HONOLULU – The Hawai'i swimming & diving programs will compete for a conference title at the MPSF Championships Wednesday through Saturday. The swimming portion of the competition will be contested over the four days in St. George, Utah, while the divers will compete Thursday through Saturday in Mission Viejo, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine will look to claim their seventh conference title in program history, as all six of their MPSF crowns have come within the last eight years. The Rainbow Warriors will look for their third conference championship in the last five years.
The UH women head into the event with five individual MPSF-leading marks in the pool, all of which are held by
Laticia Transom. The three-time MPSF Female Athlete of the Week leads the conference and has recorded NCAA qualifying times in the 50, 100 and 200 free, 100 fly and 100 back and sits in the UH top 10 in each of those events. The Rainbow Wahine also hold MPSF-leading times in all five relay events.
Additionally,
Mandolin Nguyen and
Kathryn Ivanov have both met the NCAA B standard in the 200 breaststroke while climbing up the UH top 10 list in the event. The Wahine divers have also put up four NCAA Zone E qualifying marks, with
Elma Lund and
Isabelle Lombardi recording two each. Lund also owns the MPSF-leading mark in platform diving while Lombardi leads the conference in 1-meter diving.
The Rainbow Warriors have posted seven top-10 marks and six NCAA qualifying marks. The Warrior divers have led the way as
Juan Gonzalez and
Mackaby Pennington have both posted NCAA Zone E standards in each of the three diving events while combining for five UH top-10 marks. Pennington also leads the MPSF in platform diving. Freshman
Mario Surkovic has led the way in the pool, posting top-10 times in the 100 and 200 free, leading the conference in the 200 free.
After the conference championships, the two programs will have one final opportunity to meet NCAA qualification standards at the Georgia Bulldog Last Chance Meet, Feb. 25-26 in Athens, Ga.
