The 2017 A3 Invitational kicks off Thursday morning in sunny San Diego. The three-day invite features San Diego State, Fresno Pacific, Cal State East Bay, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Azusa Pacific, and UC San Diego.

2017 A3 Invitational

Nov. 16-18

San Diego, CA

Short Course Yards (SCY)

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Oftentimes smaller DII programs on the West Coast get caught in the wash of perennial Pac-12 powerhouses such as Cal-Berkeley, Stanford, and USC.

However, there is some legit talent in the often-overlooked division of NCAA swimming.

Here are the top three aces to watch for this weekend in San Diego. Hint: you may catch a trend...

Maksim Shcherbakov (Fresno Pacific)

The senior from Russia has times in the 100 breast (52.74) and 200 breast (1:54.28) that would have placed 25th and 14th, respectively, at last year's Division I NCAA Championships. Not too shabby, not too shabby at all.

Aleksei Averchenko (Fresno Pacific)

The sophomore — also from Russia — is a speedy 47.0/1:44 butterflier who placed top eight in both events at last year's DII NCAA Championships. Along with Shcherbakov, Averchenko could fight his way on a large handful of Power Five medley relays.

Daria Belova (Fresno Pacific)

Belova, the senior from — you guessed it — Russia, is a 1:02.2/2:13 breaststroker who racked up a couple of top eight finishes at last year's DII NCAA Championships. If she can sneak closer to that 1:00 and 2:10 barrier this season, she will be putting her name up there with the best breaststrokers in the country — regardless of division.

Check out the official psych sheet posted below.