Division II Weekly Preview: California Teams Get Division I Taste

As we officially head into November, all the Division II swim teams are starting to gear up for their fall invitationals. This is usually one of the last weekends before the major invites the week before Thanksgiving. So a lot of teams will be in their last duel meets before they suit up for the invites.

A lot of the California teams have pleasantly surprised in October as the arrival of David Marsh has already given UC San Diego an extra boost. Freshman Tenny Chong is currently second in the nation in the 200 back and sophomore Kaitlyn Richey is already swimming right at her best times from last year’s NCAA’s in the 500 and 1000 in duel meets.

UC San Diego will swim UC Santa Barbara on Saturday in Santa Barbara as the unranked men will face off as well as the #10 ranked women.

Staying in the state, (#13) Fresno Pacific women will be swimming at Fresno State on Saturday while the (#17) men will be swimming UC Santa Cruz. The Fresno Pacific women have had a strong fall semester with performances from sophomore Laura Fornshell as she leads Division II in the 500, and senior Bavindeep Basra as she leads Division II in the 400 IM. Senior Daria Belova also has had a strong start to her season as those three lead this Fresno Pacific team up front.

Fresno Pacific also leads Division II in the 400 medley relay with Olga Melnikova, Olga Tovstogan, Belova and Fornshell.

The men have also been highlighted so far this season by senior Maksim Shcherbakov and sophomore Aleksei Averchenko. The Pacific men are not as strong as the women are, but they pose a formidable challenge to crosstown rival Fresno State, who is coming off a loss to Nevada last week. The Bulldogs will be hosting Pacific on Saturday after they come home from UC Davis on Friday night. Fresno Pacific will be fresh going into the meet.

Still staying in-state, (#10/14) Cal Baptist will be hosting another Division I opponent in Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday.

Looking at the top teams, (#2/1) Drury will be hosting its own invitational that will include (#5/7) Lindenwood in an in-state matchup. A team that has flown under the radar a little bit, (#4/5) Grand Valley will be hosting (#15/17) Northern Michigan on Saturday in yet another in-state matchup.

Last week’s recap

Last fortnight’s recap

October 16 recap

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Josh Christensen

6 years ago

Really appreciate you all taking the time to highlight our meet this weekend. A correction though, our Women will be facing Fresno State and our Men will be taking on UC Santa Cruz. Both meets will be held concurrently at Fresno State.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to recognize our program!

Josh Christensen

6 years ago

Reply to Josh Christensen

Sorry, above comment was in regards to Fresno Pacific’s dual meets this weekend.

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Andy Ross

6 years ago

Reply to Josh Christensen

Thank you for pointing it out!