Pacific vs. Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO, California, February 6. SOPHOMORE Peter Kline won three races while freshman Jon Howard won twice to lead the men and freshman Lacey Buck posted two victories for the women in a dual meet with Pacific. The men narrowly defeated the Tigers, 132-130, while the women took a 143-119 defeat as the Mustangs concluded their regular season.

Kline began his day by winning the 200 Fly for the second consecutive week, this time finishing in one minute, 52.30 seconds. The sophomore would later win the 200 Back by over five seconds and closed his individual day with a winning time of 1:55.33 in the 200 IM. Howard opened his afternoon with a victory in the 100 Back and then edged teammate Luke Strumbell by three one-hundredths of a second to claim the 100 Free.

The team battle was still up for grabs as the meet entered the final race of the day, the 800 Free Relay. The Mustangs "A" team of Kline, Howard, Strumbell, and twin brother Zack Strumbell finished nearly three seconds ahead of the Tigers "A" squad at 6:59.59 and, paired with the Mustangs "B" squad finishing third, clinched the team victory.

On the women's side, Buck won the first individual race of the day, finishing at 10:17.58 in the 1000 Free. The freshman from Torrance later won the 500 Free by over seven seconds with a time of 5:00.98. Other winners for the women included sophomore Gloria Benefield, who edged teammate Camille Duckett by half a second to win the 200 Free, and the Cal Poly "A" squad of Buck, Benefield, Duckett and sophomore Karin Schleicher who claimed the meet-ending 800 Free Relay.

The dual was also the final home event for Cal Poly seniors Amy Speer and Brent Summers, who each swam two individual races as well as the 800 Free Relay.

The Mustangs will return to action at the Big West Championships at Belmont Park in Long Beach, which runs from Feb. 25-28.

Special thanks to Cal Poly for contributing this report.

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