Friday, November 6
Bakersfield, CA
Saint Mary's College of California
at
CSU Bakersfield
11/7/2026 6:52:00 PM | Swimming
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Saint Mary's swim team headed south to take on Bakersfield in a two-day meet starting on Friday and earned a hard fought victory on the men's side, downing the Roadrunners 197-175 for the program's second win of its inaugural season.Â
Saint Mary's had six event winners on Friday to give them a 98-88 advantage heading into day two. Samuil Danailov won a pair of events to lead the day one surge, including a first place finish in the 100 yard free and the 50 yard backstroke. The Gaels also went 1-2 in the 200 yard breast and 100 yard free with first place finishes from Ilija Sosic and Danailov and runner-up finishes from Julian Tucker and Jacob Smith. They closed out the day with the top-two finishes in the 400 yard freestyle relay with the winning team recording a time of 3:01.57 (Giorgio Sportaro, Samuil Danailov, Tobin Reed, Jacob Smith).Â
Day two featured another six event winners, including two more individual first place finishes for Danailov, who secured wins in the 50 and 200 yard free. The Gaels took the top three spots and 16 big points in the 50 yard free with second and third place finishes from Smith and Sawyer Jones. The Gaels ended the day with another big relay win in the 200 yard freestyle, securing 11 points to solidify the 197-175 victory.Â
On the women's side the Gaels had three event winners on Friday including Melody Mimi Okano in the 100 yard free (51.94), Eliza Taylor in the 200 yard IM (2:04.18) and Samantha Fehr in the 50 yard breaststroke (29.57). The Gaels also went 2-3 in the 400 yard freestyle relay to secure six total points in the event. Okano and Taylor led the women's side with two individual victories, each adding one more to their resume on Saturday. Okano won the 50 yard free with a time of 23.72 while Taylor locked up the 400 yard IM at 4:24.49. Junior transfer Spencer Damaske also took third place in the 400 yard IM for a combined 12 points.Â
Full meet results can be found HERE
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will next head to Boise, Idaho for the Northwest Collegiate Invite at the Idaho Central Aquatics Center. Day one meet action will start on Thursday, November 19 and additional meet information and results can be found at smcgaels.com.Â
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.Â
#GaelsRise
Â
Saint Mary's had six event winners on Friday to give them a 98-88 advantage heading into day two. Samuil Danailov won a pair of events to lead the day one surge, including a first place finish in the 100 yard free and the 50 yard backstroke. The Gaels also went 1-2 in the 200 yard breast and 100 yard free with first place finishes from Ilija Sosic and Danailov and runner-up finishes from Julian Tucker and Jacob Smith. They closed out the day with the top-two finishes in the 400 yard freestyle relay with the winning team recording a time of 3:01.57 (Giorgio Sportaro, Samuil Danailov, Tobin Reed, Jacob Smith).Â
Day two featured another six event winners, including two more individual first place finishes for Danailov, who secured wins in the 50 and 200 yard free. The Gaels took the top three spots and 16 big points in the 50 yard free with second and third place finishes from Smith and Sawyer Jones. The Gaels ended the day with another big relay win in the 200 yard freestyle, securing 11 points to solidify the 197-175 victory.Â
On the women's side the Gaels had three event winners on Friday including Melody Mimi Okano in the 100 yard free (51.94), Eliza Taylor in the 200 yard IM (2:04.18) and Samantha Fehr in the 50 yard breaststroke (29.57). The Gaels also went 2-3 in the 400 yard freestyle relay to secure six total points in the event. Okano and Taylor led the women's side with two individual victories, each adding one more to their resume on Saturday. Okano won the 50 yard free with a time of 23.72 while Taylor locked up the 400 yard IM at 4:24.49. Junior transfer Spencer Damaske also took third place in the 400 yard IM for a combined 12 points.Â
Today was another step forward for the Gaels as we wrapped up our fall dual meet season" said head coach Ellie Monobe. "Getting a win on the men's side against a deep CSUB team was a big moment for us. We did an excellent job of focusing on the details and put together some really strong races. I was especially proud of how we closed the meet, with both our men and women dominating the relays. Looking ahead, we hope to continue to build on the momentum we have in the pool and really feed off of our team's cohesion and spirit.
Full meet results can be found HERE
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will next head to Boise, Idaho for the Northwest Collegiate Invite at the Idaho Central Aquatics Center. Day one meet action will start on Thursday, November 19 and additional meet information and results can be found at smcgaels.com.Â
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.Â
#GaelsRise
Â
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