Huston Heads to Washington for Last Chance Meet; Divers Set to Compete in NCAA Zones

Sunday, March 10

Federal Way, WA / Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center

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Men's Pac-12 Last Chance Invite

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Huston Heads to Washington for Last Chance Meet; Divers Set to Compete in NCAA Zones

3/9/2024 2:15:00 PM | Swimming and Diving

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The season isn't over quite yet for the Cal Poly swimming and diving program.

Sophomore Drew Huston heads to Federal Way, Wash., on Sunday to swim in a Last Chance Meet, while three Mustangs divers will descend upon Flagstaff for the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships this Monday through Wednesday at Northern Arizona's Wall Aquatic Center.

Huston will be seeking an NCAA Championships qualifying time in the men's 200-yard backstroke during Sunday's Last Chance meet at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. The event will be held a day after the final day of the Pac-12 Men's Swimming Championships.

Huston will race in the prelims of the men's 200 back around 9:30 a.m. Sunday with hopes of achieving the time is looking for then. Huston has already met the NCAA B cut standard in the event, but will likely need to post a time around 1:40.4 to have a chance at qualifying for NCAAs.

Huston is also expected to pursue an Olympic Trials qualifying time in the 200-meter back later Sunday. The qualifying standard for the event is 2:01.69. Huston has already qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 100-meter back, doing so this past August at the 2023 Speedo Junior National Championships.

For the Fox Island, Wash. native, the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center is a familiar place as he won a WIAA 3A state title in the 200 individual medley in 2022 as a senior at Gig Harbor High School and broke five school records at the meet.

Huston has impressed all season long, breaking one record after another. At the MPSF Swimming Championships two weeks ago, he obliterated the school record in the men's 200 back (1:42.30) by over a full second en route to capturing the conference title, becoming Cal Poly's first MPSF champion in the event. He also broke his own program record in the 100 back (46.56) at the meet to secure a runner-up finish and swam the lead-off leg on Cal Poly's school-record breaking 400 medley relay. He also owns the fourth-fastest 200 IM time in school history and the fifth-fastest 100 free.

Regardless of what Huston does Sunday, he won't find out if he's officially qualified for the NCAA Men's Swimming Championships in Indianapolis on March 27-30 until selections are announced at 9 a.m. Wednesday on NCAA.com.

Senior Briana Medvecki and freshmen Justin Dolezal and Shayna Gayer are the three Mustangs that will compete at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Arizona. Gayer and Medvecki will both take part in the women's 1-meter dive Monday, while only Gayer will participate in the women's 3-meter Tuesday. Dolezal is slated to hit the diving board in the men's 3-meter Monday and the 1-meter Wednesday.

Medvecki is No. 2 all-time in school history in both the women's 1-meter and 3-meter dives, while Dolezal owns top-five marks in all three dives on the men's side — No. 2 in the 1-meter and platform, and No. 5 in the 3-meter. At the MPSF Diving Championships about a month ago, Dolezal earned the highest individual finish in a diving event by a Mustang on the men's side since the men's program joined the conference in 2014-15 by placing third in the 1-meter.