UCLA
San Diego
UCLA Tops San Diego 165-120 in USD Pentathlon
September 13, 2019 | Swimming & Diving
SAN DIEGO, Calif. โ The UCLA swim and dive team defeated the University of San Diego 165-120 on Friday afternoon in the USD Pentathlon, giving the Bruins a win their first dual-scoring competition of the year.
Athletes from UCLA, USD, and San Diego State competed in a series of five events โ the 100 free, 100 fly, 100 back, 100 breast, and 100 IM โ to compile their pentathlon times. Following that, the meet was rounded out by the 50 free, 50 fly, 50 back, and 50 breast. The Bruins and Aztecs did not score against each other in a dual meet format.
UCLA seniors Kenisha Liu (4:51.64) and Amy Okada (4:54.16) posted the best two times among all participating swimmers. Liu won two of the nine events, and finished top-five in all but one. Freshman Sophia Kosturos also had a strong showing in her UCLA debut, winning a team-high three events and finishing top-five in another four.
Sophomore Claire Grover (5:05.56, sixth), sophomore Delaney Smith (5:08.11, eighth), and freshman Brooke Schaffer (5:08.48, 10th) all cracked the top-10 as well. The Bruins had 14 of the top-25 pentathlon times, the most of any of the three teams competing.
"The Bruins had a great day in the pool today, said UCLA head coach Jordan Wolfrum, "We don't typically race this early, but we did so this time because of the opportunity for a new team to get on the road and spend some time together as well as the chance to practice details. We weren't focused on times, just the race."
UCLA got the afternoon off to a good start in the first event of the day, as Bruins took the top three and four of the top-five places in the 100 free. Freshman Sophia Kosturos made a good impression in her debut event as a Bruin, leading the field with a time of 52.09. She was followed in quick succession by Liu (52.21) and Schaffer (52.55).
The Bruins placed each of the top six finishers in the 100 fly, led by Okada's 55.37. Liu (57.03) was the runner-up again, followed by Kosturos (57.37), Schaffer (57.43), Gabrielle Anderson (59.14), and Emily Lo (59.25).
Kosturos claimed her second win of the day in the 100 back, finishing in 56.81. Liu tied for fourth at 59.20.
Grover (1:04.51) and Liu (1:05.34) finished 1-2 in the 100 breast, while Okada also made the top-five at 1:06.55.
The Bruins closed out the pentathlon events by placing the top-three finishers in the 100 IM: Liu (57.86), Okada (59.69), and Kosturos (1:00.06).
The back half of the day opened up with Grover (24.06) and Liu (24.50) finishing 1-2 in the 50 free, while Schaffer (24.72), Kosturos (24.77), and Jameson (25.02) came in 4-6.
Liu recorded her final win of the day in the 50 fly, touching in 26.03. She came in just ahead of Okada (26.09). The Bruins had the top-five finishers in that event.
Kosturos continued her breakout day with a first-place finish in the 50 back, touching in 26.61. Sophomore Abriana Howard tied for second at 27.53 followed by Okada at 27.83.
The day wrapped up with Okada claiming the 50 breast title after touching in 30.20. Grover (30.27, second) and Liu (30.69, fourth) both placed top-five.
"We enjoyed a beautiful day of racing against two strong teams with the chance to race all four strokes," said Wolfrum. "We are looking forward to the next few weeks of training and our next chance to compete."
UCLA is next in action on Oct. 4 in the Blue vs. Gold Intrasquad meet. The Bruins' next dual meet is on Oct. 11 against Utah at Spieker Aquatics Center.
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