Friday, October 4
Fresno, CA

UCLA

at

Fresno State Invitational

Ana Jih-Schiff
Photo by: Derrick Tuskan

Bruins Finish First at Fresno State Invite

October 05, 2024 | Swimming & Diving

FRESNO, Calif. – The UCLA Swimming and Diving team opened the 2024-25 season at the Fresno State Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Bruins had seven event wins throughout the three sessions of competition and won the invitational with a score of 1097.50 points.

Saturday morning's session started strongly for UCLA, with the 400 medley relay kicking off the winning ways for the Bruins. The quartet of Emma Harvey, Eva Carlson, Joanie Cash, and Gizem Guvenc touched the wall first in 3:42.26 to take the event win. The four beat the field by over three seconds. UCLA's 'B' team of Claudia Yovanovich, Ana Jih-Schiff, Mia Chang, and Sarah Bennetts finished fourth in 3:47.20.

Jih-Schiff continued the winning ways for the Bruins in the second event of the day, the 100 IM. The senior took the win in 56.36, while Fiona Schere finished fifth in 59.13 to grab crucial points for the Bruins in the team category.

Rosie Murphy earned the third win in a row to start the day for UCLA in the 200 backstroke. The junior was the only athlete to break 2:00 in the discipline of Saturday, touching the wall in 1:59.90. UCLA's Mia Chang, Catherine Andrews and Abi Winnick all finished in the top 10 as well, with Chang taking fourth, Andrews placed seventh, and Winnicki finished ninth.

The Bruins picked up their fourth podium place of the day in the 100 freestyle. Guvenc took third place in 50.83, while Harvey and freshman Josie Arbuckle finished in fifth and sixth in 51.59 and 52.03, respectively.

On the diving boards, Eden Cheng, Maya Salvitti, and Molly Brascia all finished in the top seven in the 1-meter competition. Cheng took fourth with a score of 243.20, Salvitti finished sixth in 232.15, and Brascia placed seventh with a score of 226.45.

In the 200 breaststroke UCLA student-athletes finished in third, fourth and fifth. Jih-Schiff earned her second podium of the day by finishing third in 2:15.35, while Carlson and Bennetts took fourth and fifth in 2:18.97 and 2:19.34.

The sixth event of the day, the 200 yard butterfly, saw Ashley Kolessar finish fourth in 2:04.64, and Paige MacEachern finished in seventh in 2:06.69.

UCLA took second in the final swim event of the day, the 400 free relay. The group of Jih-Schiff, Guvenc, Cash and Harvey finished in 3:23.26 to claim second place.  

Day One Recap

The UCLA Swimming and Diving team opened the 2024-25 season on Friday at the Fresno State Invitational. The Bruins had four event wins throughout day one of the invitational.

After the first day of competition, UCLA sits in first place with 661.50 points

The morning session started strongly for the Bruins as both the 200 medley relay 'A' and 'B' teams finished second and third in the event. The 'A' squad of Emma Harvey, Eva Carlson, Joanie Cash, and Sarah Bennetts finished in 1:41.81, while the 'B' team of Lustria, Jih-Schiff, Quan and Guvenc took third in 1:42.62. 

In the second event of the day three Bruins finished in the top seven in the 500 free. Ashley Kolessar was the top Bruin, placing second in 4:58.91, Guvenc finished right behind her in third in 4:59.13, while Paige MacEachern took seventh in 5:05.03.

Jih-Schiff earned the first individual win of the season in the 200 IM in the third event of the day. The senior posted a time of 2:00.91 and beat the field by nearly four seconds to claim first. Rosie Murphy finished behind her in fifth place with a time of 2:04.55, while Mia Chang placed 10th in 2:06.56.

The 3-meter dive opened the dive portion of the weekend for UCLA. Eden Cheng and Molly Brascia paced the Bruins, finishing in fourth and fifth respectively. Cheng finished the competition with a score of 254.10 while Brascia tallied a score of 244.80 to take fifth. 

Back in the water, transfer Emma Harvey, finished second in the 50 yard free in 23.14, while Guvenc and Bennetts finished sixth and ninth in 23.65 and 23.74. 

In the final event of the morning session, the 200 free relay, the UCLA 'A' squad of Jih-Schiff, Cash, Harvey and Bennetts took the second win of the day for the Bruins. The quartet touched the wall first in 1:32.72 to take the first relay win of the new season for UCLA.

In the first event of the evening session, UCLA dominated the 100-yard butterfly, taking first and second place. Harvey finished first with a time of 54.12, and Cash took second in 54.62. Chang took seventh place and Josie Arbuckle finished in eighth.

In the 400 IM, three Bruins finished in the top 10. Kolessar finished in fourth place with a time of 4:23.54, MacEachern touched the wall in fifth with a time of 4:24.47, and Murphy took seventh in 4:27.87.

Guvenc earned her first individual win of the season in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:49.28.

In the next event, the 100-yard breaststroke, Carlson took third place with a time of 1:02.08. Freshman Karolina Piechowicz finished in fifth place with a time of 1:02.08 while Jih-Schiff and Bennetts touched the wall in seventh and eighth in 1:02.31 and 1:02.46.

The Bruins had another dominant performance in the 100-yard backstroke, led by Harvey, who won the event in 54.94. Freshman Claudia Yovanovich took third with a time of 55.95, and Chang followed in fourth place with a time of 55.98. Murphy finished in seventh with a time of 56.64, and Lustria touched the wall in 57.31 to earn ninth place.

UCLA rounded out the session with another victory from the 'A' 800-yard freestyle team, who recorded a time of 7:27.05. This team included MacEachern, Guvenc, Kolessar, and Bennetts. The 'B' team included Morgan Hawes, Murphy, Ava Lachey, and Anna Wetteland and finished in seventh place with a time of 7;44.24. The 'C' team of Arbuckle, Catherine Andrews, Abi Winnicki, and Anna Wetteland also cracked the top 10, finishing in eighth place with a time of 7:45.24.

As for the team dive event, the Bruin trio of Cheng, Molly Brascia and Maya Shtolzberg finished third with a total score of 261.90 to round out the first day of action.
 

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Oct 25 (Fri)

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