Six Schools Return to MPSF Swimming & Diving

Photo by: Denver Athletics
 

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) has introduced the return of six faculties to its swimming & diving membership, starting with the upcoming 2026-27 season. Men’s and ladies’s groups from CSU Bakersfield, Seattle University, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Denver will enter the convention, whereas the ladies from the University of San Diego may even rejoin. All six faculties have beforehand competed in MPSF Swimming & Diving. The MPSF’s seventeenth swimming & diving championship is scheduled to function a file 24 teams—16 ladies and eight men—and will happen February 17-20, 2027. The earlier excessive in MPSF Swimming & Diving membership was throughout the 2011-12 season, which featured 19 groups.

 

In addition to the six faculties talked about above, St. Mary’s College will enter its inaugural season of competitors as an MPSF participant, as introduced final September, becoming a member of present members Idaho, Incarnate Word, Pacific, Pepperdine, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Utah Tech.

Since hiring MPSF Commissioner Foti Mellis in 2021, the convention has added 87 groups, 42 faculties, and eight sports activities. “We are proud to welcome these exceptional programs back to the MPSF,” stated Mellis. “Their rich history in our conference and commitment to excellence will elevate an already outstanding championship experience. We look forward to seeing them compete as part of a record-setting field in 2027.”

This would be the third stint for CSU Bakersfield within the MPSF (2022-24; 2011-13). The CSUB males gained the inaugural MPSF Championship in 2011. The program has totaled 13 particular person MPSF titles, together with the all-time convention file within the 200 Free from 2024 (Vili Sivec).

 

UC San Diego additionally returns, having competed within the MPSF from 2019-24, highlighted by the 2022 ladies’s squad snapping Hawaii’s run of 5 straight titles. UC San Diego holds the MPSF’s 200 breast ladies’s file from 2023 (Katja Pavicevic).

 

UC Santa Barbara competed within the MPSF males’s competitors from 2015-2024 and, on the ladies’s facet, as an unique member from 2011-2024. The Gaucho males gained back-to-back MPSF titles in 2017-18 and by no means completed decrease than third place of their 10 seasons within the convention. UCSB owns the MPSF’s all-time 500 Free file from 2019 (Logan Hotchkiss). The ladies’s squad has recorded seven second-place MPSF workforce outcomes and has by no means completed decrease than fourth. They maintain the 2 oldest all-time feminine MPSF data from 2014 within the 100 and 200 Fly (each by Andrea Ward).

 

Denver competed within the MPSF on the boys’s facet throughout the 2013 season, ending fourth out of 10 groups, whereas the Pioneer ladies will make their MPSF debut. The Denver Men and ladies have dominated the Summit League for the final 13 years, with the ladies profitable all 13 of these convention workforce titles and the boys bringing house the trophy all however as soon as.

 

Seattle University additionally returns to the MPSF in 2026-27. The males competed within the MPSF from 2011-13, whereas the ladies had been individuals in 2011 and 2012.

 

The University of San Diego ladies’s program returns to the MPSF after a one-year absence. The Toreros had been MPSF members because the inaugural swim & dive season of 2011. In the closest competitors in MPSF Women’s Championship historical past, the Toreros posted a 2025 runner-up end.    

The MPSF enters 2026-27 with 127 complete nationwide championships throughout 10 sports activities, relationship again to 1992, together with a conference-record six titles throughout the 2025-26 tutorial yr. The MPSF’s 117 NCAA titles lead the nation amongst Division-I Non-Power Four Conferences.
 

MPSF Swimming & Diving data, together with particular championship particulars, shall be positioned on the convention web site’s Championship Central web page at Follow the MPSF on social media @MPSFSports.
 
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT JOINING MPSF SWIMMING & DIVING
 
“We’re excited to rejoin the MPSF for swimming and diving. The conference offers a strong level of competition that will help our student-athletes continue to grow and compete at a high level. It’s a great fit for our program, and a positive step for the swimmers and divers who put in the work every day to represent CSUB.”
-Dr. Sarah Tuohy, CSU Bakersfield Director of Athletics

 “We are thrilled to join the MPSF as we begin a new era for CSUB Swimming & Diving. The MPSF provides a highly-competitive platform for our student-athletes and creates an opportunity for them to challenge themselves at a high level while continuing to raise the standard within our program. We are excited for the opportunities this partnership will create for our team, our university, and the future of CSUB Swimming & Diving.”

-Shane Pelton. CSU Bakersfield Head Coach

 

“We’re thrilled to join the MPSF in men’s and women’s swimming and diving next season. I’d like to thank the conference for helping us find a great home for our student-athletes and thank both of our programs for their patience while we found them an appropriate spot to continue to compete for championships while several of our other athletic programs make the transition to the West Coast Conference this summer. I’m excited for the future of our swimming and diving programs.”   

-Josh Berlo, University of Denver Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Ritchie Center Operations 

 

“Our program is very excited to be able to compete in the MPSF next season. It will provide a greater level of competition that will push our student-athletes to perform at higher levels as they strive to earn qualifying times for the national championships. I’d like to thank Josh Berlo and the University’s leadership for finding our program a great home for our program to be able to continue to compete for championships.”  

–Alicia Hicken-Franklin, University of Denver Head Coach

 

“We are very excited and grateful to be becoming a member of the MPSF for the 2026-27 faculty yr. They have been working nice swimming championships for years, and we look ahead to being part of what shall be one of many largest and best D-I championship meets within the nation subsequent winter. It has been a curler coaster of convention realignment amongst swim packages within the western a part of the nation the previous couple years, however we together with all different WCC swim groups are thrilled to be part of the MPSF for this coming season.”

-Joe Dykstra, Seattle University Head Coach

 

“I need to specific my gratitude to MPSF and Commissioner Foti Mellis for opening the door and offering our workforce with the chance to compete within the convention championship, which is eligible for NCAA qualification.

We have cherished reminiscences from MPSF, notably since our ladies’s workforce achieved its first-ever UCSD D-I championship in 2022. We are thrilled concerning the upcoming championship.”

-Marko Djordjevic, UC San Diego Head Coach

 

“Being back in the MPSF will be an exciting opportunity for our program. The conference is deep, talented, and highly competitive, which will challenge us to continue raising our standards. I look forward to seeing how many personal-bests we achieve, the memories we create together, and the NCAA qualifiers and all-conference performances that emerge along the way.”

-Jaclyn Rosen, UCSB Head Coach

 

“We’re excited to rejoin the MPSF forward of the 2026-2027 season. Our Torero swimming and diving program has an extended historical past within the MPSF, and returning was a pure match for us. We’re particularly appreciative of Commissioner Mellis and his employees for offering us with the chance to proceed competing within the MPSF and past.”

– Kimya Massey, University of San Diego Associate Vice President/Executive Director of Athletics

 

“We are excited and appreciative to be rejoining the MPSF this season. With the addition of several new teams to complement the existing membership, the conference will be very competitive with depth throughout all scoring opportunities.”

– Mike Keeler, University of San Diego Swimming and Diving Head Coach