Freshmen Dominate on Third Day of MPSF

LA MIRADA, Calif. – Four freshman swimmers secured all-time best times in the BYU program history during the third day of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships at the La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center.

“We had a really good day in both morning and afternoon,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. We broke more records and got several NCAA b-cuts. We had a good team effort with lots of cheering, and we are ready to battle tomorrow.”

Freshman Josue Dominguez earned BYU’s No. 1 all-time spot in the 100-yard breaststroke with a career high of 53.55, while sophomore Ryan Sorenson took the No. 3 spot at 54.18. Fellow freshman Javier Matta also posted a career best of 47.99, earning BYU’s No. 3 all-time best in the 100-yard butterfly.

In addition, first-year Cougar Makayla Cazier bumped herself up to BYU's No. 2 all-time best in the women’s 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:18.98. Tama Tuitama, another freshmam, swam a 3:51.37 in the men’s 400-yard individual medley, giving him a career high and BYU’s No. 4 all-time spot.

Tiare Coker swam her best 100-yard butterfly at 55.01 and went on to beat her time from last year’s MPSF Championships in the 200-yard freestyle with a career best of 1:50.50. In the men’s 100-yard butterfly, Jared Shaw and Sorensen also posted personal records with times of 50.12 and 50.19, respectively.

Cougars Cameron Lindsay and Gwen Gustafson also performed well, having career-best nights of their own. Lindsay took seventh in the 100-yard backstroke with a 49.09 while Gustafson placed second in the consolations finals in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.41.

Four men set new career-best times in the 200-yard freestyle, including Matt Abernethy, Connor Anderson, Brayden Murphy and James Sorensen.

To finish the third night, BYU finished fourth in both the men and women’s 400-yard medley relays, putting the men in third and the women in fourth in the team standings with one day left.

The BYU diving team also recorded personal-bests across the two diving events of the day.

“All six women and three men received personal bests in today’s events,” BYU head diving coach Tyce Rouston said. “I am looking forward to what we can do tomorrow on platform to add to our success here at conference.”

During the 1-meter dive prelims, Bryce Farabee posted his second career-high score of championships at 346.35. In the consolation finals, Ryan Evans and Kimble Mahler earned personal-best scores of their own with Evans at 323.90 and Mahler at 315.60.

All BYU divers received personal bests in the women’s 3-meter event. Kaela Call and Adia London received their bests in prelims with scores of 323.90 and 311.15, respectively. Kennedy Cribbs and Morgan Paul achieved their own bests in finals with Cribbs at 299.55 and Paul at 295.15. In addition, Morgan Mellow posted a 304.45 while Kaylie Jackson scored a 273.80 in consolation finals.

The MPSF Championships concludes Saturday, Feb. 23 with swimming prelims at 9 a.m. PST, and finals following at 5 p.m. PST. Diving will begin tomorrow with the men and women’s platform event at noon PST.