The University of Redlands swimming & diving teams traveled to Thousand Oaks on Saturday morning and performed exceptionally well, with both the Bulldog men and women defeating Cal Lutheran University and the University of La Verne in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tri-Meet. The U of R men topped the Kingsmen, 161.50 – 138.50, and the Leopards, 164.00-136.00, while the Maroon and Gray women defeated the Regals, 194.00-101.00, and the Leopards, 188.00-106.00.
On the men's side, the Bulldogs kicked off the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. The quartet of freshman Eric Bugna (Vancouver, WA), junior Jeff Depew (Naperville, IL), senior Nikolai Paloni (Greenwich, CT), and senior Spencer Peugh (Alamo, CA) combined for the runner-up time of 1:41.28.
In the 100 Back, Depew won the event with a time of 53.26, finishing more than three seconds ahead of the next-closest competitor. Depew dominated the 200 Back as well, swimming the top time of the meet for the Bulldogs in 1:58.47. Later in the day, Depew captured another first-place finish for Redlands with a mark of 1:57.81 in the 200 IM.
In the 50 Free, senior Brent Reed (Dublin, CA) uncorked a winning time of 22.08 seconds, while Peugh touched the wall in third place at 22.45 seconds. Reed followed that performance up with another first-place finish in the 100 Free, clocking in at 48.74 seconds. Closing out his fantastic day, he outswam all other competitors in the 100 Fly and notched a winning time of 52.96.
Bugna shined in the 200 Fly, pacing the field with the top time of 2:00.78. In addition, senior David Ortyn (Bainbridge Island, WA) tallied a pair of third-place finishes for the U of R, clocking in at 1:48.60 in the 200 Free, while touching the wall in 2:07.53 in the 200 Fly.
Elsewhere, junior Eric LoPrete (Beaverton, OR) took second overall in the 500 Free with a time of 5:03.83.
Closing out the successful day for the men, the foursome of Ortyn, LoPrete, Peugh, and Reed combined for a winning time in the 400 Free Relay of 3:15.64.
In the diving events, freshman Zac Jure (San Bernardino, CA) performed the best for Redlands, notching a fifth-place mark in the three-meter event (185.45), and a sixth-place finish in the one-meter dive (180.78).
On the women's side, the quartet of freshman Savannah Long (Kennesaw, GA), senior Jackie Miranda (Banning, CA), freshman Leah Bolin (Oshkosh, WI), and junior Chandra Lukes (Escondido, CA) combined for a second-place mark in the 200 Medley Relay with a mark of 1:57.59.
Individually, sophomore Lauren Robeznieks (Tigard, OR) shined in the 200 Free, taking home top-honors with a winning time of 1:58.80. Later on in the meet, she excelled again and won the 100 Fly with a swift mark of 1:00.53
Lukes performed valiantly in the 50 Free with the top mark of 24.66 seconds, while also winning the 100 Free with a time of 55.27 seconds.
Junior Summer Harp (San Bernardino, CA) continued the strong day for Redlands with a winning performance in the 500 Free (5:27.61) and a second-place finish in the 1000 Free (11:15.07).
Additionally, freshman Ellie Jaques (Covina, CA) uncorked the top time in the 200 IM, touching the wall for Redlands in 2:13.99.
Closing the winning day out for the Bulldogs, the foursome of Lukes, freshman Jessica Rivers (Renton, WA), Jaques, and Robeznieks combined for the first-place time in the 400 Free Relay (3:44.25).
In the diving events, sophomore Akari Matsumoto (Redmond, WA) notched a second-place finish in the one-meter event (198.85), while freshman Jessica Kolsky (Red Wing, MN) took second in the three-meter dive (180.75).
Redlands returns home on Saturday, January 25, when it takes on Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Thompson Aquatic Center.