CSUN Women Within Striking Distance of Top

In the past three NCAA Division II national championships, the Cal State Northridge women’s swim team never completed a day anywhere but atop the standings.

That streak was broken on the first day of this year’s meet and the trend continued Thursday at the State University of New York at Buffalo natatorium.

In fact, the Lady Matadors, who started the day in second place, dropped a notch.

Northridge has 170 points, trailing front-runner Navy (175) and North Dakota (171).

And, considering the circumstances, Coach Pete Accardy could not be more pleased.

“We wanted to be within 20 points today and we’re within four (actually five),” Accardy said. “Psychologically, that’s a big lift. This was supposed to be by far our worst day and we’re actually closer to the lead than we were yesterday.”

A victory in the 800-yard freestyle relay, Northridge’s first win of the meet, pulled the Lady Matadors into the thick of title contention.

The top six teams are separated by 18 points. Eight points behind CSUN is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Oakland (Mich.) (158) and Northern Michigan (157) follow.

Michelle Sulak opened the 800 relay in 1 minute 52.16 seconds to leave the competition in Northridge’s wake. The Lady Matadors, who won in 7:33.56, also received strong segments from Toady Kimble (1:52.56), Lisa Dial (1:54.48) and Mara Morgan (1:54.36).

Morgan was CSUN’s only individual championship finalist during the evening’s other three events. She placed seventh in the 200-yard butterfly with a personal-best 2:07.06. Sulak won the consolation title in the same event in 2:06.85.

Northern Michigan picked up wins from Kirsten Silverster in the butterfly (2:04.37) and Jennifer Kleemann in the 100-yard backstroke (58.59).

Marion Warner of North Dakota took the 100-yard breaststroke championship in 1:05.56.

In the men’s competition, a strong second-place showing in the 800-yard freestyle relay kept Northridge in third place with 161.5 points.

Cal State Bakersfield, which won the relay in a Division II-record 6:37.87, led in the team race with with 359 points. Oakland is second with 342 1/2.

For the second night in a row, CSUN’s top individual performance was turned in by John Kunishima, who placed second in the 100-yard backstroke.

Kunishima set a Division II record in the 200-yard individual medley in the meet’s opening night. On Thursday, it took a similar effort to defeat him.

Brady Stauffer, a junior from Shippensburg (Pa.), set a Division II standard of 50.43 to win the race. Kunishima came in at 51.37, a personal best.

Kunishima later turned in a 200-yard split of 1:37.33, the fastest of the night, during the 800 relay.

Only a week ago, the sophomore from Hacienda Heights wasn’t even sure he would compete in the nationals. Kunishima pulled a back muscle and it bothered him for several days.

In addition, he lost valuable training time during the winter because of tendinitis in the area of his right biceps.

“Genuinely, I’m just happy to be here,” Kunishima said. “And to do as well as I’m doing, I’m just elated. This is a lot of fun.”

Jack Pentlarge, a junior from Westlake Village, was CSUN’s only other finalist Thursday. He was sixth in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:51.54.

Andrew Bures of Bakersfield won the race in 1:48.40, breaking the previous national record by more than a second.