By Cyanna Rosa
Los Angeles, CA - The SCIAC conference championship for swimming and diving earned the University of La Verne's swimmers and divers an astonishing final weekend. The team achieved a total of 122 personal records out of 132 swims, or 91.666% PRs, demonstrating their hard work throughout the season.
In the relay events, the team swam a total of 15 relays, with all of them being the team's fastest this year and faster than last year, except for one that was disqualified for a small technical matter. The team achieved 14 out of 15 PR lead-off legs and 43 out of 45 PR non-leadoff legs, highlighting their impressive teamwork and individual performances.
Individually, Asher Kocalis was a standout athlete, achieving seven personal bests out of seven events, inching to the 200 free varsity record with a time of 1:42.20. He also achieved a 5.58-second drop in his 500 free, finishing with a time of 4:41.21, which is the second-fastest time in La Verne history. Kocalis also achieved a time of 1:57.86 in the 200 fly for 17th place. He performed exceptionally well in the relays, achieving his best butterfly splits of 23.59 and 51.30 in the fly legs of the medley relays. Additionally, he led the 800 free and 400 free relays with times of 1:42.71 and 47.40, respectively.
Freshman Shaun Concepcion made an impressive debut in the first 11 dive meet of his career, finishing 11th in the 3-meter diving with a score of 169.70 and 12th in the 1-meter diving with a score of 164.30.
Other men who performed well include Cody Lehotsky, who led off the 200 freestyle relay with a split of 21.77, the fastest since Tim Polman in 2017. He was also dominant in the 400/800 free relay, achieving splits of 47.18/1:45.63. Lehotsky achieved personal bests in the 500 and 100 free, achieving times of 22.08 and 47.95, respectively. Freshman Jake Gordon also performed well, achieving some monster relay anchor legs, with personal bests of 23.01/50.15/1:52.73. Jaden Javier achieved the biggest drops with 6.18 in the 200 IM, 5.25 in the 200 back, and 1.17 in the 100 back.
On the women's side, Kira Degelsmith capped her four-year diving career with a personal best score of 244.16 for 16th on 3 meters and a 280.0 on 1 meter, while senior Emma Vu achieved lifetime bests in her final championships with times of 1:14.99 and 2:47.47 in the 100/200 breaststroke. Mahayla Reyes achieved an impressive 34.92 drop in her 1650 freestyle, breaking the 20 min barrier with a time of 19:56.19. She also dropped 4.13 seconds in her 200 freestyle, achieving a time of 2:10.25.
With 70% of the team being freshmen, the future looks bright for the La Verne Leo's. The team's hard work and dedication have paid off, and they are excited to continue improving and achieving even greater success in the future.
