Campbell, Taylor, Alfaro dominate in day three of MPSF Championships

MONTEREY BAY, Calif. – Hailey Campbell, Jake Taylor and Rafael Alfaro took first in their individual events to help lift the women’s team into second place and help secure the men’s first-place cushion for BYU swimming in day three of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.

Heading into Saturday’s final events, the men’s team leads in first place with 504 points to Hawaii's 410. The women trail first-place team, UC Davis, 420.50 points to 489.

“We had a pretty solid night and smashed so many more lifetime-best times,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “Going into tomorrow, our men are sitting nicely. For our women, we are going to do everything we can to fight until the very end in hopes of taking first.”

Campbell is still the reigning champion in the women’s 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.20. Her time should help her qualify for NCAA Championships.

Taylor beat his Hawaii competition in the 100 back to earn first place for the men, and break his previous time in the all-time BYU school record. He completed the event in 46.67, over a second faster than second place. Rainer Ng earned third place in the event with a time of 48.33.

In the men’s 400-yard individual medley, Alfaro earned the win in a time of 3:48.29, his first IM win of the season. Teammate Hayden Palmer finished just shy of Alfaro in 3:50.18 to earn second place in the event.

Freshman Lucas Aquino recorded a second-place finish in the men’s 100-yard butterfly in 48.13, his lifetime-best time.

Friday’s relay event was the 400-yard medley relay where the men’s team took second place. The team of Taylor, Chad Sorensen, Aquino and Andrew Rutherfurd finished the race in 3:14.66, just under two seconds shy of Hawaii. The women’s team of Campbell, Riley Buer, Kimberly Doroghian, Valerie McMullan placed third in 3:43.22.

In the women’s 100 fly Doroghian took third place for the Cougars.

In the men’s 100 breaststroke Sorensen finished third for the Cougars, touching the wall in 54.88. Teammates Michael King and Rutherfurd followed in the fourth and fifth positions.

McMullan, a Utah transfer, completed the 200-yard freestyle for the women’s team, earning fourth-place with a time of 1:48.83.

Senior captain Alexandra Dodds was the women’s top finisher in the women’s 400 IM, earning sixth place in 4:22.01.

Saturday’s events will complete the meet, beginning with the 200-yard back, 100-yard free, 200-yard breast and 200-yard butterfly preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. PST. Following the finals at 6 p.m., will be the championship trophy presentation.

Day Two Results - Diving

PASADENA, Calif. – Junior Nicholas Suder and senior Raleigh Williams Taylor earned second and third place on the 3-meter board for the BYU men’s and women’s diving team in day two of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Diving Championships.

“We didn’t do as well as expected but we had some momentum,” head diving coach Keith Russell said. “We’ll put everything we've got into Saturday’s platform events. If we can keep our energy level up we should be able to contribute a good amount of points.”

Suder’s second place finish for the men’s team totaled 381.85 points. Though forfeiting his title as the 3-meter reigning champion, Friday’s score dominated his career high. Freshman Bryce Farabee earned third place for the Cougars with 322.40 points.

Williams Taylor finished third for the women with 286.70 points. Teammates Megan Johnson (266.55) and Haley Francois (254.80) followed close behind in the fourth and fifth positions.

The platform event will conclude the MPSF Diving Championships Saturday morning beginning with preliminaries at noon PST.