USC vs. UC-Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, California, January 12. WITH many of USC's swimmers away at the SMU Classic, the UCSB men's swimming team seized their opportunity to take the win away from the Trojans. The women did not fare as well, narrowly losing to USC, 109-94. The final score was UCSB 148 to USC's 57. Sophomores Scott Vogelgesang and Danny McClary lead the Gauchos with two wins apiece. The Gauchos also swept the relay events. Sophomore Anne Marie May led the women, winning the 50 and 100 free.

The day started off with the 400 medley relay consisting of Matt Bartlett, Jeff Sudbury, McClary, and Bradley Matsumoto taking down the men of Troy in 3:24.80. The "B" team closed in a second place in 3:27.68. The Gaucho women's relay team took second in 3:50.89

Vogelgesang and junior Joe Wood took first and third place in 200 free with Zoltan Povalsky from USC in the middle, finishing second. Vogelgesang clocked in at 1:41.11 with Wood touching the wall at 1:43.30.

Taking the top three spots in the 50 free were Sudbury, Matthew Sullivan, and Curtis Bauer, in that order. Sudbury crossed the mark at 20.83 with Sullivan close behind at 21.24. Bauer gave a season best performance in the event, finishing in 21.66. May had no trouble touching the wall first in the 50, clocking in at 23.79. Sophomore Naomi Javanifard took third in 24.78.

McClary, Bartlett, and junior Chris Good decided not to be outdone by the 50 free swimmers and also went 1-2-3 in the 200 IM. McClary swam it in 1:54.17 with Bartlett and Good going 1:55.79 and 1:55.99, respectively. McClary took the victory in the 200 fly as well in 1:53.40. Sophomore Chris Wiggin was close behind for a second place finish (1:53.60).

Freshman Brittany Borowitz came in second to USC's star and US National Team member Rebecca Soni in the 200 IM (2:07.79). Junior Erin Yamamoto held on to second place throughout the race, getting timed at 2:05.14.

Junior Joe Wood beat teammate Matsumoto by .18 of a second to get the gold in the 100 free (46.81, 46.99). The 200 back went to Good in 1:51.63 with freshman Stefan Ferenchak finishing third in 1:55.67. May won her second freestyle competition of the day, beating her Troy competitors in 51.58. Sophomore Katie Ure could not quite pass Whitney Stephenson of USC and finished second in the 200 back (2:06.17).

Vogelgesang won his second event of the day in an event he does not normally swim, the 500 free (4:38.18). Sophomore Travis Jepson crossed the finish line in 2:06.10 to win the 200 breast. Sophomore Brett Chamberlain swam the 1000 free in 9:42.22, which was good enough for a second place finish. Junior Katy Freeman also had to battle with Soni, taking second place in the 200 breast (2:21.19).

The day ended with the Gauchos winning the men's 200 free relay beating the Trojans by over two seconds in 1:23.67. The women's relay team finished second in 1:38.79.

The Gauchos dive back into the water to take on conference rival Cal State Northridge on Friday, Jan. 18 at 1 PM in Santa Barbara at Campus Pool.

Special thanks to UC-Santa Barbara for contributing this report.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use