Sorensen and Alora Foliaki touched the wall in 1:34.71 to finish sixth in the women's 200 free relay.
Friday's events will include the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke and 400-yard medley relay.
All events will be streamed live online via webcast. There is also a live results page as well as the free "Meet Mobile" app. Results will be posted each evening of the championships on the men's and women's schedule pages.
Diving
PASADENA, Calif. – Sophomore Kevin Dreesen finished in second-place for the second night in a row, recording a 375.00 in the 3-meter dive Thursday. True freshman Nathan Gonzales earned a fourth-place score of 320.60. For the women, Ali Tippetts finished third in the 3-meter with a 282.45 score.
“We didn’t have our best day today honestly,” BYU head diving coach Keith Russell said. “I expect us to perform better on the platform and I look forward to seeing how our athletes respond.”
The Cougar divers will compete in the platform championships Friday at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center.