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Swinney paces Spartans

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The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level.

Briana Swinney (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2010) sophomore, San Jose State women’s swimming and diving: The Spartans are on fire — winners of six straight dual meets — and Swinney is leading way.

The former Tolog and returning All-Western Athletic Conference second-team selection was a winner in three events on Jan. 20 to propel San Jose State to a 156-104 nonconference victory over host Cal State Bakersfield. Swinney captured the 50-yard backstroke in 28.25 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 1:00.04 and also swam a leg of the 200-medley relay, which the Spartans won in 1:48.70.

Swinney and San Jose State, which is now 6-1 on the year and has also posted top-four finishes at all three of the invitationals it has attended this season, will be back in action Saturday at Fresno State.

Alex Campbell (La Cañada High, 2010) sophomore, UC Santa Barbara men’s swimming and diving: Campbell helped deliver a dominant 158-100 road win for the Gauchos over Pacific Friday by hitting the wall first in the 100 freestyle in a time of 46.97 seconds.

UC Santa Barbara had the top-three finishers in the 100 freestyle and the top-four in the 200 freestyle. Campbell rounded out the Gauchos’ impressive performance in the 200 freestyle by finishing fourth in 1 minute 43.37 seconds.

The Gauchos are 5-0 in dual meets and have enjoyed two top-10 tournament finishes in the Texas (seventh) and Arena Invitationals (second).

Campbell was UC Santa Barbara’s top finisher in the 100 freestyle at the Texas Invitational, which was held Dec. 3, after he placed 28th in 45.49.

UC Santa Barbara has one more dual meet this season at home against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before it begins the PAC-12 Swimming Championships, which will be held Feb. 29 through March 3 in Long Beach.

Christian Renfro (La Cañada High, 2011) freshman, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo men’s swimming and diving: Renfro has become an immediate-impact freshman for the Mustangs.

The former Spartan holds the year’s best mark on the team in the 100- (46.88 seconds) and 200 freestyle (1:40.77) and the third best times in the 50 freestyle (21.88) and 100 backstroke (53.63).

Renfro also led Cal Poly to a dominating win over UC Santa Cruz, 214-70, on Jan. 14 to pick up its first win in dual-meet action.

The freshman helped the deliver the victory for Cal Poly (1-3) by placing first in the 100 backstroke (54.60) and being a part of the top 200-medley relay (1:37.83) and 400-freestyle relay (3:08.83) teams.

The Mustangs resume action Saturday in a dual meet at UC Santa Barbara.

Chris Bache (La Cañada High, 2011) freshman, Franklin and Marshall College wrestling: Bache has already hit the mat as a freshman with the Diplomats.

So far the 165-pounder is 2-4, 1-4 in division, this season. The year hasn’t started off well for Franklin and Marshall, as it’s still searching for its first win in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Assn. Conference and of the year.

Bache picked up his two wins in the Mat Town Open on Nov. 26. He defeated Joe Salinetro, 5-0, and pinned Hunter McGraw in four minutes and 32 seconds.

Bache has bounced around a few different places on the weight class this year, checking in at 149 and 165 so far for the Diplomats (011-, 0-4 in conference).

Anthony Stover (Renaissance Academy), sophomore center, UCLA men’s basketball: The former Wildcat, who transferred and finished out his prep career at Windward, registered six rebounds and blocked two shots in the Bruins’ 76-49 Pacific-12 Conference home win over Utah at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Jan. 26.

With a win over Colorado on Saturday, UCLA has won five of its last seven to improve to 12-9 and 5-4 in conference for a three-way tie for fifth place.

In his specialized defensive role off the bench, Stover is averaging a team-best 1.5 blocks per game.

Hector Harold (Renaissance Academy) sophomore forward, Pepperdine men’s basketball: In 16 minutes off the bench, Harold chipped in four points, two rebounds, an assist and one blocked shot on Saturday to help the Waves snap an eight-game skid with a 74-62 West Coast Conference home win over Santa Clara.

Harold, who helped the Wildcats reach the CIF-State Division V championship game in 2008, is averaging 3.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game for Pepperdine (8-13, 2-8).

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