IRVINE, Calif. –
Kyle Benjamin (400 IM) and
Jayden Hernandez (100 butterfly) each won individual PCSC titles on Friday as the Eagles placed an impressive 31 swimmers into the finals.
The CUI men sit in third place and only 20 points behind Biola and 26.5 behind UCSC with one day of racing to go. The women are comfortably in 6th place out of 15 total teams.
Benjamin won his ninth individual (12th overall) PCSC crown (fourth 400 IM in a row) and this one was big: his 3:55.48 was his second-best time and likely earned him a spot at next month's NCAA Championships in Greensboro, NC.
Hunter May moved from 8th to 4th (4:07.42), Armando Cadena went a season best 4:19.83 for 13th and
Austin Wade went another PR to grab 15th in 4:32.11.
The women's 400 IM saw Eagles score in the A, B and C finals each going faster than their prelims swims.
Ryan Burke was 6th in the A,
Hannah Chabin was 13th in the B and
Jade Hughes was 19th in the C.
Georgia Caraway posted a tough triple on Friday. She went for a PR in grabbing 11th in the 100 fly (58.07) and was seventh in the 100 back A final (58.90).
Hailey Garcia also went a PR in the fly (58.58) as the duo are now No. 6 and No. 9 all time in CUI history in that event.
Valeria Ugaz slid into 18th with a CUI PR 58.83.
Jayden used powerful underwaters on all four lengths to edge the field for his first PCSC crown in the fly. The swim is the seventh-fastest in CUI history.
Alberto Cortes raced in for sixth in the same race in a PR of 51.21.
The 200 freestylers put on a show as
Amelia Brady went 1:55.54p for 15th place and ninth on the CUI all-time list.
Faith Silzel took off from the start to post a 1:57.13 in the C final for 18th. The men had two score in the A final and two in the B.
Christopher Haygood was third (1:41.86),
Andrew Dimino was fifth (1:42.60),
Kyle Stocek was 10th (1:42.59) and
Lanis Webb was 15th (1:44.98p).
In the 100 breast Elle Hardey, overcame a season worth of injuries and ailments to put down a tremendous 1:06.23 for 6th place. It's a season best and is the third-fastest swim in CUI history. In the same race, teammate Isabella Garritano, already the owner of ta Top 5 time in the 100 breast, finished eighth in 1:07.18p.
Ryan Martines also used tremendous underwater pull downs to power his way to his 2nd straight runner up finish in the 100 breast, going a PR and dropping his 3rd fastest all time swim to 56.17.
Jack Harris also showed out grabbing seventh (57.39, ninth all-time) and
Garrison Veron went 1:00.08p to take 13th in the B finals.
In the final individual event of the day, the 100 back saw
Thatcher Grooms post a PR 50.63p to earn third overall in the very fast event. It is the 5th fastest swim in CUI history. Behind him,
Braeden Glor was 12th (53.47) and
Lanis Webb was 15th (52.95p).
The 400 medley relays closed the night and the foursome of Georgia, Ellie, Ryan B, and Hailey popped a 3:57.03 earning sixth place and the fifth fastest time in CUI history. The quartet of Thatcher, Ryan M., Jayden and Albe swam to a blistering 3:22.67. They earned a second place finish and the third fastest time in CUI history. The two anchor swimmers, Hailey (52.7) and Albe (44.6) put down eye popping splits to end the night.
The final session begins Saturday at 8:30 a.m. PT (9:30am Mountain Time) for the prelims and 4:00 p.m. PT (5:00 pm MT) for finals.
