Nov. 20, 2009

Day One Women's Results

Day One Men's Results

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The Toshiba Classic began today, and the Matadors showed up ready to swim fast, with quick, season-best times coming from both the men and women.

In the 500 Freestyle, the men were up first with sophomore Jeffrey DeMoss and Freshman Grant Hashimoto both swimming an off-event. The pair recorded season-best times of 5:08.98 and 5:10.98 respectively.

The 200 Individual Medley allowed the Matador men to demonstrate their versatility. With six swimmers representing CSUN, the cream of the crop proved to be Junior Nick Lao. Lao recorded a time of 1:55.40, placing him 24th overall.

Strong swims came from the men in the 50 Freestyle, which showed evidence that a school record may fall in the 200 Freestyle Relay this season. Despite a slip off the start, it was Nick Lao leading the way with a time of 21.32, good for 20th place and a spot in finals. Junior Chris Grafton touched 27th in 21.55, also earning a second swim in tonight's finals session.

One the women's side, in the 500 Freestyle, senior Shannon Colavito might not have earned a second swim, but she was able to touch in a season-best of 5:16.96 to be the top CSUN finisher.

Three Matador women earned a spot in finals with their performances in the 200 Individual Medley. Freshman Kimmy Rashleigh placed 32nd in 2:08.15, junior Yulia Gavrilova placed 24th in 2:06.86, and senior Olesya Senicheva placed 23rd in 2:06.64.

It's been a couple of years since a Matador woman has broken 25.00 in the 50 Freestyle, but junior-transfer Lysandra Carter-Aaron was able to do it with a time of 24.72 to finish in 37th place.

By the end of the first session five Matador swimmers had qualified for finals, a decent showing considering the caliber of teams competing. Squads from UCLA, Stanford, Cal, and Hawaii are present in a field that includes Olympians, World Championship qualifiers and some of the best swimmers in the NCAA.

Finals began with the 200 Freestyle Relay, and the Matador men pulling together for a strong showing, finishing in 1:25.08, good for 7th place.

In the 200 Individual Medley two out of three of the Matador women bested their morning swims with times of 2:06.15 for Gavrilova in 22nd place, and 2:07.49 for Rashleigh, in 30th place. Senicheva came close to her morning swim but fell slightly in the rankings, taking 24th overall in 2:07.18.

In the 50 Freestyle Lao dominated his heat to take 17th overall in 20.68, placing him 6th on the "All-Time Top-Ten" list for CSUN swims, while Grafton also improved to place 27th in 21.63.

In the final event of the night, the 400 Medley Relay, the women took 12th place overall in 3:55.32, while the men stole 8th place in a close finish to touch in 3:30.44.

Day two of the Toshiba Classic will begin at 9:00am on Friday, November 20 at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.