Rice, Cal Baptist Win MPSF Open Water Titles
Photo by: karina Toriz/@torshots
MPSF Open Water Championships (Third Edition)
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Marine Stadium; Long Beach, Calif.
MPSF Championship Central
Complete 2025 MPSF Championship Results (PDF)
Final Standings:
Women
1. Rice University 148 (First MPSF Championship)
2. Washighton State University 118
3. Cal Baptist University 89
4. Fresno State University 74
5. Brigham Young University 65
6. New Mexico State University 62
7. Grand Canyon Univ 56
8. University of San Diego 38
9. Westmont College 32
10. Biola University 30
11. Northern Colorado, University 28
11. Champan Universirty 28
13. Whittier College 26
14. Idaho, University of 14
15. Pepperdine University 13
16. UC Santa Barbara 7
17. Utah Tech University 2
Men
1. Cal Baptist University 135 (Repeat Champions)
2. Grand Canyon Univ 110
3. Whittier College 101
4. Brigham Young University 94
5. Quincy University 88
6. Biola University 69
7. Chapman Universirty 53
8. UC Santa Barbara 25
9. Occidental College 2
Men's 5K:
MPSF Champion: Thomas Langlois-Whittier (59.06.41)
2nd: Mark Kovacsics-Cal Baptist (59.07.15)
3rd: Batu Servi---Grand Canyon (59.07.67)
Women's 5K:
MPSF Champion: Ella Dyson-Rice (1:01.21)
2nd: Ava Portello-Rice (1:02.20)
3rd: Kyra Rabess-Northern Colorado (1:03.13)
Men's 2000-Meter Relay
MPSF Champion: Cal Baptist (24:30.02)
Women's 2000-Meter Relay
MPSF Champion: Rice (25:11.42)
Rice Recap:
By: Kendyll Morris (km215@rice.edu)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Rice swimming team shined at the MPSF Open Water Championship in Long Beach, California.
The Owls captured both the team and relay titles. Ella Dyson, Ava Portello, Ava Hamblett and Mollie McAlorum won the 2000-meter freestyle relay with a time of 25:11.42.
Rice finished first in the team standings with 148 points, followed by Washington State with 118 and Cal Baptist with 89.
“The team stepped up and just had a great day of racing,” head coach Seth Huston said. “They know how to compete and have fun doing it.”
The Owls had six swimmers place in the top 30 of the 76-athlete field in the 5000-meter freestyle. Dyson led the way with a first-place finish, clocking in at 1:01.21.
Portello followed in second with a time of 1:02.20, while Hamblett placed fifth in 1:03.13 and Renee Tan took seventh in 1:03.39.
Sami Johnson finished 20th with a time of 1:05.34, and McAlorum placed 28th in 1:06.01.
Cal Baptist Recap:
By: Matt Horrocks, Assistant Athletic Director of Communications and Digital Media
LONG BEACH --- The 2025-26 swim season got underway on Saturday as Long Beach's Marine Stadium played host to the MPSF Open Water Championship. Competing in the individual 5K and the 2K relay, CBU's men's side started the year as champions of the event.
The CBU men scored 135 points, placing them on top of the podium for the nine-team field. The CBU women's team placed third out of 17 programs with 89 points.
Saturday began with the men's 5K freestyle. Leading the Lancers was Mark Kovacsics, who placed second with a time of 59:07. Holden Short was next to finish, as his time of 1:01:56 was good enough for fifth. Cody Meyer (1:02:03) finished in seventh, followed by Fernando Manceras (1:02:08) in eighth, giving the Lancers four top ten finishes. Liam Flaherty (1:04:19) rounded out the field of Lancers with a 14th-place finish.
The women's 5K freestyle was next on the schedule. Leading the Lancers was Gabriela Robles (1:03:44) with a ninth-place finish. Kai Flanagan (1:03:45) rounded out the top ten with a tenth-place finish in the field of 76 swimmers. Abigail Skinder (1:05:48) finished 21st to round out the field of Lancers.
Next up was the start of relay racing, as the men returned to the water for the 2000m freestyle.
The Lancers secured victory in the men's relay, besting the team from BYU by five seconds. Grand Canyon placed third in the event. The men's relay team posted a time of 24:30. The relay team consisted of Kovacsics, Short, Andrew Teh, and Eli Rollen.
Saturday's final event was the women's 2000m freestyle relay. Ambrin Pienaar, Flanagan, Robles, and Skinder made up the CBU team that placed fourth at 26:13. Rice placed first in the women's relay, followed by Washington State and BYU.