Northridge Women on Up and Up at Nationals

Frustrated by slow pool conditions and perhaps a little complacent having won individual titles as freshmen last year, Stacy Mettam and Tina Schnare won a couple for the team on Thursday, the second day of the four-day NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships at the Belmont Plaza pool in Long Beach.

Mettam defended her title in the 100 backstroke, while Schnare did the same in the 100 breaststroke to push Northridge into the lead for the first time in the women’s competition.

The Lady Matadors, who last won a national title in 1982, have a 168-151 advantage over defending champion Clarion, Pa., with two days of competition left.

Schnare’s winning time of 1:05.73 was almost a full second slower than her national record of 1:04:76 she swam in last year’s nationals at the Justice Aquatics Center in Orlando, Fla. Mettam won in 58.09, which was also well off her best.

Both decided to accent the positive afterwards.

“Normally, I would be really upset about the slow time, but instead I can think about how many points I scored for the team,” Mettam said. “That’s what’s important right now.”

Northridge, which started the day 13 points behind Clarion, also got a big win from Xiao Xiao (pronounced Shao Sha) Chen in three-meter diving.

Chen, a fourth-place finisher for China in 10-meter platform diving at the 1984 Olympics, unseated two-time defending champion Doria Mamalo of Clarion in impressive fashion. Her score of 494.20 was 27.10 better than the previous meet record. Mamalo was third at 474.95.

“Right now the meet looks pretty much like a two-team race between us and Clarion,” Northridge Coach Pete Accardy said as the standings were being announced.

But as the women’s team forged into the lead, the Northridge men fell farther behind Cal State Bakersfield.

Bakersfield, which ended CSUN’s five-year hold on the men’s championship in 1986, took a commanding 181-132 lead over Oakland, Mich. Northridge is third with 75 points.

Northridge also failed to win despite sending All-American Jeff Kubiak into the pool.

Kubiak lost for only the second time in three years at the nationals, finishing second in the 100 breast to defending champion Mark Vandermey of Oakland. Vandermey edged the Northridge senior, 55.59 to 55.71.

Kubiak said he changed events this year because 400 individual medley took away his edge for the 200 breast, which is his specialty. That race is Saturday and Kubiak is already looking forward to a rematch with Vandermey.

“I was beating him in the water and he was beating me on the walls,” Kubiak said. “I think the result will be different next time.”