The UCSB women’s swim and dive team headed to Los Angeles for its first quad meet of the season on Friday. UCSB fell to host UCLA (198-99), but ended up taking two out of three with victories coming against Oregon State (179-77) and Florida Gulf Coast (152.5-144.5).

“The day went very well and most of our swims were outstanding,” Head Coach Gregg Wilson said. “We had some holes in our line-up, but I am very pleased with how our women have [ended the] meet on a high note.”

With the two wins, the Gauchos improve their season record to 4-1. Florida Gulf Coast breaks even at 3-3 on the season, while Oregon St. falls to 0-6. No. 14 UCLA remains one of the top schools in the country and improves its record to 4-0 following the victories in Friday’s meet.

UCSB began the day with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay (1:47.68) and a sixth place finish by junior Micaela Velasquez in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:38.65).

In the third event of the day, senior Andrea Ward placed second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.31. The reigning MPSF/Turbo Female Athlete of the week would not stop there however, as Ward would go on to place first in both the 200-yard butterfly and the 100-yard butterfly with times of 1:59.61 and 54.09, respectively.

“Being my senior year, I’m coming in with a lot of motivation and I’ve been putting in a lot of work,” Ward said.”

The Gauchos were able to receive a strong performance from junior breaststroke swimmer Katie Records as well. Battling illness, Records was able to notch some of her best times all season placing first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.05) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.10).

“I had to push past the lack of not being able to breathe too well,” Records said. “It is a matter of knowing that [you’ve] trained and your body is able to do more than you think it can.”

Senior co-captain Sophia Yamauchi was also key, earning top finishes for the Gauchos placing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle (24.00) and taking fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (52.49).

Sophomore Monika Terry was the top scorer for the UCSB divers earning seventh overall in the one-meter (213.05) and fourth overall in the three-meter (232.55). Performances by the divers became crucial, especially in the three-meter, as the Gauchos earned the top three spots over Florida Gulf Coast to aid them in securing victory.

“The biggest boost we got was from our divers,” Wilson said. “In the second half of our meet, our divers took first, second and third in the three-meter against Florida Gulf Coast. I was very pleased with how that helped us out.”

The Gauchos closed out the meet with a solid showing on the 200-yard freestyle relay. Ward, Yamauchi, freshman Meghan Bicomong and junior Carissa Metcalf took home second place with a time of 1:35.58, finishing less than two seconds behind UCLA (1:33.95).

The UCSB men’s and women’s swim and dive team next hosts UC San Diego at home on November 9 at 11 a.m.

This article is an online exclusive and did not appear in the print edition of The Daily Nexus.