Huston Wins MPSF 200 Back Title; Men Place Fourth, Women Sixth

Saturday, February 24

St. George, UT / DSU HPC Pool

9 A.M. Prelims / 5 P.M. Finals

MPSF Swimming Championships

Drew Huston, MPSF Championships podium, 022324

Sophomore Drew Huston (pictured in the middle) captured the MPSF title in the men's 200 back during the final day of the conference meet Saturday.

Huston Wins MPSF 200 Back Title; Men Place Fourth, Women Sixth

2/24/2024 11:45:00 PM | Swimming and Diving

FINAL RESULTS
TEAM SCORES

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Sophomore Drew Huston won a conference title in the men's 200-yard backstroke and two other Mustangs earned podium finishes in their respective events as the Cal Poly swimming and diving program wrapped up an incredible showing at the MPSF Championships on Saturday.

Thanks to some incredible performances, the Cal Poly men were able to take home a fourth-place finish as a team (471 points) — tied for their highest finish at the MPSF meet in program history. The Mustangs nearly made it on the podium, finishing just 2 points behind third-place Incarnate Word (473).

The Mustang women also shined across the four-day swimming portion of the meet hosted at Utah Tech's Human Performance Center, grabbing sixth out of 10 teams (245 points). The finish is the best by the Cal Poly women since they took fifth in 2021.

"They all just did a great job across the board, everyone swam incredibly well," head coach Tom Milich said after the final day of competition Saturday. "Tonight, we couldn't have swam much better, everyone stepped up. I couldn't be prouder of this group."

Huston put a bow on an impressive showing at the conference meet by obliterating the school record in the men's 200 back en route to capturing the MPSF title in the event. His time of 1:42.30 in the final was over one second faster than Peter's Kline 2011 school record (1:43.55) and he finished .97 seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer at the meet.

Huston's performance came a day after he broke his own school record in the 100 back and placed second in the event. Huston is Cal Poly's first MPSF champion in the 200 back and the first Mustang to win a conference title since Kieran McNulty in 2022.

Senior Joshua Billotte and sophomore Finn Schlamp both earned podium finishes on the final day as well. In his last race as a Mustang, Billotte captured third in the men's 1650 freestyle with a lifetime best (15:26.40). Schlamp shined in the men's 200 butterfly, swimming a lifetime best in prelims and improving upon that time in the final to secure a second-place finish. His time of 1:46.82 in the final is the third fastest in school history.

Senior Ryan Trichler grabbed seventh in the 200 fly, and sophomore Cameron Schwantes was eighth in the 1650 free. Senior Sean Keegan and sophomore Alex Seybold both posted top-five marks in program history during prelims Saturday. Keegan swam the fifth-fastest 200 back time (1:46.76), capturing ninth in the event, while Seybold secured seventh in the 200 breaststroke with the fifth-fastest time in school history (2.00.20).

Sophomore Lucas Meneghetti took 11th in the 200 back, sophomore Nick Elliott snagged 13th in the 1650 free, sophomore Alex Power was 14th in the 200 breast and freshman Scott Iannaccone placed 15th in the 200 back to highlight the rest of Cal Poly's top performances on the men's side during the final day.

On the women's side, senior Kelly McDermott improved her fourth-fastest mark in school history in the 200 back (2:01.08) to take home ninth. In the 1650 free, freshman Olivia Sundgren finished fifth, sophomore Courtney Cross 10th and senior Alexa Porter 11th.

In the women's 200 breast, freshmen Amalie Claus-Udarbe and Rhian Neitzel placed 13th (2:19.40) and 14th (2:19.66) respectively. Junior Taylor Lyon earned 15th in the 200 fly.

Across the four-day meet in the pool, four school records were broken, 12 top-five marks in program history were posted and countless personal bests were recorded.

This was Cal Poly's final season competing in the MPSF as The Big West will sponsor swimming and diving once again beginning this fall.

Huston has met the NCAA B standard in both the 100 back and 200 back, but the Fox Island, Wash. native will swim in a last chance meet within the next two weeks to try to earn the NCAA A standard in one of the events and qualify for the NCAA Championships automatically.

The season isn't over for Cal Poly's divers either as several of them will compete in the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships on March 11-13 in Flagstaff, Arizona.