California Baptist University
Western Athletic Conference
Men Battle UNLV Until The End, Secure Second Place with Women Coming in Fourth
3/2/2025 4:31:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
HOUSTON - California Baptist University men's and women's swim and dive teams closed out the final Western Athletic Conference championship day with a flurry of action in which the Lancer men finished with 776 points, a new program record but still shy a mere 26 points as UNLV defended their team title from a year ago with 802 points. The Lancer women were also jockeying for final position until the last relay race of the weekend, but CBU would finish fourth with 475 points, behind GCU with 529 and New Mexico State with 534, as Northern Arizona ran away with their 12th consecutive total at 694.5 points.
It was not surprising that Remi Fabiani led the Lancers to the finish with another incredible effort. His Saturday began with one more individual gold in the 100 free, where he touched the wall in a CBU and WAC record time of 42.83. He would better that mark in the final event of the night, where, as leadoff leg of the men's 400 relay team, he would record a time of 41.23, which not only was another new CBU and WAC record but, more importantly, was an NCAA A qualifying cut time for NCAA Championships. His two Saturday wins would push Fabiania's medal count to six, an even split between individual and relay gold, breaking three WAC and CBU records.
Despite being unable to top the Rebels, the CBU men's side posted two other event champions on Saturday. Mark Kovacsics made it a three-peat in the 1650 free, finishing just two seconds shy of a WAC record time at 14:48.48. Mario Del Valle won the men's platform competition in dramatic fashion, posting a huge number on his sixth and final dive of the night to come from behind to top a UNLV diver for the gold. On the women's side of the results packet, Sofia Maksimova claimed the 100 free title that evaded her a season ago, touching in a blistering time of 48.76.
Graduate transfer Andrija Petkovic was the ultimate team competitor this weekend, helping all three men's relay wins as a member of the quartet, but also finishing second to Fabiani in the 50 and today's 100 free races, but providing CBU with massive chunks of points during the tournament. The final medal contribution of the meet came from Jon Reiter, who earned a bronze medal in the 200 breast with an NCAA B Cut time of 1:55.21.
Seven more Lancers earned All-WAC status for their efforts. That list consists of Naya Koc (100 free), John ANgelovic (platform), Justin Wlech (200 back), Andrew Teh (200 fly), Tyler Mansheim (100 free), Cody Meyer (1650 free), and Kai Flanagan (1650 free). The Lancers wrapped up the weekend with another 14 athletes contributing points in 15 more events, helping the Lancers reach their historic final numbers.
The conference's top performers list was also provided alongside the final results with the championship competition complete. Unsurprisingly, Fabiani is atop the men's swimming point scorers. However, he finished tied for first with UNLV's top swimmer, Daniel Nicusan, each contributing 60 points to their team's score. Petkovic and Kovacsics also fell in the top ten for the men's swimmers thanks to their efforts individually and on relay teams; they scored 51 and 47 points, respectively. The men's divers list was also stuffed with Lancers as all four CBU board men finished in the top eight, led by Del Valle (56), Jiminez (50), Angelovic (37), and Warson (28). Sofia Maksimova was the only female Lancer in the top 10, providing the second most points amongst all women at the meet, with 57. Flanagan was just a hair outside of the top ten, as her 43 points scored ranked 11th-best. Audrey Thordarson-Wehner was the top-performing women's diver, contributing 50 points over the three events, with teammate Bella Reynolds not too far behind in seventh place with 33 points.
The next official competition for the Lancers is the NCAA Zone Diving Events in Federal Way Washington again, March 10-12. Nearly every Lancers diver has secured a spot in all three events in Washington, with the top-3 finishers in each event automatically qualifying for Nationals.
