Three MPSF Championship Meet records were set on day two of the event at East LA College in Monterey Park, CA. The 50 free record was taken down for both men and women, as Hawaii senior Jasmine Alkhaldi set the new standard for the women in 22.49, as did UCSB senior Wade Allen for the men in 19.72. Pacific sophomore Margaux Verger Gourson took down the women's 500 free MPSF record by nearly a second and a half, finishing in 4.44.13.
UH swept the top spots on the three-meter diving boards at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, with Lauren Hall accumulating 302.65 and Amund Gismervik 377.10.
Hawaii women lead by 101 points and UCSB men lead by three after the second of four days.
MPSF Championship Standings through day two of four:
Women:
1. Hawaii 293
2. UC Davis 192
2. UCSB 192
4. Pacific 173
5. San Diego 148
6. BYU 123
7. Cal Poly 106
Men:
1. UCSB 269.5
2. BYU 266.5
3. Hawaii 252
4. Cal Poly 165
5. Pacific 122
Pacific
Swimming her signature event at the MPSF Championships on Thursday, Feb. 19, sophomore Margaux Verger Gourson took home her first-ever conference title as she paced the field with an MPSF Championship record time of 4:44.13. The win at the championships finished off a perfect season for the second-year Tiger in the event as she will now wait to see if her 'B' Cut time is good enough to get her to the NCAA Championships later this year.
As she had done all season long, Verger Gourson dominated the mid-distance swim for the Tigers as she finished over :05 seconds faster than her closest competitor, UC Davis' Samant Shellem. Verger Gourson's time of 4:44.13 just missed her own school record time of 4:43.07 which she set earlier this season at UC Santa Barbara. The event victory and MPSF title was the first for the Tigers as members of the MPSF and first conference title since a pair of individual titles were captured by the men at the Big West Championships in 2008. The last women's swimmer to take home a title was Brooke Cashion in the 1000 Free in 2007.
Attempting to follow suit later in the nightcap of the day, Cristina Mardones just missed a title of her own as she took the silver medal in the 200 IM. Mardones posted a time of 2:01.60 in the individual event to post the top time in 2015 for the Tigers, but was edged out by UC Santa Barbara's Katie Records for the title after the Gaucho swimmer touched in at 2:01.20.
On the men's side, both senior Brandon Chandler and Trent Williams qualified for the finals in their respective events as Chandler swam in the 500 Free while Williams sprinted in the 50 Free. Chandler finished his event in a season-best time of 4:34.61 to take eighth place overall. For Williams, he touched the wall at a season-best time of 20.90 to take a seventh place finish.
