SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word men's and women's swimming and diving teams are prepared for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Conference Championship meet this week from Wednesday, Feb. 15 through Friday, Feb. 18. This is the first year the Cardinals will compete in the MPSF after competing in the Costal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) for the past nine years.

The men's team won four out of the last five CCSA conference championships, with the only exception coming in 2021 as the team was unable to travel to the championship due to a winter storm.

Interim head coach Andrii Nikishenko is eager to compete, stating the new conference (MPSF) will be exciting and more competitive than the previous. The Cardinals seem to be ready for the challenge as numerous records have been broken this season such as the 400 medley and freestyle relays along with the 200-freestyle relay, all of which were previously set eight years ago in 2014. There have been some individual standouts as well. Freshman, Mykyta Kolesnykov set a new record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 43.72 and Senior Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz is only six tenths of a second away from breaking his head coaches record in the 200 backstroke after going 1:44.2 at midseason. Panos Vlachogiannakos won swimmer of the meet at the Delta State Christmas Invitational and was named MPSF Swimmer of the Week earlier this season. 

The stacked women's team looks to stay atop of their conference after placing in the top three of the CCSA for the past three years. The team is led by seniors Ximena Marie Conde, former CCSA champion, swimmer of the year and freshman of the year and Brenda who has a few CCSA individual titles of her own. There is a lot of freshman talent on the team as well. Megan Lopez won the 500 free at midseason with a time of4:58.74 and Tehani Molina finished right behind her at 4:59.27. The girls sprint group also has a good chance to make some waves at the conference meet only seven seconds from a new record in the 400-freestyle relay.

While the swimmers are competing in Utah, the divers will be in southern California. Even though the meet is taking place in two different states, total points from both swim and dive will be combined to determine who is the Conference Champion. Senior, Summer Free has been on top of her game all season setting a new school record in the in the 3-meter 11 dives competition, scoring 522.65 points. Kaivon Dixon who has previously won CCSA Most Outstanding Diver of the Meet and Diver of the Year, also has had multiple top finishes this season.
 

You can get live updates on meet schedules, streams and results at the MPSF Championship Central website.

FOLLOW ALONG
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook. 

Follow the team on Twitter @UIWSwimAndDive and on Instagram @uiwswimanddive.
 

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