Champions
- Women's 200 Medley Relay - 1:39.19*
- Maksimova, Henke, Svorcan, Koc
- Men's 200 Free Relay - 1:16.77
- Fabiani, Petkovic, Mullen, Man
- Men's 400 Medley Relay - 3:06.35***
- Fabiani, Reiter, Mansheim, Petkovic
- Men's 400 Free Relate - 2:51.34
- Fabiani, Petkovic, Man, Mansheim
- Remi Fabiani
- 50 Free - 18.86***
- 100 Back - 45.40
- 100 Free - 41.83***
- Mario Del Valle
- 1M - 405.90
- Platform - 409.05
- Mark Kovacsics
- 500 Free - 4:16.95
- 1650 Free - 14:48.48
- Sofia Maksimova
- 50 Free - 22.19
- 100 Free - 48.76
- Audrey Thordarson-Wehner
- Platform - 281.05*
All-WAC First Team (1st-3rd Indiv. | First Relay)
- Gael Jimenez
- 1M - 2nd Place - 393.75
- 3M - 2nd Place - 412.35
- Platform - 3rd Place - 361.80
- Mario Del Valle
- 3M - 3rd Place - 371.75
- Andrija Petkovic
- 50 Free - 2nd Place - 19.58
- 200 Free - 2nd Place - 1:36.16
- 100 Free - 2nd Place - 42.72
- Sophia Maksimova
- 100 Fly - 2nd Place - 53.63
- Jon Reiter
- 100 Breast - 3rd Place - 52.45
- 200 Breast - 3rd Place - 1:55.21
- Audrey Easter
- Platform - 3rd Place - 238.20
All-WAC Second Team (4th-8th | Second and Third Relay)
- Men's 200 Medley Relay - 2nd Place - 1:24.56*
- Fabiani, Reiter, Mansheim, Petkovic
- Nathan Warson
- 1M - 7th Place - 301.00
- John Angelovic
- 1M - 8th Place - 281.50
- Platform - 5th Place - 314.10
- Audrey Thordarson-Wehner
- 3M - 4th Place - 287.40
- 1M - 4th Place - 271.85
- Bella Reynolds
- 3M - 6th Place - 255.35
- 1M - 7th Place - 241.55
- Kai Flanagan
- 500 Free - 5th Place - 4:50.95
- 200 Free - 5th Place - 1:49.83
- 1650 Free - 4th Place - 16:53.97
- Liam Flaherty
- 200 IM - 8th Place - 1:47.06
- 400 IM - 4th Place - 3:50.52
- Naya Koc
- 50 Free - 6th Place - 23.32
- 100 Free - 6th Place - 50.54
- Brendan Man
- 50 Free - 7th Place - 20.14
- 100 Fly - 7th Place - 47.00
- Emily Drossel
- 100 Fly - 8th Place - 55.16
- Tyler Mansheim
- 100 Fly - 6th Place - 46.98
- 100 Free - 4th Place - 43.66
- Justin Welch
- 200 Free - 8th Place - 1:43.35
- 100 Back - 7th Place - 48.31
- 200 Back - 5th Place - 1:45.09
- Nicole Reynolds
- 100 Back - 8th Place - 56.15
- Andrew Teh
- 100 Back - 5th Place - 47.35
- 200 Fly - 7th Place - 1:47.61
- Cody Meyer
- 1650 Free - 4th Place - 15:15.85
- Lynn Henke
- 200 Breast - 7th Place - 2:16.00
In The Points (9th-16th)
- Jade Fontenelle
- 3M - 12th Place - 246.50
- 1M - 15th Place - 220.45400 IM
- Platform - 12th Place - 184.50
- Cody Meyer
- 500 Free - 12th Place - 4:26.06
- 200 Fly - 16th Place - 1:54.77
- Eliza Taylor
- 200 IM - 15th Place - 2:05.37
- 400 IM - 15th Place - 4:27.63
- Jon Reiter
- 200 IM - 10th Place - 1:48.06
- Ian Mullen
- 50 Free - 9th Place - 20.16
- 100 Breast - 10th Place - 54.59
- 200 Breast - 13th Place - 1:59.77
- Tyler Mansheim
- 50 Free - 11th Place - 20.28
- Nate Warson
- 3M -10th Place - 320.90
- Platform - 9th Place - 274.20
- Sara Svorcan
- 100 Fly - 14th Place - 56.05
- Emma Hagan
- 100 Fly - 16th Place - 56.31
- Lucas Colombo
- 100 Fly - 16th Place - 48.72
- 200 Fly - 14th Place - 1:52.45
- Gabriela Robles
- 400 IM - 14th Place - 4:27.19
- 200 Fly - 11th Place - 2:03.99
- Mark Kovacsics
- 400 IM - 10th Place - 3:52.41
- John Sulivan
- 200 Free - 16th Place - 1:40.10
- 200 Fly - 13th Place - 1:51.32
- Lynn Henke
- 100 Breast - 9th Place - 1:02.93
- Liberty Edwards
- 100 Breast - 13th Place - 1:03.59
- 200 Breast - 15th Place - 2:20.63
- Katherine Connors
- 100 Back - 11th Place - 55.60
- Olivia Walton
- 100 Back - 12th Place - 55.66
- 200 Back - 15th Place - 2:02.36
- Simeon Rinkenberger
- 100 Back - 11th Place - 48.60
- 100 Free - 15th Place - 44.68
- Bella Reynolds
- Platform - 9th Place - 215.15
- Austin De La O
- 1650 Free - 15th Place - 15:52.03
- 200 Fly - 12th Place - 1:51.01
- Liam Flaherty
- 200 Back - 12th Place - 1:47.03
- Brendan Man
- 100 Free - 12th Place - 44.28
- Emily Drossel
- 200 Fly - 14th Place - 2:05.11
- Josh Delizo
- 200 Fly - 15th Place - 1:53.83
*New School Record
**New WAC Championship Record
Players Mentioned
