California Baptist University
MPSF Open Water 5K
Lancer Men Claim Relay Crown, More Place in Budding Open Water Competition
10/19/2024 4:20:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
LONG BEACH - The Mountain Pacific Sports Foundation hosted its second annual Open Water 5K Championships this morning at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, California. California Baptist University sent a bevy of athletes to the event, winning the men's team event and finishing runner-up in the relay, while the women took bronze in the relay event but just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the team competitions.
The Open Water Championships is not yet an NCAA event, but strides are being made to change that. In just one year, participation nearly doubled over the inaugural race in 2023, a good sign for those pushing to include the races within official NCAA events. Today's events included men's and women's 5K races, as well as men's and women's 2,000-meter relay races. The 5K races are scored using the top three finishers from each institution, and the relay races take the top finishing quartet from each institution to determine the race's final results.
Reigning men's individual champion, CBU's Mark Kovacsics, claimed silver today with a time of 59:30, just four seconds behind the winner from Whittier College. Teammate Cody Meyer took fourth overall in a time of 1:01.24, and Josh Delizo rounded out the scoring in eighth place at 1:03.58. These three Laners combined for 99 points, finishing a comfortable 15 points ahead of second-place Grand Canyon.
The women's 5K was next in the programming and saw sophomore Kai Flanagan match Kovacsics' second-place finish, crossing the tape in a time of 1:05.41. Gabriela Robles was fourth for the Lancers, finishing in 1:06.00, and newcomer Avery Easterling rounded out the scoring for the women, placing T24 in 1:11.48.
Relay events took place in the afternoon, and the CBU men's A Team took second place out of eight participating teams, finishing at 24:48.0 behind the Lopes A Team. The CBU women's A Team would claim third place in the end, posting a time of 26:24.0.
The Lancers open up 2024 home action next week as the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer come to Riverside on Friday, October 25, with the meet set to begin at 4:00 p.m.
MORE INFO ABOUT OPEN WATER SWIMMING
The CSCAA, USA Swimming, and the USOPC have established a working group of invested stakeholders to introduce Open Water Swimming, an existing Olympic Sport, into the NCAA sport sponsorship framework. Their goal is to simultaneously increase Open Water Swimming opportunities for college athletes and enhance the long-term sustainability of swimming programs on campus. The NCAA is pivotal in nurturing top-tier athlete development and generating early interest in sports. As a result, both Swimming and Open Water Swimming stand to benefit mutually from this initiative. Adding Open Water Swimming alongside varsity Swimming & Diving, like the Cross Country and Track and Field model, would allow institutions to have their current varsity men's and women's swimmers train for and participate in Open Water Swimming competitions during the Fall.
Players Mentioned
