Students and community members crowded the stands of the Sinsheimer Park swimming pool Saturday to cheer on the Cal Poly men’s and women’s swimming teams as they overwhelmingly defeated the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 183-104 and 170-118.
Cal Poly freshmen Amy Morales, Lacey Buck and Kylie France won two races each on the women’s side contributing to the Mustangs lead. Morales won the 100 Back and 50 Free, while France dominated the 200 Breast and 200 IM.
Buck, pleased with her performance, was victorious in the 200 Fly and 500 Free and finished with times of 2:06.36 and 5:05.37.
“I was happy with my 200 Fly because it was the best time by a little bit,” Buck said. “I don’t swim that that often, so I was happy to do a best time.”
Mustangs sophomore Karin Schleicher won in the 100 Breast and 100 Free with winning times of 1:06.83 and 53.36.
“I just went for it and it’s very exciting,” Schleicher said. “I think our team gets really hyped up and we try to encourage each other and it works pretty well. I try to focus on the technique more than the whole aspect of racing.”
The Cal Poly swim teams are not only competing against their opponent, but each other, as well. However, the team camaraderie remains strong.
“There’s still that good team environment where you want (your teammates) to do well,” Buck said.
“I mean obviously you are competing for yourself, but you want the team as a whole to do really well.”
On the men’s side, freshmen Thomas Chard and Zack Strumbell won two races each. Chard won in the 100 and 200 Breast races, while Strumbell dominated in the 200 Free and 100 Fly.
Other outstanding swimmers include sophomores Matt Waggoner, who won in the 500 and 1000 Free races, and Peter Kline, who had winning times of 1:52.43 and 1:54.77 in the 200 Fly and 200 IM.
“I did pretty well in the 200 Fly. I never swam in the 200 Fly before, so I felt pretty good,” Kline said.
The Banana Slugs men’s and women’s teams, both ranked in the Division III top 20, were the only team that took part in the one and three meter diving.
“I think we did well today,” Buck concluded. “Everybody was in really good spirits.”
The Mustangs men’s and women’s swimming teams will host University of the Pacific at 2 p.m. Friday at the Cal Poly Rec. Center.