Cal Poly Swimming and Diving celebrated their seniors in style on Friday, Jan. 10, beating UC Santa Cruz on both the men’s and women’s side in the final home meet of the year.
The men’s team toppled the Banana Slugs by a score of 235-63, and the women were similarly dominant, winning 218-79.
The Mustangs are hitting their stride as they approach the end of their season, coming off strong performances in the UNLV Invitational and a home meet against Cal State Bakersfield.
Familiar faces topped the score sheets for the men, and juniors Evan Yoo, Alex Seybold and Drew Huston all took home wins.
Yoo, a transfer from the United States Military Academy before this season, added to a stellar first year at Cal Poly by winning every event he competed in, including the 1000 Freestyle (9:30.16), 100 Butterfly (49.33), 200 Freestyle Relay (1:23.17) and 400 Medley Relay (3:20.58).
This was the second straight week Yoo has swept all of his events, and he led the Mustangs in total event wins on the day with four.
Seybold, a captain this year, won the 100 Breaststroke (56.83), 200 Breaststroke (2:05.44), and 200 Inter Medley (1:54.33).
His younger brother, freshman Sam Seybold, also added a win on the day, taking the 200 Backstroke (1:50.84).
For the women, senior Summer Cheng led the way by winning three events: the 50 Freestyle (24.42), 100 Butterfly (58.62) and the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:39.00).
Amalie Claus-Udarbe and Olivia Sundgren also won multiple events, Claus-Udarbe in the 100 Breaststroke (1:07.64), 200 Inter Medley (2:11.54) and 400 Medley Relay (3:58.44).
Sundgren took first in the 500 Freestyle (5:09.84) and 1000 Freestyle (10:31.28), the second victory won by an impressive 25 seconds.
The team has six seniors who were celebrated before the meet, including Cheng, Sarah Jacobson, Madreena Lee, KellyAnn Lim, Taylor Lyon and Evan O’Connell.
In a year filled with uncertainty, the Mustangs have delivered impressive results across the board in both dual meets and invitationals.
The men’s team was ranked 21st in the swimcloud.com Division I Most Improved list, where the Mustangs jumped from 72nd to 58th in the nation with 702 points on their scale.
They will have two more chances to impress in meets before the Big West Championships in early February.
Their next meet will be on the road against the University of the Pacific at 3 p.m. on Friday, January 17, in Stockton.