Lancers Take Fourth, Oviedo Freshman of the Year in WAC

Wednesday, February 27

Houston

9:00 AM

California Baptist University

Western Athletic Conference Championships

Photo by: Robert Jordan

Lancers Take Fourth, Oviedo Freshman of the Year in WAC

3/2/2019 8:03:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

SATURDAY RESULTS

COMPLETE RESULTS

HOUSTON – California Baptist University secured a fourth-place finish at its first-ever Western Athletic Conference Championship meet. A trio of third-place finishes from Rebeca Oviedo, Buse Topcu and Isabella Rhodes were the biggest point scorers for the Lancers on Saturday.

Oviedo was named the WAC Freshman of the Year after her incredible conference debut. Northern Arizona won the eight-team meet with 772 points, followed by NM State (582) and Northern Colorado (505.5), with CBU taking fourth with 474 points.

"We were very competitive this week," Coach Rick Rowland said. "It's a bit tougher to score your third or fourth swimmer and diver at this level, although we did that in some events. We felt like it was a very competitive meet that brought out the best of our team. You really had to perform in prelims to set yourself up for finals at night. A lot was learned with some of our newer swimmers, and it will help set them up for next year. In the WAC, it's important to train year round so you can set yourself up for the conference meet."

📢📢📢

Here is your @WACsports Freshman of the Year, Rebeca Oviedo! What a conference debut!#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/coiRNANMNS
— CBU Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) March 3, 2019

The Lancers will now turn their attention to the 2019 Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America's National Invitational Championships, which will take place March 14-16 in Cleveland.

Oviedo and Topcu finished back-to-back in the 1650-yard freestyle with respective times of 16 minutes, 47.31 seconds and 16:51.99. Two other Lancers locked up top-16 swims in the mile, as Mackenzie Mergel took seventh (16:59.10) and Grace Oeser finished 15^th (17:21.82).

"Converting her times, I knew Rebeca was going to be good for us this year, but she's dropped a lot of time with us and our training and environment," Rowland said. "Rebeca has really trained hard and performed well for in duals and invites for us all year."

Rhodes set another CBU record with a third-place swim in the 100 free in 49.56. It topped the record of 49.77 previously set by Mary Hanson at the 2015 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships. Rita Smirnova gave the Lancers two top-eight swimmers in the 100 free, as she took eighth in 51.45.

Isabella Rhodes takes third in the 100-yard freestyle in a CBU-record time of 49.56 seconds. It breaks Mary Hanson's record of 49.77 from the 2015 RMAC Championships. Rita Smirnova also takes eighth in 51.45.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/EOGNHV5HMN
— CBU Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) March 3, 2019

CBU ended the conference meet with a bang, as it took third in the 400-free relay in a record time for CBU. Smirnova, Oviedo, Rhodes and McKenzie Kelly took third in 3:22.20, which was more than 2.5 seconds better than the previous Lancer record of 3:24.96 set at the 2015 RMAC Championships.

"The exciting thing is all four of those relay swimmers are freshmen," Rowland said. "We have a group of swimmers who can really sprint, and they're all coming back."

Down goes the CBU record in the 400-free relay❗️

The Lancers take third in the final event of the weekend in 3:22.20. It is a two-plus improvement upon the previous CBU record of 3:24.96 set back in 2015.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/Lvr4hhOnQj
— CBU Swim/Dive (@CBUswim) March 3, 2019

Kylie Morrison continued her big week, as she won the B final of the 200 butterfly in 2:03.90, with Topcu taking 16^th (2:11.91). Alexa Melara took 10^th in the 200 breast (2:19.53), while Andrea Laliena finished 13^th in the 200 back (2:05.85).